Cardiff Corinthians 3 Llanelli Town 0

Perhaps more pertinent than the loss of the Reds`unbeaten league record was the manner in which it was achieved, with the visitors toothless in attack and, as a consequence, rarely threatening their opponents`goal.

Their only notable efforts were from a Bruno Forkuoh shot which struck an upright, and a Lee Bevan header which was diverted for a corner by Corries` keeper Ian Loveless.

The dismissal of goalkeeper Craig Richards after 58 minutes for a retaliatory kick on Andre Phillips, who seemed to commit the original offence, also did nothing to enhance their cause, and with Michael Hughes taking over the goalkeeping duties, he was unfortunately responsible for the opening goal.

An eminently forgettable opening 20 minutes only led to one half chance for either side when the hosts` Jonathan Jeffries just failed to connect with a Kofi Rowe cross into the box.

As for the Reds, they were displaying plenty of willingness but without any end product, with Loveless seldom being tested to any great extent.

Richards got down to grasp at full stretch a ball driven across the six yard area by Rowe, but overall the standard of play never rose above the mediocre.

The only meaningful move of the half by either side arose when Forkuoh did well to evade a number of challenges before unleashing a shot which came back off the base of the post, and when Robert Thomas met the rebound, Ben Matthews was positioned on the line to clear.

This near miss seemed to give the visitors some much needed impetus, and just before the break a move up the right flank involving Mark Napieralla led to him finding Forkuoh, and he in turn played in Thomas, but his finish deflected off a defender and over the top.

An early second half opportunity fell to Forkuoh when he dispossessed Alasdair Gurney, but having got into the box, his intended pass failed to pick out a colleague, and the Corries` were able to clear the danger.

Loveless was finally called into action, pushing clear a Richard Lewis free kick delivered into the goalmouth, while the same player saw his snap shot diverted around by the home keeper.

The Reds were at last looking the more likely of the sides to break the deadlock, with Loveless again being forced to push away another Lewis cross which then fell to Hughes, but he was unable to take advantage.

With the contest apparently swinging in their favour, the visitors were then hugely disrupted by the sending-off of Richards, and their opponents gradually began to make their numerical superiority count, with Hughes being called into action by diverting the ball clear and forcing Phillips wide when he bore down on goal.

It was perhaps inevitable that the stand-in keeper would be finally tested, and when this occurred it led to the opening Corries goal in the 70th minute after Rowe made a run up the right before sending over a head high cross which Hughes could only help into the net.

Hughes redeemed himself somewhat by keeping out at his near post an attempt by substitute Dan Omoregie with almost his first touch. Before the lead was extended on 79 minutes following a run to the byline by Dean Clifford who hoisted a ball to the far post for Phillips to head home.

The visitors then survived going even further behind when a poor kick out by Hughes fell into the path of Clifford, and from fully 35 yards, he despatched an attempt towards the vacant goal, but the ball rebounded off the bar and into the grateful arms of Hughes who had made ground towards the intended target.

At the other end, Loveless did well to deny Bevan when he directed his header from a Napieralla free kick goalwards, but in stoppage time the Reds` fate was finally sealed when a quick counter up the middle culminated in Omoregie finding the bottom corner with a well placed finish.

A disappointing end to a great unbeaten run by the visitors, and they will have to swiftly regroup for another test next Saturday when they travel to meet Caerau. Kick off 2 p.m.

CARDIFF CORINTHIANS; Loveless; Matthews (Clifford, 46); Finn; Noyes; Johnson; Greenslade ©; Rowe; Jeffries; Brain (Omoregie, 79); Phillips; Gurney;

Sub. not used; Hallett.

LLANELLI TOWN;Richards; Bevan; Lewis; R. Jones; Powell; Napieralla (Jenkins, 90+2); Forkuoh; Berry (Wilson, 85); Owen; Thomas; Hughes;

Sub. not used; Martin.

SCORERS;Cardiff Corinthians – Rowe, 70; Phillips, 79; Omoregie, 90+1.

YELLOW CARDS; Cardiff Corinthians – Matthews; Greenslade; Phillips; Rowe. Llanelli Town – Owen; Bevan.

RED CARD;Llanelli Town – Richards.

REFEREE;Dan Pearce (Cardiff).