Caersws 1 Afan Lido 2 - Match Report
By Webmaster/Rheolwr y Wefan
February 23 2003
In a dour and lacklustre game this afternoon at very cold but sunny Recreation Ground in Caersws, Afan Lido kept up their impressive away record, winning 1 - 2 courtesy of a goal in the penultimate minute.
In a first half devoid of much incident, with play chiefly confined to midfield, the first opportunity fell to Lido on 5 minutes, when a cross from Stephen Parry found Liam McCreesh, but McCreesh's shot bounced off the bar. A few minutes later a free kick awarded after a foul on Graham Evans was headed wide of the Lido goal by Geraint Lewis.
With Caersws missing two influential players in Graham Jones and Kevin Scott, who were unavailable for today's game, Lido opened the scoring on 36 minutes when Stephen Parry's 10 yard shot beat keeper Andy Mulliner. Although he did get a strong hand to the ball it trickled on into the net.
On 40 minutes a Sean Jehu 25 yard free kick, following a foul on the Bluebirds' Geraint Lewis, was deflected for a corner, and a minute before the break a good move involving Hugh Clarke and Andy Marfell resulted in Andy Davies shot also being deflected by a Lido defender for a corner.
The second half was a slight improvement over the first, the visitor's Andy Pearson having a shot scrambled away for a corner on 46 minutes, and Shaun O'Leary's 25 yard shot was held by Blues keeper Andy Mulliner a minute later.
In the 55th minute Lido midfielder Chris Pridham had an 18-yard shot go wide, and this was followed almost immediately by the Bluebirds' Hugh Clarke feeding Andy Marfell, whose 12-yard shot was deflected for yet another corner.
Caersws continued to push forward in search of an equaliser, Captain Antony Griffiths' free kick into the visitors' penalty area causing panic before the ball was eventually cleared to safety, and within a minute Lido's Andrew Rickard cleared a Sean Jehu shot off the line. The Bluebirds were not to be denied however, and a short throw by keeper Andy Mulliner to defender Hugh Clarke saw his long clearance down field superbly brought under control by top-scorer Graham Evans, before he coolly lifted the ball over the advancing Lido keeper, Brian Thomas to put the score level.
On 75 minutes Andy Mulliner was called on to push a 15-yard Shaun O'Leary shot over the bar, and five minutes later Kevin Bartley had an excellent opportunity for Lido, but his close range effort was brilliantly blocked by Mulliner.
The wining goal came on 89 minutes, when a free kick was controversially awarded to Lido on the right. Liam McCreesh floated the ball into the home box and Lido's top-scorer, Kevin Bartley got the faintest of touches to the ball with his head to restore his side's lead.
The Bluebirds never give in, and in the 90th minute Caersws were once again denied when Andrew Rickard cleared Colin Reynold's header off the line just before referee Ceri Richards blew the final whistle.
Overall this was a disappointing game with little flair being displayed by either side, and a draw would have been a fairer outcome.
By John Baker - taken from low topica list