Penydarren BGC furthered their lead at the top of the Premier Division, after coming from two goals behind to beat local rivals Merthyr Saints.
Merthyr Saints enjoyed a 5-2 victory over Canton Liberal on Saturday, whilst Penydarren continued to battle their fixture backlog, after seeing their game postponed last Saturday, due to lack of players from the opposition.
After Penydarren’s recent dominace in previous derby games it was the Saints who were looking to destroy Penydarren’s succes so far this season. It was managers Nathan Daley and Kerry Mullins who faced each other for the third time this season, which saw Daley come second best in previous encounters.
The game kicked off with both sides trying to settle and get a comfortable foot hold in the game. But it was the home side Merthyr Saints who looked the most promising after some crucial tackles came flying in from both sides but everything was going the home sides way. .
Merthyr Saints drew first blood in this crucial encounter as striker Joshua Toomey finished past goalkeeper Jonathan Green into the back off the net after a poor mistake from the visiting side. It was to get even worse for Kerry Mullins’ side as it was two just a few minutes after this time Craig James with a clean cut shot which flew past Green into the bottom right hand corner after a great lofted ball from Christopher Quinlan that caught the Penydarren defence knapping.
After a sluggish early display from Penydarren, they began to get into the game creating some opportunities to pull a crucial goal back. Their first chance came from midfielder Adam Lewis who beat defender Ryan Martin to magnificently who diped a lofted shot over Saints goalkeeper Jonathan Jones but it was defender Rhys Edwards who cleared off the line after some heroic defending from the full back.
As the both sides sensed a goal would come for the home side at this point but again some heroic defending was needed by Rhys Edwards who kept Connor Kinsey out sliding to clear the ball and to deny his former club a goal. What a shot it was from Kinsey after he hit a low and hard effort into the bottom right hand corner after a fantastic delivery from Adam Lewis.
Meanwhile Saints had a glorious opportunity to put their rivals out of sight after the ball broke from a Penydarren attack. This time Christopher Quinlan picking up the ball from a central position to slide through Corey Jones who dragged a shot wide of the goal from pressure from Penydarren centre half Alex Lloyd.
Another chance game soon after from Craig James who hit a sweet shot that just passed the post after a deflected lofted ball that beat defender Ben Gibbons in the air that was headed on by Toomey into James’s path.
The goal that was awaiting came to Penydarren. Ben Gibbons the scorer who rose highest in the area to guide his header into the far top corner past goalkeeper Jones. Another good delivery from Adam Lewis in the build up to the goal.
Penydarren came out a different side in the second half and it was shown as they netted almost immediately after the restart. Pen found the equaliser from a bullet header from Christopher Colvin Owens who astonishingly flicked his header into the far bottom corner past Jones and past Luke Jones who was trying to scramble the effort of the line.
The whole complexion of the game had changed as Penydarren took the lead for the first time, after initially trailing by two goals. Owens the scorer with a superb strike that found the top right hand corner after an audacious shot that flew into the back off the net. Joshua Brogden with the assist as he was unselfish in his play to tee up the forward up.
The away side furthered their lead when Joshua Brogden who got out of a crowd of players in the corner flag to beat three saints defenders to finish composedly into the far corner after some neat footwork prior to the goal.
It was five not long after as Christopher Colvin Owens drew the Saints defence out leaving acres of space for midfielder Asa Lloyd to run into ,where he composedly took it around the keeper to finish into the top right hand corner. No chance for the Saints goalkeeper or again Rhys Edwards who made a great defensive run back to his own goal to stop Asa from making it five.
Chance after chance kept on coming for Penydarren as looked to put the game to bed and this time it was substitute Connor Keating who got on the score sheet after a deflected shot off a Saints defender crept in over the stretching Jonathan Jones as he could not deny Penydarren’s sixth. Substitute Kieran Edwards, a 17-year-old round off an emphatic win for Penydarren.
FT Merthyr Saints 2-7 Penydarren BGC
Penydarren BGC – Green, Reynolds, Gamble, Lloyd (C), Gibbons, Asa, Sullivan, Kinsey, Lewis, Brogden, Owens.
Subsitutes- Keating, Moyle, Edwards, Williams, Pike
Merthyr Saints- Jones, Edwards (C), Luke, Long, Hynes, Martin, Quinlan, Corrie, Toomey, James, Harris
Subsitutes- Facey, Holmes, Davies, Howard, A. Davis.
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