LAMPETER DENIED BUT MAGPIES SOAR

Lampeter Town appeared to have done enough to rob leaders Llandysul of their unbeaten league record with the north road supporters about to head off to the bar to celebrate a 3-2 win but a mistake by stand in keeper Paul Simmons in injury time let Scott Thomas in to pinch a share of the spoils.

This crucial top of the table clash lived up to its billing in every way with some excellent goals, some bone crunching tackles, a flurry of yellow cards and an abundance of goal mouth action but it was a crushing blow to Lampeter who appeared to have done enough to win.

Swallows manager Chris Davies brought both Terry Maynard and Adrian Hazelby straight back into the starting line-up after a month out with injuries, and after five minutes and against the run of play the two players combined to put the visitors ahead with Hazelby netting with a great finish with his left foot into the bottom corner of the net.

Lampeter though continued to dominate by keeping the ball far better than their opponents in the greasy conditions and they levelled when Sion Price upended midfielder Gethin Davies and Terry Witts converted to level the scores.

Midfielder Davies who was outstanding for Town then latched on to a long punt over the top from Arwel Thomas and he volleyed the ball through the legs of keeper John Durbridge to put Lampeter in front

Llandysul hit back within a minute with a header, only for it to be disallowed, but just on the stroke of half time a long ball out of defence fell to Hazelby and he fed Simon Davies and the Swallows goal poacher took full advantage of a slip by centre half Carwyn Gregson to run in and round the keeper to make it 2-2.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with some very physical challenges incurring the wrath of the man in the middle Llyr Evans and it was Lampeter who took the lead when Scott Davies fed the ball to Luke Lovell who lifted the ball over a defender for Gethin Hunter to run on to and finished calmly to put Lampeter ahead once again.

Llandysul keeper Durbridge was then forced to pull off a couple of crucial saves to keep the visitors in the game with both Szymon Konwiak and Robert Slawkowski going close.

As the game closed out Llandysul piled on the pressure but without really creating any real goal scoring opportunities but Lampeter, who were forced into making a few changes due to injuries and the effects of cramp, looked likely winners until the drama unfolded in the final moments of the game.

With time up Llandysul were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty box which was fired into the danger area by Hazelby but his curling effort which was not struck with any real power should have been caught, however, stand in keeper Simmons who bravely put his hand up to do the job at the eleventh hour due to illness, fumbled the ball and it dropped kindly for Scott Thomas to tap into an empty net to make it 3-3.

The hosts were gutted but the visitors and their large contingent of supporters were cock a hoop as this was a big point for them and Luke Lovell and his troops will be looking to the likes of Cardigan Town, Crannog and Newcastle Emlyn to take some points off the Swallows over the next few months.

Cardigan Town were very impressive at times against arch rivals St Dogmaels in the traditional Boxing Day derby at the King George although the score line did flatter them. It was the accurate finishing of the young magpies that proved to be the biggest difference between the two teams and their greater levels of fitness in the final quarter.

Team captain Iestyn Evans who was superb in everything he did and a real inspiration with his desperate defending especially in the air got Cardigan off to a good start with a belter of a shot from well outside the penalty box that beat keeper Aaron Walters all ends up but the saints came back strongly and were rewarded when Marcus Dean netted with a header from close range after a powerful strike from Chris Jones had come back off the woodwork.

Town regained the lead when Evans fired home from the penalty spot but it was the greens who finished the half on top and they crucially missed two very good chances just before the break. Skipper Jason Williams who was one of the few players to shine for St Dogmaels hit a post with a header and then a minute later he missed a sitter from very short range and his header missed the target by a whisker.

Williams and his team continued to dominate after the break with an aerial bombardment but skipper Evans and his colleagues in the shape of Steve Blackford, Joost Burki and Ben Davies cleared the danger.

The game was then turned on its head with two fantastic goals in quick succession just after the break and against the run of play and which secured the win for Cardigan. The first of these was a brilliant header from Tomos Toft from a superb cross from Emlyn George and the second a super strike from the edge of the box by Ewan Jones after he was set up by an exquisite touch from Josh Mellor.

