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Caerphilly Athletic claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory over Porthcawl Town to keep pressure on Cardiff Airport at the top of the South Wales Premier League.

The hosts welcomed Porthcawl to sunny Ystrad Mynach on Saturday March 29, knowing they needed to keep winning games to stay level on points with Cardiff at the top.

It was a superb performance from Caerphilly, who all but killed the game off in the first-half. They’re now just a few wins away from lifting the title.

Kick-off

Literally seconds into the match and Porthcawl goalkeeper Liam Sheehy was already picking the ball out of his own net following a clinical Caerphilly attack.

Down the right, Will Toms was in far too much space and had time to pick his man out in the middle with a cutback cross.

The keeper perhaps should have got there first, or stayed on his line, but it was Jason Gardiner who managed to get contact for the easiest of finishes into an empty net.

The worst possible start for the visitors, who did have a few minutes of possession following the goal, but could only muster-up one half chance when Joseph Joyce blasted an effort over.

Caerphilly soon regained control, and continued to find joy down the right through Toms.

He was found smartly by Max Franke, whose lovely through ball sent the winger away once more. His shot was saved on this occasion.

Dominating the tie, Iwan John tried his luck with a speculative lob from 30 plus yards out – only just over the frame of the goal.

The second did eventually come in a more conventional way, once again from the right hand side.

Probably his best bit of work on the day, Toms dug-out a great cross from under his feet to find John in the middle.

He had the header to match, guiding it expertly into the far corner, off the post and in.

Porthcawl should have answered straight back when Leon Rayner had a golden chance to put one past Christopher Alexander, but leaning back, the ball well over the bar.

With half-time approaching, there was still time for the hosts to snatch one more goal and kill the match.

A cross from the right should have been cleared by defender Harvey Crews, but he got it all wrong and Franke was there to hammer the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Second-half

Picking things up where they left off, Caerphilly were threatening again down the right when a ball was played into Gardiner. He couldn’t sort his feet out though and fired over.

The visitors could have perhaps got back into the tie when a corner fell to Luke Conaty in the box, but his effort smashed the underside of the bar before being hooked away.

Credit to Porthcawl, they had a much better second-half in general. There was a bit more control, combined with the fact Caerphilly were happy enough to take their foot off the gas just a touch.

Still threatening on the break however, Toms almost had a goal to go with his hat-trick of assists, but shot just wide after a nice run down the right.

Rayner was doing his best to make things happen for the visitors – their best player on the day – he’d often get past one or two defenders but ultimately couldn’t do it all.

Porthcawl continued to probe despite the scoreline, and Conaty should have pulled at least one back when a cutback to the number nine was on a plate.

His connection was poor however, and Caerphilly were putting bodies on the line to protect their clean sheet.

Just as you thought Porthcawl had at least drawn the half, Caerphilly had one last attack in them when Gardiner turned provider for sub Mark Walker.

The substitute was slid a well weighted ball down the right, and didn’t even need a touch. Instead, he placed the ball perfectly into the top corner past Sheehy to huge celebrations from all involved.

Full-time and a very professional performance from Caerphilly Athletic. Looking to keep pressure on Cardiff Airport at the top, they scored early goals and managed the game well.

With Cardiff also winning, the pair remain level on points, but do play each other in just a few weeks time for a potential title decider.