Defeat For Mardy

On a surface more akin to a concrete car park than a football pitch, Mardy made a good start and Ben Jones shot just wide after nine minutes before a an effort from just outside the box by Dan Wait was safely held by Machen keeper Jonathan James. A goal looked on the cards after the home side's strong early showing but it came at the wrong end after nineteen minutes when a cross into the box was headed down for Oliver Phipps to crash an unstoppable first time shot past Kris Purnell in the home goal. The score was something of a surprise but Mardy were given another one within three minutes when the visitors were awarded a penalty which was confidently converted by Dan Lewis. With the ball proving to be difficult to control on the rock hard surface, It looked to be a long road back for Mardy but another effort from Wait whistled just wide and Jamie Laurent beat the offside trap only to shoot just wide before they pulled a goal back a minute before the interval. Matt Wham had collected the ball near the halfway line and he looked up before lofting a beautifully judged diagonal ball to Jones on the left of the visitors' box who controlled the ball well before drilling a shot past James to make the interval score 1-2.

The home team continued to have the majority of possession after the break but seemed to be having difficulty controlling the pace of the ball with Nathan Price, Laurent and Jones all shooting over the crossbar before Tyler Kidley extended Machen's lead after fifty seven minutes when he beat the offside trap and lobbed over Purnell. The pattern of play still remained unchanged with Mardy having plenty of possession and Price went close with a spectacular overhead kick before Rhys Evans blazed a chance over the bar. Wham also chanced his arm with a free kick from 30 yards but Mardy were seemingly unable to get anything on target to test James until he was forced to push away a Wait cross cum shot with three minutes remaining. The home side's frustration was increased even more in injury time when Cory Jones netted for Machen to make the final score 1-4. This week the team face Panteg at home on Wednesday evening (20th) before travelling to play table topping Albion Rovers on Saturday followed by another away trip against Coed Eva Athletic on Wednesday the 27th.  

A full blooded challenge between Cai Morton and JayJay Simpson of Mardy.