Steelmen record memorable derby victory
December 26, 2012 Leave a comment
Brooks celebrates Port Talbot opener (Gareth Elms).
Port Talbot Town returned to form and back into sixth place in the table with a memorable 3-0 win over Afan Lido in the Boxing Day derby.
David Brooks opened the scoring at the Marston’s stadium just after the half-hour mark, with his seventh of the season as Port Talbot took a deserved lead.
The Blues extended their lead minutes later as Carl Payne marked his return to the side by scoring against his former club.
And the second-half had barely begun when Lewis Harling struck to seal a precious three points for Scott Young’s side.
The win puts Port Talbot back into the top-six of the Welsh Premier League with a three-point gap seperating them from their closest Championship Conference challengers Bala Town, with just three matches remaining until the league split.
Ryan Green, Jeff White and Carl Payne all returned to the starting line-up as Scott Young made changes to his starting line-up for his first derby. But it was Lido – led by former Town assistant Paul Reid – who were first to threaten as Craig Richards saved from Chris Hartland and Mark Jones in the opening exchanges.
Despite the initial scare, Port Talbot soon settled and began to dominate for long periods, but were unable to create any clear chances on goal.
In the absence of the injured Cortez Belle, Young’s latest central-defensive pairing of Ryan Green and Leigh De-Vulgt proved resolute, preventing the home side from offering anything in attack, and once David Brooks scored the opening goal there was only ever going to be one winner.
On 31 minutes, Daniel Thomas picked up the ball on the right against his former club before beating his man and cutting inside to find Lewis Harling in space. Harling then fed Brooks who slotted the ball past Chris Curtis in the Lido goal before turning to celebrate with the vocal visiting support.
Carl Payne then doubled the advantage on 37 minutes when he headed home a free-kick from Matthew Crowell with a goal that put the game beyond the home side before the break. And Lido were left with an impossible task within a minute of the restart when Lewis Harling’s far-post header gave the Blues a three-goal cushion.
The home side did offer more in the second half as Port Talbot sat on their lead but Craig Richards, although the busier of the two goalkeepers, rarely looked troubled.
Half-chances for a fourth were created and missed by the visitors, but as the second-half was played out, there was little doubt as to where the three-points would be heading.
In a derby which perhaps that lacked the intensity of previous encounters between the two sides, Bryn Markham-Jones produced only one yellow card and Port Talbot Town go in Saturday’s second clash between the two club’s with the advantage.
AFAN LIDO 0-3 PORT TALBOT TOWN
David Brooks 31′ Carl Payne 37′ Lewis Harling 46′
Afan Lido: 1. Chris Curtis, 2. Dean Hudson, 19. Joshua Doyle, 4. Paul Evans, 6. Lee Hartshorn, 7. Chris Hartland (23. Aaron Houlihan79′), 8. Matthew Thompson (10. Anthony Rawlings 55′), 9. Mark Jones, 11. Kieran Howard, 14. Luke Borrelli, 17. Alex Gammond
Port Talbot: 1. Craig Richards, 14. Carl Payne (16. Dylan Blain 72′), 8. Lewis Harling, 12. Leigh De Vulgt, 6. James Bloom, 2. Daniel Sheehan, 24. Ryan Green, 39. David Brooks (21. Sacha Walters 76′), 23. Matty Crowell, 11. Daniel Thomas (7. Lee John 67′), 19. Jeff White
Attendance:277 Referee: Bryn Markham-Jones
