HIGH FLYING AIRBUS TOO STRONG FOR ABER Town

Corbettsports Welsh Premier League
Sunday 29th March (ko 1pm)
Aberystwyth Town 1 v 3 Airbus UK Broughton

Aberystwyth's hopes of a second place finish were dealt a blow today as they were defeated 3-1 by Airbus UK Broughton. The match also marked Sion James' 300th appearance for the Black and Greens.

It was the home side who had the best of the early exchanges, Craig Williams testing the Airbus keeper early on before Chris Venables headed just wide of the post. Williams had another good chance, finding space on the edge of the box to shoot but was unable to hit the target. Aberystwyth continued to look dangerous on the break, Chris Davies delivering a fantastic cross which was well dealt with by James Coates. Having committed players forwards, Aber were caught on the counter attack and the ever dangerous Ryan Wignall's shot found it's way past Mike Lewis' hand and into the net to hand The Wingmakers the lead on 37 minutes.
Venables had the chance to equalize with a free-kick right on the edge of the box but spurned the kick high over the bar.

Airbus continued to look strong in the second half but it was Aber again who had the first real chance, Venables unable to convert a fantastic cross from Williams. Following this near miss, the visitors went from strength to strength. Centre-back Andy Jones hit the bar from point blank range to kick start a period of dominance for Airbus. In the 66th minute, they doubled their lead through Tom Field's 16th goal of the season. Wignall was again involved, squaring the ball for the midfielder to sidefoot home despite Mike Lewis' best efforts to keep it out. The referee waved away an Aberystwyth penalty shout as Chris Davies was bundled over in the box, but again Airbus charged up to the other end quickly, Wignall again assisting this time for Ryan Wade who curled it into the bottom corner.
The tide turned slightly as Mike Lewis, yet again, saved a Tom Field penalty having previously kept him out from the spot in the recent Welsh Cup defeat. Following a series of half chances for Aber's Mark Jones and Chris Venables, it was the latter who tapped home a late consolation goal in injury time. 

The defeat here sees Airbus and Bala pull away in the race for second, but it is still all to play for and Aberystwyth hope to turn things around in time for their visit to league champions, TNS in two weeks time. 

Report by Tomos Ings