Welsh Football League

Afan Lido 3 Monmouth Town 3

MONMOUTH Town’s Kingfishers return to Monmouth Sports ground action tonight after a year away in the return Monmouthshire derby fixture against Goytre FC with a 6.15 kick off, looking for their first win of the season.

Town have just two points to show for their first four games and have lost convincing leads in the last three games to worry boss Andrew Smith. Alarmingly they have also seen three players shown red cards in the opening games  with Elliot Ford and Jack Alderdice dismissed at Afan Lido last Saturday as Town blew a 3–0 lead to hang on for a point with the nine men.

Town welcomed back Aaron Davies for his seventeenth senior season and started strongly at the Marston stadium as Ford gave them a lead with just six minutes gone and Harrhy struck on 12 minutes to make it 2 – 0. It was Harrhy again on twenty minutes blasting in of the bar top make it three and from then it seemed it would be a case of how many. Lido got one back on 27 minutes as Ben Thomas was allowed a free header but it the Kingfishers were still getting by far the better of the game.

Town ‘keeper Blackburn was injured just before half time and with no substitute keeper on the bench it was left yo Ashley Ford to  don the gloves and from there it just got worse.

On the hour mark Lido made it 3 -2 as Town again failed to deal with a set piece and despite a number of good efforts the home keeper was having good game. With ten minutes remaining Ford was shown his second yellow for kicking the ball away and just two minutes later captain  Jack Alderdice conceded an extremely debateable penalty. He debated too strongly and was sent packing and Gammond converted the penalty.

The final ten minutes was backs to the wall stuff but even then Town, sponsored by furniture Importers and South Hereford Garages,  could have  scored with a breakaway. A point in the end was well earned.