A difficult draw in the Hugh James Cup saw Ponty travel to Porthcawl Town FC who are 4 divisions above the Black Sheep. Not overawed by the occasion or the opposition Ponty started very well. Interlinking play nicely from the back to midfield looking for the wingers. It was an even game but the deadlock was broken by the home side when a ball was whipped in for a good header to hit the back of the net. Again play was relatively even but the different quality could be seen with the way Porthcawl retained the ball and knocked it around nicely making Ponty work really hard in defence. In the 37th minute Porthcawl took the lead with a superb run from the midfielder and a real quality finish. Half time 2-0 and not a lot in it a very good first half for the Black Sheep.
The second half started as the first half ended with Porthcawl having the lions share of possession but not really troubling the Ponty defence. However on the 55th minute a slick Home team move gave them their 3rd goal of the game. With Ponty turning to the bench to make a difference there was an instant impact when the always industrious Lewis Roberts got put through on goal and was unceremoniously taken out by the centre back to give away a penalty and an obvious red card. Spirts were raised in the away camp but unfortunately Roberts skied the penalty. This was a kick in the teeth for Ponty and the quality of the ten men shone through as further 4 goals were scored to give the home side a somewhat flattering scoreline. It was again good to put the side up against quality opposition to see where we are and where we want to be as a side. No shame in the scoreline which didn’t truly reflect the effort of the Black Sheep.
