t was a mild evening to start with at Glenhafod Park, the home of Goytre United and the pitch looked nice and flat.
The home team managed by Lee John were looking for back to back wins over teams from the Amman Valley.
The game kicked off with Goytre United taking the offensive in the early stages.
Ammanford were finding hit hard to break out of their own half.
Goytre United almost took the lead in the 11th minute when a Keane Watts effort just went wide of the goal.
Ammanford did respond two minutes later when striker Craig Frater who spotted the goalkeeper of his line and he unleashed a volley from some thirty yards out which swerved and dipped just over the crossbar, a narrow escape for the home team.
However this game was effectively won for the home team in the space of ten minutes when a lapse in Ammanford’s defence allowed Goytre’s Cullen Kinsella to open the scoring by slotting the ball into the Ammanford net from close range. 1-0
Ammanford were struggling to find cohesion in their forward play and the pressure mounted on their defenders.
A free kick was awarded to Goytre on the right hand side of the Ammanford goal just outside the penalty area and a few yards from the byline.
Up stepped Goytre’s Keane Watts to take the free kick. The Ammanford defence were all set to defend the cross into their goalmouth. The whistle blew and Keane Watts produced one of the better moments of the game when he curled the ball directly into the far corner of the Ammanford net deceiving the entire Ammanford defence. It was a quality strike to put his team 2-0 up.
Ammanford had to respond and did pull a goal back before half time when Ammanford’s strikers Luke Borelli and Gavin Jones got the better of the Goytre defence and the ball fell into the path of Gavin Jones who ran into the Goytre box and placed his shot passed the advancing goalkeeper Mathew Stanton, who did get a hand to the ball but was unable to prevent it from hitting the back of the net. 2-1.
As the half time whistle blew it was the home team that looked extremely comfortable with their 2-1 lead. For Ammanford it was all to do in the second half.
Ammanford came out for the second half knowing that they had to compete more for possession and certainly create more opportunities in the game going forward.
As the second half progressed the rain started to fall as spectators took shelter in the stand.
Goytre United became more of a counter attack team in the second half and allowed Ammanford to pass the ball around from the back.
Ammanford’s Manager Gruff Harrison made his substitutions as the game went into the final third. On came Tristan Jenkins and the influential midfielder Andy Robinson.
It was Robinson who started to take control of the midfield and demanding his to team to push forward more. As hard as he and his team mates tried they were met by a steadfast home defence.
The final throw of the dice from Ammanford was to bring striker Bruno Forkouh to try and get something from the game.
Ammanford came close when Ammanford’s Andy Robinson hit a rasping shot which was well saved.
As the game entered stoppage time Ammanford created one final chance when a cross found Luke Borelli at the far post who struck the ball from close range but was denied by Goytre’s Goalkeeper Mathew Stanton outstanding save to deny Ammanford a share of the points.
Soon after the referee blew for full time and it was a further three points for Lee John and his Goytre United team.
In fairness, it was a deserved win for the home team.
Ammanford AFC return to JD Cymru South league action this coming Friday (Valentines Day) when they entertain the Reds of Llanelli Town at the Recreation Ground.
