Cardiff Met 3 Aberystwyth Town 1: Match Report

JD Cymru Premier
Saturday 8th February
Cardiff Met 3 Aberystwyth Town 1

​Goals from Elliot Evans (10, pen 76) and Will Evans (86 mins) won the game for Cardiff Met this afternoon at Cyncoed Campus, despite Alhagi Touray Sisay scoring his first goal for the Seasiders to equalise on 34 minutes. Having been fully competitive for 85 minutes Aber were left cursing their luck after finding themselves on the wrong end of a controversial late decision which saw keeper Connor Roberts sent off, and a match winning penalty awarded to the hosts.

On a blustery day in the capital the hosts started with a ferocious wind behind them and consequently dominated possession in the early stages. Mael Davies fired over, but then at the other end Marc Williams broke through and his goalbound shot was parried by Will Fuller for a corner. Met then took the lead when a simple long ball through the middle found Elliot Evans who burst through and lobbed home smartly. Despite the setback Aber went on to defend stoutly, restricting Met to few clear cut chances. Mael Davies, benefitting from a lucky bounce brought out a great save from Roberts, and Will Evans’ looping header was comfortably gathered by the visiting keeper, who denied the same player again soon after. Credit Aber who were attempting to play football, and just after the half hour Geoff Kellaway went on a brilliant swashbuckling 50 yard run down the left before crossing for Touray Sisay to open his account with an equaliser from inside the box. Back came the hosts with Will Evans smashing over and then bringing another save from Roberts, but Town saw out the half in a disciplined manner, and a half time score of 1-1 in the face of a strong wind represented a good 45 minutes work for the men in Green.

Met again dominated possession after the break though Aber also created chances: Wes Baynes saw a free kick deflected for a corner, then Williams saw a flicked header cleared to safety. Then Matthew Jones sent in a great ball from the right which Kellaway volleyed wide after a sweet passing move. Aber were still defending well with Pavel Vieira an important barrier preventing the hosts from creating opportunities, and Baynes saw one volley deflected over, and another one fire over the bar with Aber threatening a crucial victory. Then on 73 minutes came the defining moment of the game, as Connor Roberts climbed up to catch the ball and unintentionally caught Dion Phillips on the way back down with his foot. A red card and a penalty were awarded, which Elliot Evans dispatched past sub keeper Alex Pennock. Another Baynes free kick rushed past everyone in the box and then Matthew Jones had an effort cleared, only for Met to break down the right with Will Evans, and he settled the match with four minutes to go. Dylan Rees crashed a volley against the crossbar in injury time, but the score remained at 3-1 earning Cardiff Met a vital three points.

Although the hosts controlled the ball better today Aber certainly created enough chances to have earned a point, but the Footballing Gods were not smiling on the Black and Greens as things turned out. The Seasiders will be hoping for better luck on Friday night when they host Airbus UK Broughton with a 7.45pm kick off. See you there!