Ynyshir Albions 2-2 Pontardawe Town: Buns battle to draw against ten-man Pontardawe
Mark Crutch of Ynyshir celebrates scoring his sides second goal. Ynyshir Albions v v Pontardawe Town in the Ardal South West at The Oval on the 12th April 2022. Credit: Lewis Mitchell
Ynyshir Albions battled from two goals down to draw with runaway league leaders Pontardawe, who had two players sent off.
Second-half goals from Jacob Isaacs and Mark Crutch earned the Buns a point as they cancelled out Callum Silcox and Steve Berry’s first-half efforts.
Pontardawe earned their point with nine men with Tyler Aylward sent straight off before the hour mark, then Charlie Coates was shown two cards in five minutes, having only come on as a substitute in the 87th.
The ten-game winning run comes to an end for Garry Taylor’s side, but they are nine points clear of second-placed Pontyclun and remain 11 unbeaten.
Meanwhle for Ynyshir, the Rhondda side remain in fourth and are three points off of a playoff spot with a game in hand over Pontyclun.
Ynyshir allowed Pontardawe to take hold of the ball in the early stages and they had a few half opportunities with Gabriel Kircough almost catching out Jason Pritchard.
It was from set pieces and aerially that Ynyshir wanted to cause problems but Liam Eason, based just outside the box, hit his free-kick over the bar.
Pontardawe were forced to make an early change as twice Iwan McNab had went down with an injury and he was eventually replaced by Callum Dolman.
The best chances of the half then came to Cory Morgan, who twice had space on the right-side. Firstly forcing Reeve to tip his shot over the bar before flashing a low shot just past the post.
Ynyshir regretted not taking those two chances as they took the lead. A lapse in concentration from Kailum Williams allowed Silcox in for a one-on-one and he slid his attempt under the goalkeeper.
A quick-fire second then followed two minutes later as Pontardawe scored from the spot. Berry was barged over and he took the resulting spot kick, hitting it low into the bottom corner.
To close out the half, Ynyshir went near to pulling one back as Pontardawe cleared off the line after Morgan tried to drag one home.
The hosts came out with all the attacking intent in the first half as they used the wings to cause Pontardawe some problems.
From the sides, they were level as Isaacs hit a cross-hit shot that caught everyone including Reeve out and it ended up in the goal for Ynyshir’s first goal.
Things then got better for the home side as Aylward was dismissed for going into the back of a home player for a straight dismissal.
The sending off put Ynyshir up a gear and the ball was with them as they took the game to Pontardawe.
There was a bit of frustration for bagsman Liam Eason, who was in pursuit of the Golden Boot, but his numerous half volleys only went near the target rather than at it.
In between Eason’s efforts, a backheeled effort from Isaacs almost caught out Reeve but the goalkeeper made a much-needed save.
With five minutes remaining, Ynyshir got back on level terms. A corner-kick wasn’t dealt with and defender Crutch stabbed home an effort.
Not content with just a draw, Ynyshir went near to taking the lead. Eason turn and shot and made Reeve dive down at his post.
Pontardawe then went down to nine as substitute Coates was booked for blocking a clearance from Pritchard.
And then more drama came as in the last attack of the game, Ynyshir thought they had bundled the ball over the line with Rees the closest. Both the referee and linesman deemed it to have stayed out, despite clipping the underside of the crossbar too.
At the full-time whistle, the Ynyshir players looked dejected as they competed well with the side that have for long set the pace of the division.
Ynyshir Albions: Jason Pritchard, Kailum Williams, Andre Griffiths (Jamie Rewbury, 76), Alex Rees, Mark Crutch, Scott Jones, Ceri Morgan, Liam Eason, Leon Anstee, Joseph Eason (Liam Eason, 81), Jacob Isaacs.
Goals: Leon Anstee 54, Mark Crutch 86′
Yellow Cards: Kailum Williams 39, Andre Griffiths 41, Jacob Iaacs 47, Liam Eason 83′
Pontardawe Town: Steven Reeve, Tyler Aylward, Tim Georgievsky, Iwan McNab (Callum Dolman, 34), Thomas Grey, Craig Davies, Gabriel Kircough, Steve Berry, Jordan Langley (Charlie Coates, 87), Joshua Dorward, Callum Silcox.
Goals: Callum Silcox 38, Steve Berry p 40′
Yellow Cards: Iwan McNab 29, Callum Silcox 54, Jordan Langley 78, Steve Berry 82, Charlie Coates 87, 90+1, Steven Reeve 90′
Red Cards: Tyler Aylward 56, Charlie Coates 90+1
