The Bluebirds played some fine attacking football through the midfield and right through to the penalty area and were unlucky not to beat a solid Ton Pentre side. 
      The side showed only two changes from the previous week, as Anton Owens returned and Jay Brockway replaced Jamie Evans, but there was also an appearance for sub Declan John, who put in an impressive last half-hour in midfield.
      Keeper Craig Morris and the back three of Gareth Elliott, Phil Cattlin and Dale Griffiths kept a clean sheet and are settling into one of the league’s meaner defences, while the central midfield of Owain Thomas, Ricky Watts and Gary Taylor looked fluent and dangerous. There probably wasn’t a single spell of 60 seconds when Gary wasn’t in the game and his constant probing of the Ton defence and spreading of the ball could have been a midfielder’s masterclass. Anton Owens, in the second half, and Richard Lewis, particularly in the first half, were posing problems for the Ton defence.
      The fact that a side which played so much brisk football through the park couldn’t get a clinching goal or two was largely bad luck, but may have owed a little to the fact that strikers Darren Griffiths and Jay Brockway were playing together for the first time and hadn’t really hit an understanding.
      Brockway is a very promising striker who probably needs a goal now to kick-start his season. He came very close to that goal in the 23rd minute when a ball into the box curled in behind him and his spectacular overhead shot sent keeper John Howe scrambling to turn it around the post.
      Howe did in fact look extremely solid between the Ton Pentre sticks and his composed fielding of so many crosses and corners when the Blues attack threatened probably won his side the point.
      Three-quarters of the second half saw regular Bluebirds probing, but the Ton attack was sprightly and looked dangerous on the break. They missed chances when Ross Fowler shot into the side netting and when Richard Ingram sliced one shot well wide, while Elliott had to be alert to clear off the line in the 70th minute.
      But these were isolated moments as the Blues flowed forward with a string of 5, 6 and 7-man moves. Had the Blues scored a late winner, their fans would have left the ground very happy. In the dying minutes both Elliott and Dale Griffiths went desperately close with powerful headers from Taylor corners, but Howe tipped Elliott’s header over and Griffiths’ effort whistled just too high.
      So the result was disappointing, but this was only the third time this season and the first at home on which the Blues attack has failed to score, so maybe we should remember the positives. The three games since the management re-shuffle have yielded 5 points and, for all the disappointment that those 5 points weren’t 9, the side will want to now to travel to play Cambrian & Clydach next Saturday in a mood of optimism.