Louis Holbrook
27 Feb 2023
It was another successful day at home for Pontypridd United as they beat Haverfordwest County 2-1 in what was a dominant performance.
The Dragons were on the front foot from the get gp, with many long balls being put into the final third, however the visitors defended well which kept the scores locked level.
Despite the early pressure from Pontypridd, it was Haverfordwest who opened the scoring in the match. A well-timed cross by Jordan Davies found Jazz Richards, who rose highest and smashed home a header past Dragons debutant George Ratcliffe in goal.
It wasn’t long until the Dragons made their comeback as Jarrad Wright showed off his heading ability. From a corner, Kieran Lewis delivered a superb cross onto the head of Wright who guided the ball past a multitude of Haverfordwest defenders into the back of the net. The goal was deserved by the home side and up until half time they stepped up the pressure and made the most of the home advantage.
In the second half, it went from bad to worse for the visitors as Oscar Borg was shown a straight red card. During a Pontypridd counterattack, Ben Ahmun was cynically brought down just outside of the box and with Borg being the last man, the referee had no choice but to send the defender off.
The foul and red card resulted in a free kick for the home side which Lewis stepped up to take. With an assist already to his name, Lewis once again brought out his dead ball specialty as he whipped a top class freekick into the back of the net. The spectators at the USW Sport Park rose to their feet to applaud Lewis’ effort as Pontypridd took the lead for the first time in the match.
Late in the second half, the Bluebirds despite playing with 10 men began piling on the pressure as they searched for an equaliser. Henry Jones came closet for the away side, but Ratcliffe was a brick wall in net for Pontypridd.
Pontypridd could have easily had a couple more goals in the game, which would have secured the victory before full time, but Zac Jones did well to keep out efforts by Ahmun and Danny Williams.
After a fourth consecutive home win for Pontypridd, there is a real buzz around the squad. The Dragons will now have a two week break before returning to face play-off chasers Caernarfon Town at the USW Sport Park on the March 11th, 14:30 kick off.