Pontypridd were denied victory at the death as nine-man Rhydyfelin Non Pol salvaged a point with the very last kick of the game. Liam Griffiths’ first half penalty looked like it would give Pontypridd an important victory, but such is the cruelty of football at times, the visitors were denied by a 10 second lapse at the very end of what was a solid and disciplined defensive display against a very physical opponent.
The major change in the starting line-up was the return of Piotr Tolak in goal. The former number one has opted to play outfield this season and be used as a goalkeeper only in an emergency. An injury to Lewis Watkins meant the Polish stopper was required to deputise and he didn’t disappoint with an excellent display. Owain Lewis also returned to the matchday squad after missing last week’s win over Nelson with a knock.
On a small pitch in baking conditions, the home looked the most lively in the first ten minutes. Long balls for their bustling centre forward caused one or two problems, Perry and Outing forced to combine to snuffle out one early charge. However, the best chance of the early exchanges fell to Cook inside the first minute. After Non Pol’s keeper failed to deal with a long throw, Cook had a chance from six yards but under pressure from a defender he couldn’t keep his effort down.
The first half was a fairly even contest though. Ponty probably had more of the ball and more attacking moments, but Tolak was the busier of the two keepers as the away team struggled to get efforts on target. Cook, Huw Morgan and Lewis Roberts all failed to test the keeper from decent positions. At the other end, Tolak was required to make two or three saves from largely speculative pot shots.
The game looked to be heading towards half-time without a goal when a Non Pol defender needlessly pushed Owain Lewis in the box three minutes into added time. It was a gift for a Ponty side that had struggled to create openings on the small pitch and Liam Griffiths didn’t let the opportunity with a thumping finish into the top corner.
The only negative the first half was the loss of captain Kieron Cook, who had to withdraw after half an hour with a knee injury following an awkward landing after heading the ball. Hopefully, it isn’t as bad as it seemed at the time.
HALF-TIME | Non Pol FC 0-1 Pontypridd
It was a game that had that “next goal is vital” feel about it. Non Pol had a sniff of a goal early in the second-half when there was a scramble in the Ponty six-yard box off a corner. Tolak showed bravery to smother the ball and the threat. A few minutes later Griffiths came close to adding his second, but his low shot was tipped onto the post and out for a corner. On the hour, Harris connected beautifully with a half-volley on the edge of the box and was unlucky to see it not creep inside the post. Shortly after, Roberts beat the offside trap and squared for Husband but he dragged his shot wide.
With this flurry of chances it looked like the away side would grab the second goal they needed and frustration among the home side began to boil over with increasingly physical tactics deployed against the Ponty players. This all came to a head when two Non Pol players were sent off for violent conduct with five minutes remaining.
All Ponty had to do was see out the game with a two-man advantage. Lewis Roberts had a good chance to finish it but was denied by an excellent save and then as the three minutes of added time were up, Ponty twice failed to clear another long ball, a Non Pol attacker got around substitute Patterson and fired low past Tolak.
A bitter pill to swallow for the visitors to lose two points in those circumstances in the very final play of the match.
FULL-TIME | Non Pol FC 1-1 Pontypridd
Pontypridd FC: Piotr Tolak [gk], Bradley Harris, Daniel Perry, Dan Outing (Hywel Patterson 79), Gareth Kear (Adam Davies 71), Aled Evans, Kieron Cook [c] (Owain Lewis 34), Huw Morgan, Lewis Taylor (Josh Husband 51), Lewis Roberts, Liam Griffiths (Artur Cegielka 74)
Goal: L. Griffiths (45+4 pen)
Yellow card: Gareth Kear
Man of the Match: Piotr Tolak
Referee: Steve Waters
