Croesyceiliog 3 Maesteg Park 1

Croesyceiliog took a step towards ensuring first division football remained at Woodland Road on Saturday thanks to a three goal haul in the opening forty minutes.
Croesy came into the game after beating Cwmbran Town midweek while Maesteg would have came into the game looking to reduce the six point deficit between them and their hosts prior to kick off.Like in their last game Croesy came flying out of the traps and could off been a goal up inside the first couple of minutes,Jamie Jenkins free kick from the right hand side of the penalty area was delivered perfectly into the area but from six yards out Zac Osbourne who was unmarked put his effort wide of the Maesteg goal from close range. Croesy did not have to wait long before taking the lead though as they were in front after just six minutes,initially Nicky McGrath had seen his effort from Callum Miles cross tipped wide by Maesteg keeper Gary Wager,but from the resulting Jenkins corner an attempted clearance hit McGrath on the back before flying into the back of the net. Croesy had by far the better of the chances in the first half as home keeper John Bailey was not even tested and it came as no surprise when Croesy added a second goal on thirty six minutes,Chris Watkins picked the ball up on the right before rolling the ball across the goal giving Ricky Coffe the simple task of steering the ball home.Ricky Coffe then effectively finished the game as a contest six minutes before the break when his header looped over Wager in the visiting goal from a excellent cross by Miles,to give him his second goal of the afternoon and Croesy a three goal cushion.Croesy were then denied a definite penalty just before the break when Watkins was pulled down but the referee gave no penalty and waved play on.
Croesy despite be three goals in front would not have been happy with the way they started the second half as Maesteg looked to find a way back into the game,and within two minutes of the restart they had a golden opportunity to pull a goal back,Mark Morris fouled Calvin McLaggon in the area and the referee had no option but to point to the spot however John Bailey pulled off a fine double save firstly diving to his left to save Mark Dunford's penalty then as Matthew Ramadan followed up he saved Ramadan shot with his legs.Maesteg scored their only goal on fifty eight minutes through McLaggon who skipped past Daniel Clare before firing past Bailey into the far corner to make the score three-one.Croesy then had a difficult five minute spell when Maesteg looked to pull a second goal back and provide a tense finish and although they had a lot of the ball in this spell Maesteg did not have a shot of any worthwhile note.Croesy quickly weathered the storm and nearly extended their lead twice midway through the half,Mike Dewar's free kick ended with Daniel Clouth's header being palmed away by Wager for a corner,from which Dewar saw his header beat Wager but cleared off the line by Darren Thomas.
Croesy saw out the remainder of the game fairly comfortably and gain three well earned and deserved points,which saw them increase their lead over third from bottom Maesteg to nine points plus a handy twelve goal advantage and although the visitors have two games in hand the pressure is very much on them to catch Croesy in their remaining eight games while Croesy have six games left knowing survival is very much in their own hands.
Croesy will look to extend the gap as they entertain Cambrian & Clydach on Wednesday evening (6.15pm kick off),while Maesteg have a whole week to dwell on this result as they have no midweek fixture.

Croesy:Bailey,Morris,J.Jenkins,Dewar (D.Jenkins 65),Clare,Clouth,Miles,Coffe,Osbourne (Evans 65),Watkins(Pearce 85),McGrath.