Callum Buckle
1 Mar 2025
It was a frustrating afternoon for the Dragons as they suffered a 2-1 away defeat to Cwmbran Celtic.
Cwmbran were quick out of the blocks and were rewarded for their early pressure just four minutes in. Pontypridd struggled to get the ball out of the box and after an initial save from Cameron Clarke, the ball fell to Arthur Furness to convert and give his side the lead.
The hosts thought they had doubled their advantage just four minutes later, as Cwmbran had the ball in the goal once more. Winger Gabriel Howells’ cross into the middle was met by Andrew Larcombe who finished well, but he was met with an offside flag as he wheeled away in celebration.
We struggled to get going in the first half, and had a lack of quality chances. The closest we came was from a corner, with the ball cleared as far as Kieran Lewis outside of the box, whose shot from distance was strongly parried away.
The Dragons were much improved in the second half, and had ourselves on level terms in the 51st minute. Jordan Knott’s cross in the box was headed out to Jarrad Wright, who’s shot was sumptuously flicked into the bottom corner by Daniel Griffiths.
The momentum was in our favour, as we created the better of the chances. The most notable came from a quick throw-in from Knott, which caught the Cwmbran defence off-guard, as Sam Johnson turned and his shot off was tipped around the post, with keeper Lewis Watkins at full stretch.
The hosts went close in the 75th minute, with a ball over the top of our defence from Thomas Dean to Oscar Balkwill who darted in behind, although his slotted finish was wide of the post.
Just two minutes after that, Cwmbran found themselves ahead in the game once more. It came from a deep free kick around the halfway mark. Oliver Berry had looked dangerous from dead ball situations all game and it was his ball into the box that found centre-half Callum Hodges, who headed the ball past Clarke, and gained his side all three points from the game.
It was a tough defeat for the Dragons, who will look to get back to winning ways at home to Carmarthen Town on Friday night at the USW Sport Park.
Attendance: 95