TEN MAN REDS HELD

 

LLANELLI 1 AIRBUS UK BROUGHTON 1

 

Following their goalless draw at Afan Lido, the Reds will look on this result as another two points lost as despite their overall superiority they failed to convert this into goals and ultimately paid the price.

Some desperate defending by the visitors combined with a large slice of luck, frustrated the home side, who were not helped in their cause by the early second half dismissal of Chad Bond for a two-footed lunge at Michael Hayes, but even with the numerical disadvantage enough chances were created to have secured a win.

It was obvious from the start that the Wingmakers had come with a game plan to pack the defence and rely on the occasional counter in an effort to perhaps achieve a success, and to a large extent this tactic worked.

A couple of early Reds strikes courtesy of Rhys Griffiths and Craig Moses brought no result, with the best chance falling to the former when Chris Venables sent Moses clear before his cross into the middle found the striker, but an awkward bounce favoured goalkeeper Andy Mulliner who was gratefully able to gather it at the foot of his post.

Stuart Jones directed a Venables corner narrowly over the bar, and there were strong Reds appeals for a penalty when Griffiths was floored in the box by a tackle from Danny Grannon when Jason Bowen played him in, but referee Mark Whitby waved play on.

With the hosts dictating play, Griffiths dragged a shot on the turn just wide when Venables laid on the pass, while Mulliner got down to safely grasp a low struck delivery by Lloyd Grist into the goalmouth.

Antonio Corbisiero was next to threaten when he got into the area following another good build up, but this time a tackle by Eddie Hope snuffed out the threat at the expense of a corner.

From this, Bowen sent a rising shot over the top, while Mulliner was forced to divert a glancing header by Bond when he met a Corbisiero cross.

The visitors had barely troubled Ashley Morris and forced their first corner just before the break when a Mark Cadwallader long range shot was diverted, and when this came across, Grist had to be alert to clear off the line from a header on target.

All square at the interval, the Reds were reduced to ten men following the Bond red card on 49 minutes, and within a minute of this, Airbus took the lead completely against the run of play when an attempted clearance by Corbisiero following a ball into the box cannoned off Mark Cadwallader and past a helpless Morris to give the visitors an unlikely advantage.

Stung by this setback, the Reds responded and were back on level terms within nine minutes when a Venables corner was met by a bullet-like header from Jones which Mulliner could only help on its way into the roof of the net.

Buoyed by this deserved success, the Reds pushed forward with Venables forcing Mulliner to push clear his free kick from under the bar,while it took a saving header from Gavin Cadwallader to divert a Bowen cross destined for the head of Griffiths out of danger for a corner.

With time running out, Andy Legg came on to replace Bowen, and his introduction could well have led to a worthy Reds winner.

When Griffiths was pulled down by Gavin Cadwallader, the subsequent Legg free kick was destined for the net with the goalkeeper beaten, but somehow a miraculous clearance by Grannon saved a certain goal, and with seconds remaining, a Legg corner saw a goal bound header hacked off the line to deny another score.

A share of the points at the final whistle, but of the two sides, the Wingmakers will certainly be the happier with the overall subsequent result.

MATCH STATS.

LLANELLI; Morris; Corbisiero; Grist; Jones ©; Surman; Venables; Evans; Bowen (Legg, 84); Griffiths; Moses (Williams, 68); Bond; Subs. not used; Giles; Llewellyn; Secker.

AIRBUS UK; Mulliner; Taylor; Worton; Gavin Cadwallader; Grannon; Mark Cadwallader; Edwards ©; Desormeaux; Hayes; Whitfield (McManus, 76); Hope (Allen, 90);

Subs. not used; Griffiths; Thomas.

SCORERS; LLANELLI – Jones, 59.  AIRBUS UK – Mark Cadwallader, 50.

YELLOW CARDS; LLANELLI – Bowen.  AIRBUS UK – Whitfield; Desormeaux.

RED CARD; LLANELLI – Bond.

LLANELLI STAR MAN; Lee Surman.

REFEREE; Mr. Mark Whitby (Swansea).

ATTENDANCE; 239.