Principality Welsh Premier League

Easter Monday 13th April 2009

at The GenQuip Stadium, Port Talbot

Port Talbot Town 2-0 Neath

Goalscorers

Port Talbot Town

Matthew Thompson (86 minutes)

Martin Rose (90+2 minutes)

Neath

None

Attendance - 287

Referee - Mr Brian James

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1st Team 08-09

Port Talbot Town

Team - Kristian Rogers, Leigh De-Vulgt, Scott Barrow, Scott Evans, Matthew Rees (c), Lee Surman, Lee John, Matthew Thompson, Martin Rose, Liam McCreesh, Karl Lewis

Subs - Drew Fahiya (rep John - 64), Shelton Payne (rep McCreesh - 90), Gareth Phillips, (rep Evans - 64)

Yellow Cards - Scott Barrow (73), Lee Surman (90+3) - Red Cards - None

Goalscorers - Matthew Thompson (86), Martin Rose (90+2)

Neath

Team - Wyn Walters, Kyle Graves, Richard Ingram, Sean Cronin, Rob Folland, Matthew Rees, Stephen Pockett, Dion Chambers, Kerry Morgan, Andy Hill, Michael Waters

Subs - Clayton Blackmore (rep Ingram -87), Richard French (rep Morgan - 53), Jack Shannon  (Unused), Luke Morgan (Unused), Leigh David (Unused)

Yellow Cards - Andy Hill (15), Rob Folland (81) - Red Cards - None

Goalscorers - None

Attendance - 287

Referee - Mr Brian James

Manager Mark Jones made a number of changes to his starting line-up for this Easter derby match as Scott Evans and Liam McCreesh both returned to the starting line-up in place of Drew Fahiya and Gareth Phillips. Neath named four former Port Talbot Town players in their starting line-up in Michael Waters, Stephen Pockett, Kerry Morgan and Rob Folland and it was Waters who caused the early problems for Port Talbot Town with a number of forward runs on the left. Neither side were able to create many chances as they competed against the wind, the hard playing surface and inept officiating and both sets of players were left frustrated at not being able to take charge of the match. With very few notable chances in the opening half, Neath made an enforced change early in the second half as another former Port Talbot Town player Richard French replaced the injured Kerry Morgan on 53 minutes but his arrival did not spark his side into creating many chances although they did start to play the better football as Port Talbot began to feel the effects of playing twice in three days. Chances remained few and far between before Scott Barrow came close on 74 minutes after an impressive run while at the other end Michael Waters could only direct his effort wide of the post. With a goalless draw appearing to be the most likely result from the poor encounter, Matthew Thompson capitalised on a mistake by Neath goalkeeper Wyn Walters on 87 minutes to score from the edge of the area. With the momentum then in their favour, Martin Rose added a second soon after the re-start to make the game safe and hand Port Talbot Town an impressive return of six points from the Easter weekend.

14th April 2009 - Western Mail

Match Report

Two goals in the last five minutes from Matthew Thompson and Martin Rose continued Port Talbot’s remarkable rise up the Welsh Premier table. The club was looking over its shoulder when manager Mark Jones walked through the door in the autumn following a dismal sequence of results. But, 16 games and only two defeats later, the Steelmen are now eyeing a possible top-five finish. With two matches remaining they trail Bangor City by a point, while Haverfordwest are a further point ahead with the two sides scheduled to meet at Bridge Meadow on Friday night. Jones praised his players, saying: “We have had two games in 48 hours and two wins. That’s a great effort by the lads. The team spirit is excellent and the players keep churning out the wins and we’ve come such a long way in a short time. We can still finish fifth which would be a tremendous achievement and, with the game on Friday at Haverfordwest, the ball is in our court.” He continued: “It wasn’t a great game, especially the first half, but we had a chat at half-time about doing the right things and we did that second half.” There was very little to enthuse another disappointingly meagre GenQuip Stadium crowd with both teams cancelling each other out, but it all changed in the 85th minute. Eagles’ goalkeeper Wyn Walters came for Leigh De Vulgt’s well floated cross, failed to reach his target and only succeeded in flapping the ball to Thompson on the edge of the area and he returned the favour with interest. Rushing forward in an attempt to preserve a four-match unbeaten run – all won – Neath were exposed by livewire substitute Drew Fahiya with two minutes remaining. He set off on a dazzling foray down the flank, outwitting a number of visiting defenders before supplying Rose who made no mistake. It was the striker’s 22nd league goal of the season, almost half his side’s total. It was a disappointing finale for the visitors who have risen magnificently in recent weeks to earn themselves another year in the top flight. Their manager Andrew Dyer said: “It wasn’t to be, was it? It was a scrappy, horrible game but there’s no doubt the better team won. They had too much experience and know-how for us and they put the ball into the box more often than we did. We’ve survived to fight another day in this league and we must make sure we are not in this position again. We must ensure we move forward. There’s a lot of work to be done.”