Airbus game hit by weather

Port Talbot Town’s visit to Airbus UK Broughton tomorrow has been postponed following a pitch inspection at the Airfield this morning.

The fixture was supposed to be the club’s first game of the second phase of the Welsh Premier League and a rearranged date wil be confirmed in due course.

It is the second time in four days that the club has been affected by the recent weather conditions, with Wednesday night’s League Cup tie with Carmarthen Town also being called off due to a frozen pitch.

Port Talbot’s next fixture is this coming Friday, with neighbours Afan Lido the visitors (7:30), meanwhile the rearranged date for the postponed League Cup game with Carmarthen has been confirmed for Tuesday 14th February (7:30) at the Gen-Quip stadium.

Carmarthen Town rearranged fixture

Port Talbot Town can confirm that the rearranged League Cup fixture with Carmarthen Town will now take place on Tuesday 14th February (7:30).

The original fixture scheduled for last Tuesday was postponed following a pitch inspection.

For full fixture details, click here.

A night with Neil Ruddock

Port Talbot Town Football Club will be hosting our latest sports dinner on Thursday 16th February – with Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock being the guest speaker.

Our 2011/12 partner’s Blanco’s will once again host the evening, which also includes a comedian, three-course dinner and auction, in what should be a fantastic evening.

‘Razor’ made his name as a uncompromising defender for both Liverpool and Tottenham and later West Ham United and is one of the true characters of the modern game and a well-known TV personality.

Tickets for the evening cost £28 per head or £275 for a table of ten and can be obtained by contacting andrew@porttalbottown.co.uk – book now whilst places are still available!

Youth duo receive Welsh Under-18 semi-pro call

Youth team player’s Ryan Morgan and Curtis Hutson had both been announced in the Welsh Under-18 semi-professional friendly against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday 15th February.

The pair are called up to Terry Boyles’s 18 man squad for the match which will take place at Ferrycarrig Park, Wexford.

The club are delighted to see the talents of the young duo being recognised at international level and wish both Ryan and Chris the best of luck.

Meanwhile, both players featured in the Under 19’s 2-2 draw at Carmarthen Town on Monday night.

The youngsters went in with a 2-1 lead at the break thanks to late first-half rally with Curtis Hutson and Chris Silva getting on the scoresheet.

“Our lads acquitted themselves superbly with a number of players out through injury but the performance, desire and attitude was fantastic,” reflected Mark Pike.

The Under 19’s started strongly with Curtis Hutson and Jordan Edwards going close with the referee disallowing an early Port Talbot goal. But it was Carmarthen who opened the deadlock, on the break, with a finely taken finish.

A strong period of possession followed for Pike’s side and they were duly rewarded when Curtis Hutson chased down a loose ball to bring the game level on 35 minutes. Seven minutes later, Hutson and Chris Silva combined once again following good work from Sam France and Silva’s close range finish saw the Blues take a deserved lead.

Port Talbot should’ve added to their lead picking off where they left off immediately after the restart with Paulo Freitas, Curtis Hutson, Sam France all threatening the Carmarthen goal before Chris Silva struck twice struck the woodwork. The missed chances were to prove costly as the hosts drew level in the 75th minute to share the points.

Pike explained: “Poor decision making and a lack of concentration for a split second cost us dearly but the performance collectively and individually was fantastic and a pleasure to see. I hope this will continue into our remaining games; keep it up lads – your energy was fantastic! We look forward to playing a home fixture this coming Sunday against Aberaman Athletic (2pm).”

U-19’s: Ryan Morgan, Jake Parry, Aaron Biddescombe, Johnny Michael, Matthew Isles (Kieran Savage), Chris Silva, Jordan Edwards (Luke Edwards), Roberto Freitas, Curtis Hutson

Port Talbot v Carmarthen preview

Port Talbot must overturn a one goal deficit against Carmarthen Town on Wednesday night (7:30) if they are to progress to the second round of the League Cup.

Despite trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Port Talbot will be looking for a home win to set up a second round tie with Afan Lido.

Port Talbot are at near full strength with recent signing Duane Saunders the only absentee following his injury in last week’s 10-0 friendly win of Bridgend Street. Deadline day signing James Bloom could also feature.

The friendly saw the Blues rediscover their scoring touch and Mark Jones will be hoping that his side can kick-on and produce the goods in front of the Town faithful and put the side in good stead for Sunday’s Welsh Premier trip to Airbus UK Broughton.

Blues make deadline day swoop for Bloom

Port Talbot Town have today completed the signing of former Cardiff City and Wales U21 International defender James Bloom.

Mark Jones completed the transfer deadline day signing at the FAW’s headquarters this afternoon and Bloom could be available to make his debut in Wednesday night’s League Cup clash with Carmarthen Town.

Bloom signs for Port Talbot after having spent a short spell training with the club and was reportedly close to joining Lativan outfit Skonto Riga.

The 20-year-old was a product of Cardiff City’s academy was fast-tracked into Brian Flynn’s Under-21 set-up before transferring to Falkirk , where he was then loaned to Alloa Athletic. Upon his release last summer, he returned south joining Blue Square North outfit Gloucester City.

Under 14 girls force draw in League Cup

Port Talbot’s Under 14 girls’ side face high-flying Valleys United on Sunday, John Kearle reports.

We played host to Valleys United at a very wet and cold Vivian Park for today’s league cup clash, Port Talbot are the only team to have beaten Valleys so far this season in the league so this game was going to be a clash of the top two clubs in the under 14′s south division.

