Carmarthen Town 3-2 Penybont: Ten-man Old Gold move off bottom with vital win

Ten-man Carmarthen Town moved off the bottom of the Cymru Premier with a crucial win against Penybont at Richmond Park.

The Old Gold fought from behind to defeat Penybont who were second from the bottom going into the fixture.

A first-half brace from Luke Bowen was enough to secure victory after Liam Thomas chalked out Curtis Jemmett-Hutson’s opener.

Matthew Harris’ 63rd-minute goal wasn’t enough to claw a point back, despite Jordan Knott’s straight red card.

Carmarthen leapfrogged Penybont to second-from-bottom as they won just their second league match of the campaign.

Curtis Jemmett-Hutson volleyed the Bridgend side ahead inside four minutes with a volley from a corner.

Penybont’s lead lasted all of five minutes as Liam Thomas capitalised on a slip in the visitors’ defence to run through onto a Knott through ball and finish from fifteen yards.

The game ebbed and flowed as both sides sparred for dominance on the artificial surface which encouraged first touch football, appreciated by the crowd.

Carmarthen changed the complexion of the game as they went in front having initially tailed.

Luke Bowen latched onto a poor backpass to round goalkeeper Rhys Wilson.

Bowen and Thomas enjoyed the freedom of working the spaces to pick up balls from Carroll.

Carmarthen benefitted from their dynamic trio benefited by a third goal.

Carroll turned neatly to set his side moving forward and a deep cross to the far post saw Bowen head the ball in to secure a second of the match.

Luke Borrelli was introduced early in the second-half as he replaced Kinsella.

Borrelli almost made an immediate impact as he created two half opportunities.

Matthew Harris became ever more influential in the centre of the field, he scored to reduce the deficit to one with a curling 20-yard right-footed shot.

He dictated the tempo and direction of the game with the shift of the game moving towards the visitors.

Penybont’s foothold onto the game saw Lee Idzi come to prominence as he pulled a string of saves to preserve his sides’ lead.

Carmarthen’s Jordan Knott received his marching orders with twenty minutes remaining as he was shown a straight red card for going through the player without control.

All the game was played in the Carmarthen half as the home side backed away.

Skipper Lee Surman though was showcasing his leadership abilities as he valiantly defended Carmarthen’s slender lead with a man disadvantage.

Carmarthen were able to grind out for the victory as they ran down the clock in stoppage time to claim their first home league victory at Richmond Park this season.

The two renew their newly created rivalry on New Years Day as they do battle at the SDM Glass Stadium in the first Cymru Premier game of the new year.

Carmarthen Town: Lee Idzi, Jordan Knott, Alaric Jones (David Vincent 72), Lee Surman, Declan Carroll, Greg Walters, Luke Bowen, Lewis Harling, Jordan Vickers, Liam Thomas, Jay Woodford.

Penybont: Rhys Wilson, James Saddler, Oliver Dalton (Adam Carpenter 88′), Cullen Kinsella (Luke Borrelli 55′), Kostya Georgievsky, Curtis Jemmett-Hutson, Nathan Wood, Daniel Jefferies, Matthew Harris, Owain Warlow ( Billy Borge 42), Michael George

Carmarthen Town manager Kris O’Leary said: