Cwmbran Celtic vs Trethomas Bluebirds

The Welsh football season kicked off in a unique atmosphere as Cwmbran’s first game of the season began with a 12:30 kick off due to the Cwmbran Crow Fest next door with intermittent music being played during the match and the weather seemingly changing its mind every five minutes

The game kicked off as Cwmbran started slowly in this Nathaniel Mg Cup tie against newly promoted and big spending Trethomas Bluebirds. The only highlight of the opening ten minutes for the hosts was a Thomas Meechan mid range shot being saved easily.

It was a very different matter for the visitors as they had a couple chances in the early minutes and took the lead after ten minutes when the ball bounced in a crowd of players on the edge of the area and fell nicely for Levi Rees to pounce His shot whizzed past Watkins in the home net before he had a chance to react.

The next 15 mins saw Trethomas gain control of the game as they kept more of the ball without really threatening the goal save for a hairy moment for Watkins when a cross from the left side looped over him as he attempted to catch the ball. Luckily Cwmbran’s defence managed to hoof the ball away before there was any more danger.

That slice of good fortune proved important as no sooner had I written in my notes that Celtic were struggling to link more than two passes together then they had the ball in the back of the Trethomas net after twenty-five minutes thanks to none other then Alex Bonthron who slid the ball home after finding himself in lots of space in the right side of the area after a Bluebirds player went down in the opposite side during the buildup.

This equaliser appeared to wake up the home side whose performance improved immediately as the home side quickly had a couple efforts to take the lead including Bonthron hitting a half volley outside the visitors area which went wide of the net.

After thirty seven minutes came the funniest moment of the game at least for this reporter as Trethomas had a free kick halfway inside the home half and the festival next door played a loud thudding noise as if it was a loud heartbeat to increase the anxiety. Thankfully the free kick went harmlessly very very high over the net.

Three minutes later though it was the Bluebirds who had their anxiety levels increased as Andrew Larcombe got a glancing header on the end of a cross from the left side and the ball flew past Cameron Clarke in the visitors net to give Celtic a two-one lead at half time.

Following the half time break Simon Berry was forced into his first change as Cwmbran manager when he brought on Joshua Rippon for Callum Hodges who got a knock late on in the first half.

The second half began quickly with the promised rain still holding off for the most part with the hosts starting with a very nice period of possession which led to a harmless corner.

Only five minutes into the restart and the Bluebirds levelled the game once again as Leon Thomas in almost a mirror image of Bonthrons earlier goal found himself in oceans of space in the left side of the Cwmbran area and slotted the ball home nicely past Lewis Watkins.

Alex Bonthron was clearly enjoying the game as in the fifty second minute when trying to get on the end of a cross he attempted to unleash his inner Bellingham but unfortunately his overhead kick went well wide.

Seven minutes later a free kick taken by Alfie jones for Trethomas from the left side of the box was whipped very nicely onto the head of William Bevan who powered the ball home with a very good header for the visitors to regain the lead at 3-2 after fifty nine minutes.

Unfortunately the last half hour of the game passed pretty much without incident as the rain started to get heavier and make playing conditions more difficult. The only remaining incidents of note were when Bluebirds had five corners in a row before the Celtic defence finally managed to clear the ball away. Also Leon Thomas capped a good performance as he had a good run down the left hand side jinking past a couple defenders before being brought down just outside the box for a free kick which was curled past the wall but was saved well by Watkins.

That was how the game finished with Cwmbran Celtic failing to progress past the first round of a cup competition for the fourth year in a row.