DEFEAT SEES TOWN DROP OFF THE PACE

CARMARTHEN Town dropped nine points off the pace in JD Cymru South following this loss to the league leaders.

Carmarthen went into the match hoping to put the disappointment of defeat against Briton Ferry Llansawel behind them, while at the same time arrest United’s impressive sequence of wins which have taken them to the top of the table.

But despite patches of decidedly promising football from the Old Gold, neither aim was achieved.

Mark Aizlewood made two notable changes in his defensive line-up, bringing in goalkeeper Nick Jones and starting with midfielder Greg Walters alongside Lee Surman in central defence.

The early stages were fairly even and mainly confined to midfield with neither goalkeeper seriously tested. But on 11 minutes Noah Daley sent a short cross to Tom Dyson who wastefully fired the ball too high.

Then Jordan Vickers embarked on a rapid sprint along the right flank before crossing the ball infield to Liam Thomas, who dispatched a 20yard drive which keeper Mike Lewis turned over the crossbar with a smart save.

During that opening spell Barry also saw plenty of the ball, and while their approach play was attractive and often penetrative, the

Carmarthen defence – centred around Surman and Walters – coped well. And on the occasions when keeper Jones was called into action, his positioning and handling was impressive.

That remained the case until the 30th minute when Walters went into a challenge for the ball with Kayne Mclaggon in the centre-circle.

That challenge, and the confrontation that followed, was regarded by the referee to be a sending-off offence and the Old Gold captain left the field.

But worse was soon to follow for Carmarthen as Liam Warman, from 20 yards, struck a fierce drive which took a huge deflection that left Jones with no time to react and prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net.

After the interval Barry immediately put the Old Gold defence under pressure with a series of attacks. Following a corner Curtis Mcdonald saw his close-range header turned away Jones. The ball was immediately returned into the goalmouth but Matthew Delaney, who had slotted admirably into the central defender role vacated by Walters, was alert to the danger and managed to head the ball away to safety.

Then Mclaggon broke into the penalty area but his shot was kept out as Jones demonstrated remarkable reflexes.

By this stage Barry were largely dominating the open play but the 10 men of Carmarthen, to their credit, were withstanding that pressure, helped on several occasions by poor approach play and wayward finishing from the opposition.

In fact, the Old Gold had a late opportunity to grab an equaliser when Vickers fired a huge cross to the far side of the area only for late substitute Trystan Jones to shoot wide.

Carmarthen’s next fixture is against Taffs Well on Tuesday, December 6 at Richmond Park (7.30pm).

Meanwhile, Ammanford are back in 11th after they drew 0-0 at Abergavenny Town.