CWMBRAN 0-1 AFAN LIDO

Report by Phil Holmes

We travelled to Cwmbran on Wed 22nd Feb for a proverbial 6 pointer.
Both sides took advantage of fielding 3 overage players. Ours being Wyn Walters, Craig Martin and Chris Piper.
The first half was lively with Lido being dominant early on through Rhys Owen in central defence and Craig Martin, both being marshalled by Daniel Williams. Unfortunately the pitch represented a quagmire and wasn't a scratch of the pitch everyone associates Cwmbran's' Stadium to be like. However through Kieran Howells and Ceri Williams in central midfield we tried getting the ball down and wide to Janson Whitelock and Richard Miles to provide our front two with crosses.
With our early pressure we gained several corners which on another day we probably would have got something had it not been for a 6ft 3in GK.
Wyn was hardly tested to the hilt other than to shepherd through balls wide for a goal kick or to safely pick up.
In the second half Cwmbran were having too many spells attacking and were looking far too dangerous going forward.
On the 65th minute we were forced to change our shape due to an injury to Craig Martin and Josh Cokely went on to bolster the defence.
Wyn was called upon several times throughout the latter stages of the game where he pulled off three one on one saves which kept us in the game.
With 10mins remaining Phil Holmes & Brian Thomas were content with a draw especially when Liam came off with cramp, with no more subs remaining.
However Liam McCreesh being Liam McCreesh was not going to give up that easily and insisted on carrying on playing through his pain threshold even if it was for the last 6 minutes.
Thankfully for us he did, as a free-kick was awarded on the 91st minute just inside our half which Daniel stepped up to take. The ball headed straight for both Cwmbran's' Central Defenders but under intense pressure from Chris Piper they missed their chance to clear it and the ball fell to Liam.
Out came the big frame of the Cwmbran goalie which, when Liam tried to lob him got a hand to it and pushed high into the air and goalwards. The game seemed to stop for an eternity only for Liam to follow the ball bounce on the goal line and high up into the net. 
With seconds remaining on the clock no time was left for Cwmbran to salvage anything and we left with all 3 points. That puts us 1 point behind Cwmbran in 2nd place with a game in hand.
Lido coach Brian Thomas said "Thankfully for Wyn we were still in the game with 10mins left. However these days a game tends to last 95mins and Liam obviously had other ideas than a draw. It must have been something to do with being dragged away from his girlfriend on a freezing cold night in February. All the boys played well, even the senior players like Chris Piper."

Wyn Walters, Richard Miles, Janson Whitelock, Craig Martin, Rhys Owen, Daniel Williams, Kieran Howells, Ceri Williams, Chris Piper, Scott Bamsey, Liam McCreesh, SUB Josh Cokely.