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The Intro

Both of these sides finished mid-table in the 24/25 Ardal League South East. The Bluebirds finished in 10th place, and haven’t got off to the best of starts this time out. Their three defeats so far have all been heavy: at home to Cwmbran Town and then Goytre 3 days later, followed by a 6-1 loss at Abercarn United. In between these league defeats the Blues found time to crash out of the Welsh Cup to lower league Giants Grave. Things have picked up since then with a 3-1 win over Caldicot Town and then two draws with Lliswerry and Undy. They also remain in the Amateur Trophy with wins over Bonymaen Colts, Clydach Wasps, and – last weekend – near neighbours Nantyglo.

Brecon Corries ended the last campaign in 8th position, and this season find themselves a few places above today’s opponents. They do, however, come into today’s game in terrible form – having lost their last five in all competitions; including a 9-2 thrashing at Caldicot Town last time out. They defeated rock bottom Tredegar Town in their most recent win, with their only other victory coming on opening day at Canton. Corries made it through one round of the Welsh Cup, beating Cardiff Bay Warriors; but went out in the next, losing at home to Cefn Cribwr.

This looks like a tough game to call with two sides looking to kick start their seasons.

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The Ground

Cwm Nant-Y-Groes is on the bucket list of many a groundhopper, and it is not hard to understand why. Roughly translated as “The cross-stream valley” (if my Google Translate skills aren’t failing me), it is situated in Six Bells; a village to the south of Abertillery. The dead-end lane off which it lies is reached by ascending some incredibly steep residential streets.

The ground has a couple of good-sized, covered, seated stands along one side of the ground. The other 3 edges of the pitch aren’t easily accessible. The incredible views afforded from pitch-side are rather distracting from the action on the pitch itself.

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The Match

Kick off was delayed while some spare pegs were found to secure one side of one of the goal nets. Fortunately a bucket of the necessary was located in good time. It didn’t take long for the visitors to take the lead – roughly 5 minutes – the hosts failed to clear, allowing Craig Evans in on goal. Bluebirds keeper Andrew Hargreaves managed to keep the initial effort, but couldn’t do anything about Jack Biggs on the follow-up. A couple of minutes later Corries’ Jay Hughes tried an audacious shot from halfway, but it lacked power and trajectory. The first real chance for Abertillery came around halfway through the half – a cross-shot from Josef Baker was palmed away by Brecon goalkeeper Joel Evans. It looked like it may have been goal-bound. On 35 minutes the away side had the ball in the back of the net again, courtesy of Jay Hughes. He was played in well and finished neatly, but looked offside and indeed the linesman flagged him. It remained 0-1. In the dying minutes of the half the Bluebirds almost equalised through young Lewis Pullinger. A long throw was flicked on and met by the head of the 17 year old, but he didn’t make sufficient contact and the ball flew wide.

HALF-TIME:
ABERTILLERY BLUEBIRDS 0 – 1 BRECON CORRIES

Joel Evans pulled off an insane save 7 minutes into the second half – a header from a corner looked certain to make the net bulge, but Evans managed to claw it away one-handed to keep the visitors’ lead intact. Next Michael Vagg sent in a long throw for the hosts. It was repelled back to him and Evans flapped as the ball was sent back into the danger area. Josef Baker just about managed to get a shot away from inside the penalty area, but the ball smacked off the upright and bounced to safety. The home side were much improved since the break, but almost conceded as a corner reached an unsuspecting Paul Keddle at the back post. Just after the hour, some good play out wide from substitute Ben Ward led to a cross towards Baker. His header was good but Evans did well to tip the ball over the bar. Referee Michael Baniak took a ball to the face a little while later. His bloodied nose mean that play was halted for a good 7 or 8 minutes as physios looked to stem the flow. When play resumed the Bluebirds had another glorious chance to level things up. Substitute Henry Organ had all the time in the world by the penalty spot, but curled his shot high and wide. The hosts would end up ruing these missed opportunities – just 2 minutes later a freekick was sent to the back post where it was met by Dale Evans on the volley. Hargreaves managed a good point-blank save but couldn’t prevent Evans knocking home the rebound. I was busy making notes on Evans’ goal when Brecon made it 0-3. Jay Hughes was the scorer, while the hosts were convinced it shouldn’t have stood due to an offside. I couldn’t possibly comment. This 3rd goal put the result beyond doubt and the Corries saw it out to secure the 3 points.

FULL-TIME:
ABERTILLERY BLUEBIRDS 0 – 3 BRECON CORRIES

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The Photos

The full gallery of match photos is also available HERE