DESPITE Cwmamman’s strong defensive effort against a skillful attacking Caerau Ely side it all ended in disappointment when Caerau’s top scorer Callum Bateman scrambled the ball in for the winner in the 86th minute.
The match was a hard fought encounter with Caerau tending to control possession with their slick passing and strong supportive play but Cwm working hard as an unit winning crucial ball when required.
The Cwm back four of Cory Saunders, Ronan Templeton, Grant Rees and Rhys Griffiths all had excellent games as they were regularly called upon to repel the well constructed Caerau attacks.
The first half saw Kai Rees make an excellent save from a close range effort but generally both keepers weren’t stretched too much even though Caerau had much the better of territorial possession.
Ross Morgan and Ethan Taylor worked hard in midfiled to nullify attacks while Calem Rees and Gwion Howell pressed hard to create space for Cwm’s forward efforts.
The second half saw Cwm improve their possession and attacking efforts and as the game progressed a nervousness crept into the Caerau play seeing Cwm have a strong spell and Kyle Ashford and Jesse Howell in particular came close with a couple of efforts.
In the 62nd minute Howell seemed to be pulled back at the edge of the Caerau box when he seemed have evaded the defender who received a yellow but the free kick came to nothing.
Caerau kept pressing and after one desperate goal mouth clearance it looked like Cwm had earned a good point against a title chasing side.
However Bateman pounced as Cwm twice failed to clear loose balls and he scrambled the ball home for the winner.
Cwm stay in 12th place while Caerau climb to 3rd. Cwmamman will now travel on Saturday, March 11, to play mid table Treharris Athletic at 2.30pm.
