DEFENSIVE MISTAKES COST THE REDS

 

BANGOR CITY 3 LLANELLI 2

 

When a goalkeeper earns the man of the match accolade, it speaks volumes for the overall performances of the players in front of him, and the Reds certainly have Ashley Morris to thank for not sinking to a heavy defeat at the hands of the league champions with a very much below par all round display.

With the close season signings and on paper a stronger squad than last season, on this showing much needs to be done on the coaching side as every department was outplayed, with the back four looking vulnerable, while an ineffective midfield contributed little to the overall play.

Admittedly they were without Rhys Griffiths through injury, but one man does not make a team, and the players who did take part will know they can do far better than this, particularly if they wish to achieve a finish better than last season.

The game began well for the visitors as they established a lead after just five minutes through Chris Venables when he headed home a free kick into the box by Craig Williams, but it was pretty much downhill after this initial success with their opponents taking a firm grip on proceedings.

Hesitation between Morris and Stuart Jones allowed Sion Edwards to win possession, but his lob was off target, while it took a great save by the Reds keeper to divert a thunderous drive from the edge of the area by former Red, Neil Thomas, on to the bar when a poor defensive clearance set up the chance.

Bangor were calling the shots with the visitors looking vulnerable when they were under pressure, and it came as little surprise when the score was levelled on 32 minutes with Les Davies dispossessing Lee Surman before bursting forward and finding Alan Bull unmarked in front of goal and who gave Morris no chance from ten yards.

The Reds did briefly retaliate following this setback when Chad Bond grazed the woodwork from a Chris Thomas cross, and they were unlucky when a throw in by Thomas found Jason Bowen whose cross led to Bond seeing his shot blocked only for the loose ball to by met by Ashley Evans and his drive struck goalkeeper Lee Idzi who knew little about it.

Jones and Serman both made important interventions to prevent Bangor from going ahead before the interval, and the teams went in at the break with the Reds somewhat fortunate to be still on level terms.

However, it took only two minutes after the restart for this situation to alter as they home side struck again when Thomas conceded a free kick on the left which was delivered into the area and only partially cleared, allowing Davies to slide a pass into the path of Dave Morley who shot across Morris into the bottom corner.

Another free kick by Chris Jones led to a glancing header by Davies fly just off target, before Venables fired high over the home goal when he met a ball which Idzi had initially pushed clear from a cross by Williams.

The Reds had replaced Evans with Jordan Follows at the start of the second half, while they made another change with Chris Llewellyn came on for Bowen following his lengthy injury lay off.

But it was Morris who the Reds had to thank again when he brilliantly turned over an overhead kick from Morley following a melee in front of goal.

Llewellyn had a chance when Follows played him through in the area, but Idzi came off his line to save at his feet.

Then against the run of play, the visitors somehow found themselves back on level terms in the 76th minute when a long punt upfield by Morris led to a misplaced header from Michael Johnston which fell kindly for Follows in space, and he coolly slotted the chance past Idzi to silence the vociferous home crowd.

Buoyed by this unexpected boost, they might have gone on to get another, but Williams elected to cross when his run took him into the box when perhaps he should have gone for goal.

When the home side attacked, Morris again did well to keep out a long range blockbuster by Eddie Jebb and then was off his line to block the rebound from Kyle Wilson.

The Reds were now having to resort to some desperate defending to keep Bangor at bay, but they rode their luck when a Jeb cross was met by Shaun Pejic whose header came back off the post, and although the loose ball was collected by the Reds, it was instantly given away again with a loose pass from Llewellyn leading to Peter Hoy crossing to the far post where it was met by Wilson only for Serman to clear off the line.

If the visitors thought that perhaps their luck was in and they might snatch an undeserved point, they were in for a rude awakening as with five minutes remaining the champions struck the decisive third goal when a Chris Roberts delivery to the far post found the head of Davies whose knockdown into the middle found the waiting Wilson who steered it home from point blank range.

At the close, the Reds could have few complaints at the eventual outcome as they were second best in every department, apart from goalkeeper, and much hard work will have to be done, particularly with some difficult matches to come if they hope to emulate or better the fourth place finish of last season.

MATCH STATS.

LLANELLI; Morris; Thomas; Grist; Jones ©; Serman; Venables; Bowen (Llewellyn, 59);

Evans (Follows, 46); Holloway; Bond (Corbisiero, 85); Williams; Subs. not used;

Orme; Richards.

SCORERS; Bangor City – Bull, 32; Morley, 42; Wilson, 85.

Llanelli – Venables, 5; Follows, 76.

YELLOW CARDS; Bangor City – Davies; Morley.

Llanelli – Thomas; Sherman.

LLANELLI STAR MAN; Ashley Morris.

REFEREE; Mr. Huw Jones (Llanraedear-ym-Mochnant).

ATTENDANCE; 557.