It was one way traffic after this as the visiting challenge faded badly as they ran out of steam and the effects of Christmas kicked in. Rhys Jones had a chance to reduce the deficit late on but his poorly struck penalty was saved by keeper Carl Woodhouse and this final act really summed up the visitors performance in the final quarter. This will have been disappointing for stand in manager Steve Williams as his team played well for an hour through the likes of Chris Jones, skipper Williams, John Midgley and Anthony Murtagh. Town manager Ceri Adams Lewis will have been pleased with the performance of his side with two goal hero Evans and Toft the pick of the bunch and outstanding throughout.

Crannog enjoyed a comfortable win over Cilgerran but they were forced to battle hard throughout the first half with the home side fighting for every ball. However a superb free kick curled into the back of the net by midfielder Chris Welch changed the game and there was only one winner after that.

Top scorer George Colven was introduced into the action by the visitors after the break and his pace caused a few problems and a second goal soon arrived when Mike Glover steered a corner into the path of Rhydian Roberts his centre back partner to slot home.

Crannog with their tails up at this point should have scored a hatful but they wasted some good opportunities but another eventually came when Colven scored with a neat finish from an outstanding through ball from midfielder Rhys Davies and the same provider then set up Gary Davies to kill the game off at 4-0.

Colven added his second with a great run and finish from the edge of the penalty box off the inside of the post to make it 5-0 and then in the last few minutes, skipper Glover, who was outstanding all afternoon made up for missing a sitter earlier, by thumping in a header from a Rhys Davies corner to make it 0-6.

Newcastle Emlyn carved out a 3-0 lead after only twenty minutes and despite a spirited fightback by Bargod the reds ran out worthy winners by 6-3.

Goals from Peter Almond, John Curran and Daniel Davies put Emlyn into a comfortable position but Rangers hit back when Rhydian Davies took full advantage of a slip up by hosts keeper Emyr Davies but the three goal lead was restored soon afterwards when Huw Jones slotted home from a penalty after dangerous raider Dan Davies had been bundled over in the box.

Bargod came back again and scored from another corner when Dan Evans got away from his marker to head home to make it 4-2 to give his team some hope but this all but disappeared when Jake Harries netted to make the score 5-2 at the break.

The visitors enjoyed a purple patch in the second half and they were rewarded for their enterprise when Shaun Leonard turned sharply in the box and tucked the ball away to reduce the arrears but it was the reds who had the final say when they hit Rangers on the counter attack through the combination of Scott Lote-Williams and Dion Davies who both came on as substitutes and the former picked his spot to complete the scoring.

New Quay enjoyed a rare win after they defeated local rivals Aberaeron Reserves by 2-1. A brace of goals from striker Ellis Denyer helped seal the second win of the season for the greens. In the other game played Dewi Stars and Felinfach fought out a goalless draw.

In Division Two the honours were shared at Cae Dandre when Maesglas striker Kieran Harman fired home late on to earn a point for the Blues against Llanboidy. Maesglas though can count themselves fortunate as Llanboidy will feel they deserved to win this one.

The visitors travelled pretty light after a number of players dropped out on the day whilst Llanboidy who have a very young side mixed with a couple of old heads are now beginning to show how much they have improved after a slow start to the campaign. They looked a yard or two sharper than the Blues and played some good football and were unlucky not to gain the rewards they probably deserved.

Llanboidy started the game well and took it by the scruff from the opening minutes and were ahead after only five minutes after a long range shot from the edge of the box floated into the top corner.

The closest the Blues came to grabbing an equaliser in the opening half was from a scramble in the box but the eventual shot was cleared off the line. Maesglas also missed a chance when the hosts keeper spilled a shot and the follow up was sent over the crossbar from a few yards out.

With about twenty minutes to go a clearance from Llanboidy fell kindly to Blues striker Kieran Harman and he managed to sneak away from his defender and chip the oncoming keeper for an excellent finish. Harman could have added a second with a similar effort soon afterwards before the hosts missed a few decent chances at the other end.

The Blues though held out for a hard-earned draw in a game well refereed by Gareth Evans.