A barnstorming Monmouthshire derby at Goytre’s Plough Road last Wednesday should have laid the foundations for a good performance in the Rhondda, but a poor second half against the 2012 Champions undid a fair bit of good work over the past week.

Town travelled to Goytre in an unfamiliar underdog role as their Monmouthshire rivals paraded a number of big money new signings in last season’s top Welsh League scorer Josh Brown and much travelled 6 foot 7 inch striker Lewis Sommers. For the first ten minutes the underdog assessment seemed accurate, as Keiron Blackburn pulled off two great stops but could do nothing to stop Alex Evans converting from close range after only 8 minutes.

The playing surface at Goytre was in immaculate condition, but with rain all day it was proving slippery, the ball skidding off the surface causing both sides to make mistakes. In a crazy 5 minutes Goytre went from looking the stronger side to being 3-1 down! New signing Richard Greaves made the most of a scramble with the help of a deflection to equalise and, just two minutes later, MacDonald was upended to earn a penalty and put the Town in front.

It was again the lively Macdonald who was to produce a touch of class in the game, dropping deep and picking the ball up just inside the Town half. He spotted home goalkeeper Nick Thomas off his line and drove a shot from 40 yards into the top corner to make it 3-1 with just 18 minutes played.

Monmouth looked to put the game out of reach by half time, with free kicks from Macdonald well saved by Thomas, until Josh Brown broke through one on one and coolly finished past Blackburn to bring Goytre back in the game at 3-2.

The game tilted back toward Goytre again, as Rob Laurie was shown his second yellow card for a robust challenge on Nathan Davies meaning Town’s attacking threat was diminished. The visitors still looked lively though, as MacDonald hit a shot that was well saved in the top corner by the goalkeeper. The final 10 minutes belonged to Goytre, and with a lot of pressure and balls into the box the goal finally came. Lewis Sommers showed good footwork cutting in from the right, and his left foot shot deflected off a couple of players and James Young poked the ball home to level the scores. Town survived a strong penalty appeal to earn a good point but will be disappointed not to have kept all three.

The performance and the result at Goytre showed the capability and desire of Andrew Smith’s team and travelling to Cambrian Town were perhaps more optimistic than normal, given that they have never left the Rhondda outfit with as much as a point despite some good performances. The first half was dominated by the visitors but they had come up against a well drilled defence and created few chances until Harrhy found space on the edge of the area, drilling a shot in off the far post.

With the Kingfishers in command, there seemed little way back for the home side who had shown some flashes but nothing to point to the second half that was to come. The equaliser came from a poorly defended corner, while Alderdice was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area and the converted penalty gave the home side a 2-1 lead.

With 70 minutes on the clock a Cambrian attacker was allowed to waltz through nonexistent challenges to set up a third and although good work between Harrhy and MacDonald made the score 3-2, an exposed Jacob Guy was beaten all ends up and Blackburn was bettered in a one on one duel to restore Cambrian’s two goal lead.

From three games Town have just one point, mainly down to a poor first half against Taffs Well and a poor second against Cambrian. This Saturday’s game against Afan Lido at the Marsden Stadium is looking increasingly important as Town look to return home on 2nd September with something to show for their opening games.