JONAH AND THE CHAMPIONS OF WHALES

One thing is for certain watching Aberystwyth Town these days, you cannot leave early as you’re sure to miss some of the action as yet again, another late strike secured Aber a valuable and potentially priceless point away at champions in waiting TNS, writes Matthew Wallace. 

Trailing 3-0 at half time, Town’s remarkable comeback came courtesy of a second brace from Mark Jones and a header from skipper Stuart Jones. Whilst the overall outcome of the match pleased first team coach Antonio Corbisiero was disappointed to even find his side in a position where that comeback was needed.

“It’s a good result in the end for us but we were very disappointed to be 3-0 down at half time. We had a couple of good chances in the first half and didn’t take them, and TNS being as they are they finished theirs. It’s individual errors that have cost us again. We need to cut this out. To score three away from home and not come away with a win is disappointing”.

Having suffered a calamitous opening period, conceding three goals from as many opportunities, the onus was on Ian Hughes and his management staff to rally his side to a second half comeback.

“We played well in the first half. We had two or three good chances, the same as them but the difference is they’ve finished theirs. There were a few things said at half time but we said just go out there there’s no pressure and win the second half. Fair play to the boys, they put a great shift in over the 90 minutes and they’ve got the draw they deserved.”

“We got one goal then we had the momentum and the boys had a bit more belief behind them and then we got the second one. The boys are thinking we can get a little bit more from this. We had plenty of chances in the second half to actually go ahead. TNS are a very good side but we broke them down. That’s the disappointing thing. We’ve come away to TNS, scored three and still not won.”

But the headlines will rightly go to Town’s number 9 Mark Jones whose last minute strike capped a memorable night for the black and greens. He spoke to ATFC’s YouTube channel after the game, stating,

“We had about thirty seconds to a minute left on the clock, I’ve just turned and thought I’ll have a pop. It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes but thankfully the keeper’s been blindsided by his defender and thankfully its gone in.”

‘Jonah’s’ praises were also sung by Corbisiero. “He’s a strong boy. He works hard. You can say he’s an old fashioned centre forward. You can get it into him, he’ll hold it up and set up play. He’s scored his fair share this season and I’m sure he’ll score more.”

With just two games of the regular season left, Aber face a tough ask to secure a top three position. The first of these games is Town’s last home game of the season against second place Bala Town on Friday night, and after the positivity of the TNS game, Corbisiero is hoping that result can be used as a platform to springboard Town to three points.

“The boys are going to be full of confidence after that performance, they’ve worked hard and we can’t ask for much more than that. The desire and willingness to keep going we can take with us into the Bala game and hopefully get the three points."

Watch Martin Smith's full post match interviews with Antonio Corbisiero and Mark Jones via Town's YouTube Channel by clicking on the "Videos" tab here.

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