Principality Welsh Premier League

Saturday, 14th November 2009

at The Deeside Stadium, Connah’s Quay

GAP Connah’s Quay 0-3 Port Talbot Town

Goalscorers

GAP Connah’s Quay

None

Port Talbot Town

Martin Rose (1)

Drew Fahiya (65)

Liam McCreesh (90)

Referee - Mr Kevin Parry

Home Page

1st Team Page

GAP Connah’s Quay

Team - Terry McCormick, Jamie Petrie, Allan Glover, Mark McGregor, Ben Alston, Craig Jones, Stuart Cook, Danny Forde, Chris Herbert, Andrew Olson, Sam McNutt

Subs - Mike Hayes (rep Herbert - 65), Andy Alston (rep McNutt - 27), Stuart Scheuber (rep Glover - 73), Josh Gannon (Unused), Joel Thomas (Unused)

Goalscorers - None

Port Talbot Town

Team - Lee Kendall, Leigh De-Vulgt, Lloyd Grist, Karl Lewis, Matthew Rees, Lee Surman, Lee John, Neil Thomas, Martin Rose, Liam McCreesh, Daniel Thomas

Subs - Scott Barrow (rep John - 61), Drew Fahiya (rep N.Thomas - 61), Gareth Phillips (rep D.Thomas - 78)

Goalscorers - Martin Rose (1), Drew Fahiya (65), Liam McCreesh (90)

Attendance - 127

Referee - Mr Kevin Parry

Manager Mark Jones made one change from the previous weeks win over Caersws as Daniel Thomas returned to the starting line-up in place of Drew Fahiya who joined Scott Barrow and Gareth Phillips on the bench. The playing surface at The Deeside Stadium was in surprisingly good condition despite the torrential rain postponing a number of fixtures across the country and for the second week running Port Talbot opened the scoring inside the opening minute of the match. Port Talbot earned a throw inside the Connah’s Quay half straight from the kick-off and some quick thinking from Daniel Thomas saw him take a quick throw down the line to Martin Rose who turned and finished in style to take the lead after just 30 seconds. Port Talbot could not build on their fantastic start however as despite coming close with a few early corners, the home side were allowed back into the match as they began to cause problems for the visiting defence. Port Talbot held onto their lead at the break however and after a scrappy start to the second half, the game changed when Jones introduced Scott Barrow and Drew Fahiya on 61 minutes. The pace and attacking play of the two substitutes caused problems for Connah’s Quay as soon as they were introduced and within four minutes Barrow crossed the ball from the left for Fahiya to head home to double the sides advantage. Port Talbot continued to pressure the home side and pushed forward in numbers. Lloyd Grist teamed up well with Barrow on the left and could have scored a hat-trick himself with the chances he created while Martin Rose twice came close to adding to the advantage. The eventual third goal did not arrive until injury time however and it was Barrow who was again instrumental as he again crossed from the left for Liam McCreesh to head home at the back post to complete the convincing and well-deserved win. Captain Matthew Rees started the match to equal the clubs Welsh Premier League appearance record to round off a positive day for the club.

15th November 2009 - Wales on Sunday

Port show steel on long trip North

Top marksman Liam McCreesh grabbed a last-minute goal – his eighth of the season – to wrap up a comfortable hat-trick of wins for the travelling Steelmen in their last three trips to Deeside. Fresh from opening up a 2-1 advantage over champions Rhyl in their midweek League Cup semi-final triumph, confident Quay never recovered from conceding a goal in the first minute when Martin Rose fired Port ahead. From the kick-off Port exploited a long throw-in, which left Rose in space to drive past keeper Terry McCormick from seven yards. “It was a bad goal to give away almost before we started and it left us chasing the game from that moment on,” summed up disappointed Quay player-manager Mark McGregor. “We were rarely in it to be honest and there was no doubting they deserved the win.” Lifted by their dream start, seventh-from-top Port showed why they have now won four times on the road already with another solid performance that froze out the Quay on a sodden pitch that only passed a morning inspection after their opponents had been on their way north for nearly two hours. Port captain Matt Rees, making a record-equalling 155th Welsh Premier League appearance for the club to go level with former defender Robert Cockings, was determined to make the landmark occasion a winning one as he marshalled his side to return three handsome points richer. Fifth-from-bottom Quay found Rees and keeper Lee Kendall a formidable barrier and their prospects of a point to show for some sustained spells of genuine pressure further receded when newly-introduced substitute Drew Fahiya headed Port’s second at the far post on 65 minutes, having only become involved for four minutes. In a twin substitution Fahiya replaced Neil Thomas, with Scott Barrow taking over from Lee John, producing a crucial goal to effectively kill off the flickering home threat. McGregor brought on all three home substitutes in a bid to claw back the deficit but the final word on the scoring fell to star predator McCreesh when he outjumped the Quay defence to add to his tally in the first minute of added time and plunge the fifth-from-bottom Deesiders into deeper trouble in what was only their second home league defeat this season.