Cwmbran Celtic
Match Report
The team put up a resolute display to register their 2nd successive win & 3rd game unbeaten to continue their mini-revival against 5th placed Carmarthen Town at the Avondale Motor Park Arena. We introduced the experienced Athur Furness for his debut at left back and started brightly, Cole Doolan’s header tipped over the bar by teenage keeper Craig. Town responded with a shot across the goal by Noah Daley. On 11 minutes we scored what turned out to be the winning goal. From a Town throw in on the right, Oliver Berry punted the ball forward to Andrew Larcombe who played a short ball into the box to Howells. Marked by two defenders Gabriel swivelled to give himself space to put in a low shot which eluded the dive of Craig and into the left corner of the net for his 3rd goal of the season – a brilliant effort by the young striker who is getting better every game. He almost added to the score when he rode a tackle on the right to enable him to shoot across goal where Craig finger-tipped the ball away.
On the half hour, Isaac Powell strode down the right flank and put in a shot which Craig scooped away for a corner. In the 42nd minute Town missed a golden opportunity to equalise when a cross from the right fell to Gavin Jones in front of an open goal. However he did not react quickly enough, his delayed shot hitting Berry and going out of play for a corner. Town raised their game after the interval. However of the 8 chances they created only one needed Lewis Watkins in the Celtic goal to make a save. Five shots were wide, and in a spell of sustained pressure on the hour they had two shots blocked by the unyielding Celtic defence. Celtic’s one chance in the 2nd half was from Tommy Challenger who brought a save from Craig diving to his right.
This was a most impressive display by the lads. Manager Simon Berry has done a sterling job in incorporating 6 new signings into his much-changed squad. We move back up to 12th in the league. Next week is another 6-pointer against bottom placed Taffs Well who have recently signed ex-Celtic players Josh Hinwood and Iwan Hooper.
MOM: Callum Hodges