Rebecca Mathias’ stunning strike salvaged a point for Aberystwyth Town away at Pontypridd United.
For large parts of the game, it felt like Jasmine Turner’s penalty was going to be enough for Ponty to pick up their first win of the season. But alas, the defender had other ideas, as she rescued the Seasiders at the death.
The result keeps both sides as they were heading into the game; Ponty bottom and Aber in fifth.
Pontypridd elected to name an unchanged team from the side that narrowly lost to Cardiff Met on Wednesday night. A new name, however, was on the bench. Lucy Attwood made her first squad appearance since moving over from Barry Town.
Aberystwyth made one change from their last game, which was before Christmas against Cardiff City. Gwenllian Jones moved to the bench with Lily Moralee-Hughes coming in to replace her.
Rather abnormally, the atmosphere on the pitch was quiet. Neither seemed willing early on to lay a glove on one another, and that made for a tetchy and scrappy opening.
However, the first chance led to the first goal. A Ponty corner was handled by an Aber player in the box, leaving the referee no other option but to point to the spot. Up stepped Jasmine Turner, and she tucked the ball away neatly to give the hosts a rare lead.
The Dragons’ ventures into Aber territory quickly lessened as the half wore in, mainly as a result of Aberystwyth pushing up the pitch.
The more they pressed, the more chances Gavin Allen’s side created, but they couldn’t convert. Lily Moralee-Hughes managed to miss from close range, while Klaudia Wojtyczka made a remarkable save to deny Niamh Duggan scoring directly from a corner.
A quiet half for sure, but a half in which Ponty held a rare and valuable lead.
It would have been easy for the hosts to sit in and try and protect what they had, but they did everything but that. They came out with a confidence and a swagger and tried to extend the lead.
Despite their brave mindset, Aberystwyth with their pacey frontline always offered a threat. Lleucu Mathias raced in behind to collect Amy Jenkins’ through ball, but she couldn’t find the far corner with her finish.
While no chances were created, there was a tense feeling around the ground. With the way the home side were playing, it certainly felt this was their moment, this was their time.
But football is a funny old game, and Aber found an equaliser in stunning fashion. Rebecca Mathias strode forward with the ball before hitting a 30-yard screamer into the top corner. Relief for Aber, heartbreak for the Dragons.
Next up for Pontypridd is Swansea City at home, while Aberystwyth welcome Cardiff Met to West Wales.
Player of the Match: Sophie Topper
So many standout performers in white today, but I was really impressed with Topper. She’s so nimble and can change direction in the blink of an eye. She isn’t afraid to take on her marker, and she was a bright spark throughout.
Pontypridd United
Klaudia Wojtyczka, Lucy Jones, Clare Daley ©, Shannon Hindmarsh, Katie Williams (Lucy Attwood 64’), Ellie Gunney, Sophie Topper, Jasmine Turner, Madison Williams, Efa Preece-Jones, Nicole Fenton
Unused Subs: Eleanor Brook, Gracie Grosvenor, Ffion Simmonds, Yasmin Wilcox
Goals: Jasmine Turner (24’ p)
Aberystwyth Town
Margot Farnes, Lucie Gwilt, Rebecca Mathias, Niamh Duggan, Libby Isaac, Ffiona Evans (Gwenllian Jones 46’), Lily Moralee-Hughes, Imi Scourfield, Amy Jenkins ©, Modlen Gwynne, Lleucu Mathias
Unused Subs: Kelly Thomas, Tirion Sedgwick, Tania Wylde, Jessica Baker
Goals: Rebecca Mathias (90’)
Yellows: Niamh Duggan (46’)
After the game, we spoke to goal scorer Rebecca Mathias and Pontypridd’s Katie Williams.
Rebecca Mathias: “It was a real battle today. I can’t lie, I think they fully deserved to win that. They won every single ball, and we were quite poor and gave the ball away a lot. But these games are always close, and we can’t ever underestimate them, even though they are bottom of the league.
“I thought we were flat. We were maybe playing the long ball too soon and they were able to get players behind the ball and we couldn’t work it out. We created a lot of chances in the first half, and if we capitalised on a few of them it could’ve been a different game, but we will take a point at the end of the day.
“I’ve never scored a goal like that in my life! I mainly score with my head, but it was a very nice surprise to score it. I struck it well and it’s nice to have scored the equaliser, but we didn’t come down to get a point.”
Katie Williams: “It 100% feels like a loss for us today, especially because we conceded so late on in the game. I think we dominated that game and fully deserved the three points. But we will take our first points of the season.
“Since Christmas we’ve had a change in formation, new coaches coming in, but always knew we could go out and dominate games. We’re looking forward to our upcoming games now, and this point will spur us on to hopefully get our first three points.
“That win is really close now. We were in touching distance of it today, but we will take it on into our next games.”
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