CWMAMMAN United’s excellent form under the lights came to a crashing halt as they lost at home to fellow strugglers Ton Pentre.
The match was eventually decided by an 80th minute hotly contested penalty and the three points moves Ton Pentre closer to safety and Cwm nearer to the bottom three.
Both sides struggled for fluidity throughout as the tension created nervousness and regular player absences added to a lack of rhythm to the game.
The first half was a quiet affair with Ton Pentre’s main opportunity in the 37th minute seeing Kai Rees produce a world class save while Cwm saw Mikey Morgan fire over the bar from the edge of the box and Scott Jewell seeing a header cleared off the line in the 43rd minute.
A good crowd hoping to see more quality in the second half thought they would see nothing at all as a power failure just before the restart delayed the start of the game by 10 minutes or so but the problem was quickly sorted.
The second half saw both sides increase the urgency but defences continued to be on top with Nathan Davies and Grant Rees having strong games at the heart of the Cwm defence.
The deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute as Cwm attacked on the flank only to see an interception break away from the Bulldogs which saw Leroy Thomas fire a low hard cross to the oncoming Jonathan Welsh to rocket home.
Cwm responded quickly with Ross Morgan and Geraint Rees prompting attacks and a Cwm corner was dropped by the Ton Pentre keeper and in the melee Ryan Hurlow stayed calm to place the ball in the corner of the net to equalise.
Cwm could now sense their chance and a strong Hurlow run was foiled at the last second while Jewell could just not clear the goalkeeper with a lob from well outside the box after a poor clearance.
The key moment then arrived in the 80th minute when referee Ben Williams awarded a penalty when a Ton Pentre player went down with his back to the Cwm defender out wide near the edge of the box.
Cwm players protested strongly to the referee resulting in a couple of yellow cards but all to no avail as Thomas calmly converted the spot kick.
Ton Pentre defended resolutely for the final few minutes frustrating the Cwm attacks and will have been delighted to go away with a crucial three points.
On Saturday, March 26, at 2.30pm, Cwm travel to near neighbours and top of the table Pontardawe Town.
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