Afan Lido climbed out of the JD Cymru South relegation zone with a 2-0 home win over Penrhiwceiber Rangers on Saturday.
With a lot on the line, there was nothing to separate the two sides for the majority of the contest, until Liam Thomas finally broke the deadlock in the 84th minute as he prodded home from Travis James’ header back across goal.
A crucial second goal arrived four minutes later, when Connah Troy bundled the ball in at the back post from Sean Hanbury’s inviting delivery. Lido have now won back-to-back games at home and are above Rangers on goal difference.
Callum Huggins scored a hat-trick as league leaders Trethomas Bluebirds won 6-4 over Cwmbran Celtic at Avondale Park in the highest-scoring JD Cymru South match of the season.
Andy Larcombe gave Celtic the dream start as he calmly scored from the penalty spot after just five minutes, but the Bluebirds turned the game round in stunning style with a flurry of goals late in the first half – one from Gareth Tedstone and two from Huggins.
Leon Thomas slid in from Ethan Edwards’ low ball to make it 4-1 on 52 minutes, while Huggins completed his hat-trick in the 79th minute before turning provider for Gareth Tedstone to grab his second of the game five minutes later.
Callum Hodges, Ollie Berry and Larcombe all struck late on for Celtic to reduce the deficit, but the damage had already been done as Trethomas returned to winning ways.
Llanelli Town’s five-match winning run in the league was halted by a 1-1 draw away at Carmarthen Town.
The Reds dominated the chances in the first half but could not find the breakthrough until the 63rd minute when Ethan Cann provided a simple finish at the back post from Brad Gibbings’ low ball.
Carmarthen’s equaliser came with five minutes remaining, as Llanelli failed to properly clear a corner and the ball was recycled back into the middle where Gavin Jones headed home.
Dropped points for Llanelli meant that Pontypridd United leapfrogged them into second place with a 4-2 home win over Trefelin.
The Dragons suffered an early setback as Connor Goldsworthy put Tref in front with 18 minutes on the clock, but Liam Eason set up Dan Griffiths for the equaliser in the 35th minute before Eason found the net himself to score for the sixth league game in a row to complete the turnaround on the stroke of half-time.
Eason was provider for Griffiths again eight minutes into the second half, but Tref quickly reduced the deficit back to one goal thanks to Declan Evans’ strike.
The visitors pushed for an equaliser, but a second yellow card for Joe Clarke in the 86th minute made their task harder and Pontypridd substitute Kieran Lewis – returning after two months on the sidelines – wrapped up the win for his side with a strike in stoppage time.
Taffs Well suffered their first defeat under Josh Anderson as Ammanford secured a 2-1 win at Rhiw Dda’r.
The game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw until a flurry of late goals, with Ammanford breaking the deadlock in the 82nd minute as Lewis Reed met Adam John’s cross at the back post and calmly slotted beyond Eddie King.
John also assisted Ammanford’s second goal in the 90th minute as he fired a low ball into the path of Matthew Fisher, who slammed the ball into the bottom corner. Sam Johnson halved the deficit for the Wellmen in stoppage time, but it was too late for Anderson’s side to complete a comeback.
Cambrian United picked up their first league win since the start of October as strikes from Tim Parker and Liam Warman earned a 2-0 victory at home to Goytre United.
Parker put the Cam Army ahead in the 16th minute, and his goal remained the difference for the majority of the match until Warmed netted five minutes from time to condemn Goytre to a third successive league defeat.
Cambrian are now up to sixth in the table, leapfrogging Baglan Dragons who were held to a goalless draw at home by Llantwit Major.
The Dragons have kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season, while Major have seven draws to their name so far – more than any other side in the division.
Weekend results in full:
Baglan Dragons 0-0 Llantwit Major
Cambrian United 2-0 Goytre United
Carmarthen Town 1-1 Llanelli Town
Cwmbran Celtic 4-6 Trethomas Bluebirds
Taffs Well 1-2 Ammanford
Afan Lido 2-0 Penrhiwceiber Rangers
Pontypridd United 4-2 Trefelin