Valleys won the toss and elected to kick off and play into the rain which was heavy and cold and Valleys started the better putting pressure on the Port Talbot defence and keeper from the kick off. Port Talbot defended admirably and kept Valleys at bay until the fifth minute when the ball was cleared from the Port Talbot area only to be picked up by the Valleys midfield player who shot a low hard drive which came skidding off the wet pitch through a crowd of players and the Port Talbot keeper didn’t see the ball till the last second managed to get down and get something on the shot but the ball went under her body and trickled over the line to make it 0-1 to Valleys after six minutes.

This seemed to spur Port Talbot into action who started to putting the Valleys defence and keeper under pressure who pulled off several good saves and the defence scrambled away several corners and good attacks. Valleys who were under pressure started to get very physical and Port Talbot were resolute and stood their ground under extreme provocation, the score remained 0-1 to Valleys at half-time.

We swapped two girls positions around at half time bringing Carys Wilkinson into centre midfield and putting Jade Dawkins up front with Lauren Amor, Port Talbot kicked off and with conditions getting worse were having the better possession and were doing most of the attacking and were bringing the best out of the Valleys keeper who pulled off several great saves.

Show Racism the Red Card team visits Port Talbot Town

On Thursday the 26th of January, Show Racism the Red Card held an event in association with Port Talbot Football Club to educate over fifty year 5 and 6 pupils from Tywyn Primary School about contemporary issues of race, both in sport and in their community.

In the club’s function room, our education workers Christian Roberts and Chris Stokes, assisted by figures from the club and local community, worked to highlight issues of racism to these young people, providing them with an opportunity to safely ask questions about racial issues, including discussions around stereotyping, the differences between cultures, and appropriate language for discussing race.

The children quickly engaged with the discussion at hand. One child, when asked for the place burgers were invented, suggested ‘Burgeringham!’. Another, when asked which country Justin Bieber was from, replied confidently that he was born in ‘Bieberland.’ At other times, the pupils observations were more profound; one boy, when the group was asked why they were being shown a picture of Shaka Hislop, suggested that it was because he is ‘coloured’ – exactly the kind of observation which leads SRTRC to host events like these. In fact, when asked about racial terms, no child raised their hand when asked if they would use the term ‘black’. Almost every child, however, said they would use the term ‘coloured’, and audible gasps could be heard when they were told that the term was very disrespectful. Given the children’s high level of engagement, it was unsurprising that they seemed to enjoy the day, describing it variously as ‘excellent’, ‘awesome’, ‘really fun’ and, perhaps with a hint of hyperbole, by one child as ‘the best day I ever had.’

The event also received positive responses from the adults present. Tim Richards, one of the teachers at Tywyn School, said: ‘it’s a very well presented and run day, and with recent events in the premiership it’s apt to have an event like this for our pupils.’

Sian Thomas, also a teacher, observed: ‘it’s surprising to see how much the children actually know.

They all seem to be enjoying the day and are learning to participate and share their ideas in a safe environment.’ Police School’s Liason Officer Ian Wozencroft, who has close ties to the club, assisted the organisation’s staff with a question and answer session and after the event stressed the need for this kind of work in the local community.

We interviewed Ian after the event about his thoughts on the event and the importance of educating young people about racism which can be viewed HERE

Show Racism’s coach, Christian, struck upon a similar note when answering a student’s question about why racism was such an important issue. He asked the pupils: ‘Have you ever lost a loved one?’ (most of the room raised their hands.) ‘People lose their lives all the time because others decide that they don’t like the way they are. People dying because of racism is something that we can’t accept. That’s why we have to do as much as we can to educate people about it.’

Prize winners won SRtRC goodie bags and match tickets for Port Talbot Town FC.

The club’s Head of Youth Development, Mark Pike said: “The event went exceptionally well and forms an important part our community work. These events not only bring our club together but also young children from the local community/schools. When I was first contacted by Jason, I was delighted to be bring SRtRC to our club to hold the event. Our community officer Ian Wozencroft remained at the event all day which just indicates the desire and dedication we have within our clubs’ academy.

To view photos from the event click HERE

Jones encouraged by emphatic friendly victory

Cortez Belle scored three as Blues hit 10 (Gareth Elms)

Mark Jones was left encouraged after seeing his side reach double figures in Wednesday night’s friendly against Bridgend Street.

Jones’ side rediscovered their goal scoring form by running out 10-0 winners against the Welsh League Division Three outfit.

Cortez Belle grabbed a hat-trick as Martin Rose, Paul Keddle and Chris Hartland all netted twice whilst Lee John also got himself on the scoresheet.

“There were a lot of positives to be taken from the game – we’ve scored ten goals against a side which have lost just once this season,” Jones told the official club website.

The victory however was soured by the injury sustained to recent signing Duane Saunders who left the field with a broken tiba and now faces a six week lay-off.

“It was the only negative of the night, “Jones said. “Duane was looking very impress for us and it’s a big blow. There was no malice in the challenge and he’s just been very unlucky.”

The manner of the victory will certainly give Mark Jones plenty to consider ahead of next Wednesday’s must-win League Cup clash with Carmarthen.

The club wish Duane a speedy recovery.

Bridgend Street friendly announced for Wednesday

The club can announced that a Port Talbot Town XI will face Bridgend Street at the Gen-Quip stadium on Wednesday 25th January (7:15).

The friendly will allow Mark Jones to look at his squad as they entertain Gary Proctor’s Welsh League Division Three side.