ON an extremely wet and windy Saturday afternoon (Aug 10) at Richmond Park, Cwmamman took on an experienced JD Cymru Premier Carmarthen team and eventually went down 4-1.
It was a harsh scoreline for the Blues who competed well throughout the game against their premier league opponents. Carmarthen Town now progress into Round Three of the Nathaniel MG Cup.
Despite the conditions it was a lively and positive encounter, both the teams having plenty of chances to attack and score.
A good crowd with a large travelling contingent from Cwmamman saw an exciting end to end match which was a great advertisement for the coming season for both teams with Blues Manager Ryan Stephens and Old Gold Manager Neil Smothers using all their substitutes.
It was Cwmamman with the initial early pressure having the first corner following a strong run by experienced forward Ashley Curtis but on the 13th minute Carmarthen then scored from a fluent counter attack with a smart strike from Chris Jones, 1-0.
Soon after Ryan Thomas and Nathan Davies came close for the Blues and then on 35 minutes Cwm’ got the deserved equalizer with a superb close finish by Chrissy Allen following a fine Luke Williams cross, 1-1 and game on.
The first half finished with some strong defending from Blues Captain Gareth Howarth and defenders Nathan Davies, Calem Rees, Rob Jones and goalkeeper James Kirkwood keeping Cwmin the game under some severe pressure.
The second half saw Carmarthen start strongly and on the 50th Minute Luke Bowen put Carmarthen Town 2-1 up with a simple tap in at the Blues far post from a well worked move.
Cwmamman battled back through midfielders Ross Morgan and Sam Harrison with Luke Williams forcing a good save from Golds keeper Lee Idzi while Ashley Curtis had some great runs up the right wing forcing a number of Blues corners.
On the 66th Minute Curtis picked up a nasty knee injury causing a delay and impacting the Blues rhythm. He was replaced by Ryan Hurlow.
Six minutes later Old Gold striker Luke Bowen effectively sealed the match with his second and Carmarthen’s third goal from close in.
Towards the end, both Ryan Thomas for the Blues and Greg Waters for the Golds came close to scoring but in the final moments of the match impressive substitute Josh Bull made the score 4-1 to Carmarthen.
At the end of the match it was great to see brothers and players Liam Thomas (Carmarthen Town) and Ryan Thomas (Cwmamman), shake hands and walk off together.
Overall an entertaining cup tie but a tough score-line for Cwmamman in a game that was full of pace with little respite and showing lots of skill and energy from both teams.
Following the match Blues Manager Ryan Stephens said: “It’s always a tough challenge coming to Richmond Park in the cup but I think we had some good moments. We were 1-1 at half time and I do feel this match will push us on for the start of the league next week. I wish Carmarthen Town well in the next round and a good season in the JD Cymru Premier league”.
The Blues now start their JD Cymru South league campaign on Saturday (Aug 17) away to STM Sports of Cardiff, kick off 2.30pm.
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