Porthmadog broke their sequence of draws with a well deserved victory at Port Talbot on Saturday, but they left it late to secure the three points. Porthmadog had the better of the first half exchanges. A Ryan Davies header struck the bar after 24 minutes, but referee John adjudged that the big defender had fouled while jumping for the ball. Mr John's fussy refereeing was a prominent feature of the first half. Port Talbot went close on 30 minutes when a near post cross from the right by the lively Lee John needed to be cleared by Lee Webber under pressure from Hislop.
Porthmadog created two gilt edged chances in the closing moments of the the first half. The first was created down the right flank and John Gwynfor Jones's pinpoint cross found Gareth Caughter unmarked in the box but his header was straight at keeper Martin Davies. On the stroke of half time Mark Williams released Gareth Parry who raced goalwards but his touchpushed him wide and his shot flew into the side netting when a square ball would have provided the unmarked Tom Reynolds with a simple tap in.
Porthmadog started the second half as they had finished the first and opened the scoring four minutes after the restart. Gareth Caughter clipped a cross into the back post from the right, Davies the home keeper made a hash of trying to clear the ball, Reynolds controlled and squared the ball for Mark Williams to score from 6 yards for his second goal of the season.
The goal spurred Port Talbot into action, a low drive from Russel Wigley after 55 minutes forced Gerard McGuigan into his first save of the game. Seven minutes later and Port Talbot equalised, Dean Johnson picked the ball on the right of the box, cleverly beat the defender and hammered the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle. Both sides continued to strive for the decisive winner. Mark Williams set up Caughter who shot just wide from 18 yards while Lee John and Liam Hancock went close for thehome side. The decisive second goal came eight minutes from time and it was a beauty. Caughter set up Dave Evans who fired an angled drive into the top corner from 25 yards, a goal worthy of winning any match. Resiliant Port Talbot did not give up and sustained pressure almost produced an equaliser in the 86th minute when a 25 yard drive from Johnson was brilliantly palmed over by McGuigan only minutes after he had taken a hefty knock when coming to claim a cross. This was a pleasing win to end our run of draws and manager Viv Williams is sure to be pleased with the effort and work rate of his players.
Report by: Gerallt Owen
