Welsh League Division One

Afan Lido 1-2 Haverfordwest County

The Bluebirds played brilliantly to win a hard-fought game which was settled by three goals in the last 15 minutes.

The atmosphere in the Lido ground was close to intimidating at times and much of the tackling very hard, but the Blues clearly relished the challenge and rose to the occasion superbly. They always looked as if they really wanted the win and they played assertively enough to deserve it fully.

Lido shaded the first quarter of an hour but it was an odd feature that on the 15-minute mark the count of corner kicks won stood at four to the Bluebirds, none to Lido. And then the Blues started to assert themselves, and had the better of the rest of the half.

Increasingly, as the match wore on, the midfield of Greg Walters, Ricky Watts and Kieran O’Brien was winning most of the 50-50 challenges and regularly picking up the loose balls. Lido’s dangerous wingers Chris Hartland and Sacha Walters were being tracked man-for-man by Antonio Facciuto and Matthew Broome, and the central defence of Sean Pemberton and Jamie Evans looked solid, in front of the ever-reliable James Gwilt.

Although the Blues got few shots on goal in the first half, there were always both menace and cohesion in their build-up. Ashley Bevan had a tremendous game, with his usual strong running and some very skilful footwork, Rhys Dalling was fast and dangerous on the right and Lee Hudgell probing skilfully on the left.

After a goalless first half the Blues began to dominate even more. By the 65th minute Lido were reduced to attacking in breakaways. A Bevan shot crashed into the side netting and another was just scraped off the line. But the first goal did not arrive and for just a few minutes Lido got back in the game, with one shot going close.

The arrival of the Bluebirds subs stepped up the pace, and Steffan Williams and Kristian Speake were heavily involved in the opening goal in the 75th minute. Speake won a ball brilliantly on the halfway line and floated a lovely pass over to Watts, who ripped past the centre half and pulled the ball back from the by-line for Williams to bundle it in.

The Blues continued to press and got a fine second goal in the 86th minute, when Watts sent Bevan in with a real defence-splitter of a pass and the big striker crashed a 20-yard shot past Chris Curtis in the Lido goal.

Lido pulled one back in the 88th minute, with a bizarre goal when Gwilt’s punch after a corner hit the head of Lido’s Carl Evans and cannoned in. But the Blues were able to play down the remaining minutes for a deserved win in a game in which they were much the better side.

Haverfordwest County: James Gwilt, Matthew Broome, Antonio Facciuto, Sean Pemberton (Captain), Jamie Evans, Ricky Watts, Kieran O’Brien, Greg Walters, Ashley Bevan, Rhys Dalling. Substitutes: Spencer Williams, Kristian Speake, Steffan Williams, Chris O’Sullivan.