Carmarthen Town 2
Rhyl 0
AFTER A lacklustre home defeat against Bangor last time out, Carmarthen responded in emphatic fashion, producing a thoroughly entertaining display of adventurous, attacking football, which particularly during a mesmerizing firsthalf left Rhyl overwhelmed and justifiably soundly beaten.
They began with clear positive intent, launching a series of piercing raids with energy and urgency that put the visitors’ defence under immediate pressure.
The first chance came within sixty seconds when Mark Jones, with a quick throw-in, set Luke Cummings free down the left flank.
He swiftly played the ball across to Kieran Lewis on the edge of the penalty area who struck a crisp drive that slid wide of the left post.
Then Cummings, who was returning to the team following a three-game ban, was once again involved. He raced forward to the byline and fired the ball across the face of goal but saw it cleared off the line by a defender.
Yet Town’s exciting strategy was duly rewarded with a vital early goal after just ten minutes. A poor clearance by Rhyl keeper Terry McCormick went straight to Jordan Knott who sent a fine pass through to Jones and he released a stunning 25 yard shot that flew into the top corner of the net leaving McCormick well beaten.
The play continued at a frantic pace with Carmarthen in total ascendency as they poured forward at every opportunity. In the 18th minute Lewis sent a long free kick into the penalty area to find Jones in clear space but McCormick was well placed to deal with his firm header.
Moments later another promising attack finished with Jones setting up a decent chance for Thomas but, under pressure from defenders, his sharp 10 yard volley struck the underside of the bar and, agonisingly, the ball rebounded back into play.
Then after 26 minutes Lewis once more delivered a searching free-kick into the packed penalty area – Cummings collected a weak clearance and hit a 20 yard effort that was also blocked and eventually Dave Vincent managed a close-range shot that went through the crowd of players but narrowly wide of the post.
Such was Town’s dominance during this initial period that the visitors had not once got within shooting range of the home goal – the Old Gold defence had remained strong, assured and disciplined, while keeper Lee Idzi had been untroubled.
But at last on 29 minutes Rhyl threatened when the ball was played forward to David Mannix just inside the penalty area and he was denied a clear scoring opportunity only by Knott’s excellent recovering tackle.
Soon afterwards Connor Bell broke into the penalty area and dispatched a smart angled drive that Idzi, at full-length, tipped on to the post and Town’s experienced keeper then reacted swiftly to deny John Owen’s instant follow-up close-range strike.
But the earlier pattern of play was soon restored as the Old Gold regained control of the game. As before, Lewis, displaying impressive vision and energy, was the key architect of Town’s attacking play – and again he had enthusiastic support from fellow midfielders Cummings and Ceri Morgan.
And unsurprisingly it was Lewis who initiated the host’s second goal in the 39th minute when he produced a sublime through ball that sent Jones racing clear of the Rhyl defence – the in-form striker went forward to the corner of the penalty area then confidently rifled the ball past McCormick and into the net for his fifth goal in three matches.
The Old Gold should then have gone further ahead just before half-time but after Knott finished a determined run down the left flank with an inviting cross into the goalmouth Morgan wasted a good chance by firing marginally too high from close range.
Carmarthen resumed their refreshing positive approach after the interval when on 48 minutes Kyle Bassett surged along the right-wing then sent a low cross towards the goalmouth where Thomas clipped a neat glancing shot just a fraction wide of the near post.
But in contrast to the first-half the visitors were clearly playing with greater confidence and purpose. In the 55th minute a long clearance upfield reached Bell who raced forward and took the ball around Idzi, who had advanced well out of his goal, and then struck a promising goal-bound drive only to see Dan Sheehan make a timely, late intervention and clear the danger.
Increasingly the play became more open and evenly balanced with scoring opportunities less frequent. On 65 minutes Lewis, from just outside the penalty area, sent a fine pass across to Bassett who released a powerful 15-yard drive that McCormick managed to beat away. Rhyl then responded after 79 minutes with Bell smartly curling a 20-yard free-kick which drew an equally impressive flying save from Idzi.
Carmarthen Town manager Mark Aizlewood was delighted with his team’s emphatic win against relegation haunted Rhyl at Richmond Park last Saturday. “They should have scored seven or eight,” he said. “It was like they were a different team after the previous week’s defeat against Bangor City.”
Team: Lee Idzi; Daniel Sheehan; Dwaine Bailey; David Vincent; Jordan Knott; Luke Cummings (sub Craig Hanford 81); Kieran Lewis; Ceri Morgan; Kyle Bassett; Mark Jones (sub Jeff White 90); Liam Thomas.
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