PENARTH ‘A’ 2-0 Neath

The visitors, a rare 1st XI in De Cymru 1, sat just three points behind Penarth before pushback and the Bears knew that they needed to double that advantage if they were to keep pace with the top two in the division and remain in the hunt for a second successive promotion.

The opening exchanges were cagey with both teams looking to gain the ascendancy but, after a scrappy first ten minutes, Penarth slowly started to dominate possession. Despite the home side pushing for the opening goal, however, a stout Neath defence made chances hard to come by, requiring a bit of individual brilliance to make the breakthrough. The returning James Kidby duly supplied the spark, beating two defenders and drawing the ‘keeper before squaring the ball to Tom Parkinson, who netted his first goal of the season.

The remainder of the half saw Penarth dominate but fail to create any clear cut chances, leading to a familiar half-time reminder that the next goal would be crucial, especially as Neath continued to pose a threat on the break.

Spurred on, the Bears started the second period on the front foot, with wing backs Dave Stevens and Andrew Hornby pushing high and providing some excellent crosses which the attackers couldn’t quite finish. As the Vale side grew in confidence, however, the chances started to flow, with Phil Lane and Jack Jopson both testing the Neath ‘keeper early in the half. Sam Docherty even had the ball in the back of the net, only for his shot-come-cross to be ruled out as the ball was struck outside the ‘D’.

For all of Penarth’s dominance, Neath remained dangerous on the break, but some excellent tackling from Jamie Davison and Craig Llewellyn thwarted most attacks and, when Neath did get a shot away, goalkeeper Adam Putt was up to the task, making several good saves to keep the Bears a goal ahead.

The decisive second goal finally came midway through the half, again as the result of a moment of brilliance, this time from Richard Baker, who dispossessed a Neath defender deep in the visitors’ 25 before providing a pinpoint cross for Kidby to deflect home, diving full stretch at the far post.

As Neath pushed to get back into the game, Penarth created further clear-cut chances, but some excellent goalkeeping and poor decision making in the final third saw any addition to the lead go begging, with the game ending 2-0 as the Bears extended their streak to five games.

Goalscorers: Tom Parkinson, James Kidby