Ponty started well again in this local derby, and went ahead with a towering header from skipper Liam Ormson from an excellent Tom Frowen corner. However Ponty conceded soon after from a Graig corner, letting Ridgeway have a free header past Liam Beer.
The Black Sheep Allowed Graig midfield too much space in the first half and were punished again when standing off Jack Watkins he had time and space to unleash a long range effort into the bottom corner. 2-1 down at half time, and a lot to do.
Ponty dominated the second half, with subs having an impact again. Lewis Roberts got in behind, but sent his shot over the bar while under pressure from a defender. Next up with a big chance for Huw Morgan who hit the cross bar after being played in. It Looked like if Ponty could get back to 2-2 they could go onto win, but sloppy defending allowed Graig’s Craig Allen in behind and a tidy finish meant 3-1 down with only 20 mins to play.
With 10 minutes left, substitute Joe Hathaway was played in with a well executed through ball by Nathan Eratne, his searing pace took him away from defenders and he produced an excellent finish for his first goal for the club. Ponty kept pressing, and a ball in the Graig box wasn’t cleared and Lewis Roberts squared to Eratne who’s slammed the ball home. Ponty gave everything in the last few minutes to win, with a series of corners not coming to fruition. The Black Sheep ran out of time having ultimately given themselves too much to do. An enthralling game of football worthy of a local derby.
MOTM – Nathan Eratne
Special Mentions – Joe Hathaway first goal for the club
Head Coach John Radnor’s Comments : Without sounding like a broken record, another frustrating one. After being 3-1 down at 80 minutes, a 3-3 draw isn’t the end of the world. But we need to stop making it easy for the opposition to score goals. In this league, mistakes are punished, whereas last season in Division 1 we would get away with it sometimes. Pleasing to score 3 good goals again and rescue a point, but feel it’s 2 points dropped. Need to learn from these mistakes fast and turn it around Saturday.
