Cardiff Draconians survive another day as they scrap out Port Talbot win
Cardiff Draconians celebrate their second goal.
Cardiff Draconians increased their chances of survival as they claimed a crucial 3-1 win over Port Talbot Town.
Tom McLean scored a free-kick and a penalty in the first half before Matt Hibbs added a third, but ten minutes before full-time, Charlie Farrell got one back for the Steelmen, despite Harry Hodgson’s straight red card.
Port Talbot started brightly and took hold of possession but Dracs scored from the first meaningful opportunity. Lewis Davies was adjudged to have handled the ball after Jack Kane put pressure on him, and Tom McLean curled his effort underneath Richard Powell.
McLean’s goal was needed as the match was played in a scrappy and cagey manner. Both sides contested fifty-fifty challenges and Port Talbot had believed decisions had been going against them from that moment.
Port Talbot could have no protestations though when Manny Maloney fouled Frederick Stevens in the box for a penalty. McLean stepped up and kept his composure to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and doubled the hosts advantage.
The Dracs had the better of the chances and Harry Hodgson made a brilliant tackle to deny Stevens after the away defence had cheaply given the ball away.
Port Talbot pushed for a goal that could inspire a comeback and Farrell went near after peeling from his marker and heading just over from Davies’ corner-kick.
Approaching the end of the first-half, McLean nearly earned his hat-trick as he nodded the ball down but Powell palmed it away.
Marc Cahill’s side move outside the relegation zone with the win and are two points above both but both Garden Village and Cwmamman United have games in hand.
In the second-half, David Ikete did well to latch on to a ball and teed up Alex Aldrich but no one could get on the end of his floated ball. Jonathan Davies made a double change with top scorer Rhys Dix introduced alongside Jake Barrow.
Port Talbot went near to pulling one back as Dix lined a shot up from 25-yards which Michael Thomas fumbled but the ball didn’t cross the line.
The away dugout had plenty of complaints about decisions going against them and had to play with a man light following a red. Hodgson was dismissed for a foul on Mohsin.
Dracs made the most of the man advantage as a gap was left in the defence and after Jack Kane’s shot had been blocked, substitute Hibbs was on hand to score on the rebound.
Kane nearly got in on the act as Port Talbot piled bodies forward but his tight-angled shot was blocked in the last act of the game.
As for the relegation race, Village face title-chasing Caerau Ely on Tuesday and a trip to Treharris Athletic Western on Thursday, whilst Cwmamman have Llwydcoed at home. Cardiff Draconians and Cwmamman go head to head next Saturday, in a match that will have a significant bearing on who goes down.
Cardiff Draconians: Michael Thomas, Callum Nippers, Abdul Mohsin, Jake Gammond, Richard Noyes (Matthew Hibbs, 46), Callum Gunstone, Solomon Taylor St Clair, Jack Kane, Tom McLean (C), Frederick Stevens, Adam Rees.
Goals: Tom McLean 7, p 28, Matt Hibbs 78′
Port Talbot: Richard Powell, Manny Maloney (Yonis, Hussain 63), David Ikete, Lewis Davies, Harry Hodgson, Alex Aldrich, Kirk McNally, Tito Anderson (Jake Barrow, 54), Charlie Farrell, Jared Lake, and Benjamin Whiteman (Rhys Dix, 54)
Goals: Charlie Farrell 79′
Yellow Cards: Lewis Davies 5, Tito Anderson 35′
Red Card: Harry Hodgson 72′
