Taylor and Griffiths seal a Festive Derby Win for Town

Goals in each half makes it unbeaten in 7 and a Happy End to 2018

This was a local derby that was one that everyone was looking forward to and a big crowd was there to watch it despite the poor weather and the Swans being at home just down the road.

Early news came through that West End keeper Lewis Gibbs was involved in an accident on the way to the ground but fortunately he was not injured and was able to take his place in the West End starting eleven ... he also went on to have an excellent game so full credit to him and we all wish him well. West End featured a number of former Pontardawe Town lads including Callum Poland, Daryl Hughes and, player coach, Robert Shannon.

Town tweaked their line up a little with Josh Dorward returning instead of Tom Blizzard and Tyler Aylward instead of Tim Georgievsky.

The game started with Town in the ascendancy but early chances were not taken and then poor defending allowed West End to score on 13 minutes through Tom (TJ) Davies. Whilst Town were looking the better side the visitors were dogged in defence and always looked dangerous on the break. The threat of Callum Poland's free kicks is something we are all aware of at Town but fortunately his 25 yard effort on on 30 minutes sailed over the bar.

Town had a goal disallowed on 39 minutes as a re-taken corner was judged to have crossed the line but it looked to be still in play. The corner, taken by Garry Taylor, was headed back by Liam Griffiths for Craig Davies to strike home. Garry Taylor though was on hand to score an excellent equaliser with a superb strike, his 4th of the season, on 45 minutes and that is what the lads deserved as they were on top for most of the game.

The second half again saw Town having the better of the play but West End always looked to have a goal in them and with their back four in good form they were proving to be a tough nut to crack. Add in the experience of Rob Shannon and this was an edgy time for Town despite their dominance. That dominance did eventually pay off when Oliver Schofield sprinted down the right and his low cross was right on the button for Liam Griffiths to fire home his 14th goal of the season on 75 minutes.

More goals were surely there for Town but they weren't able to convert the many chances that came along. The only other major talking point was the sending off of Lewis Hartson for a really bad tackle on Garry Taylor. It was a clear red card but it was a tackle that wasn't in the spirit of the rest of the game. Almost immediately after the dismissal Garwyn Davies, who had an excellent game in the middle, blew for time and Town leave 2018 with an unbeaten 7 match run that goes back to the end of October

Happy New Year