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Trethomas Bluebirds were brought back down to earth after a 4-1 defeat to title favourites Llanelli Town at the Centre for Sporting Excellence – their first league defeat of the season.

The unbeaten pair met on Saturday September 7, with Llanelli Town growing into the Cymru South having won their last game 3-0 against Pontypridd United.

It was a “bad day in the office” as Bluebirds manager Mark Dunford put it. The table-toppers were second best all over the pitch and will want to quickly put that one behind them.

Kick-off

The unbeaten Bluebirds seemed quiet during the warm-ups, something which they unfortunately carried over into the game.

Cries of ‘you’re still in the changing room’ from assistant manager Matthew Jones after a string of poor touches and passes led to a cheap foul on the edge of the box.

Nothing came of that chance, but only a minute later was midfielder James Saddler dispossessed leaving Llanelli with men over.

A quick ball inside to Henry Jones sucked the defence and keeper across before the forward squared to Danny Williams, who took a touch and found the back of the net.

Trethomas have typically been one of the quickest teams to get going in recent seasons; this was anything but. They looked a yard off it all over the pitch.

The hosts did slowly get back into the game with a few chances down the right, but by the 20th minute another mistake led to a Llanelli second.

A pass short by captain Saddler was pounced on by Joe Hunt, who quickly shovelled it to Jones inside. He took two touches before curling a beauty from the edge of the area, past Harry Irving into the top corner. A lethal strike.

It was the worst possible start for the Bluebirds, who needed a spark somewhere on the pitch to get them going.

Fullback Harvey Selway came within inches of being that spark after his strike on the edge of the area looked certain to find the corner. Somehow the outstretched glove of Scott Coughlin managed to tip his effort wide.

Moments later and Trethomas were in again. A ball inside to Leon Thomas perhaps should have been hit first time before a defender came across and cleared.

Thomas made no mistake when a ball was chipped over the top to him by Andrew Evans however. It wasn’t the cleanest strike, but it worked to his advantage as it crept in at the near post.

Llanelli continued to sit back after the goal and invite pressure, but still posed a huge threat whenever they made it out, especially down the left where they relentlessly targeted Selway and Evans.

The half almost ended on a high for the Bluebrids when midfielder Thomas Gameson smartly tried to lob the keeper with a header, but he tipped it away and the score remained 2-1 at the break.

Second-half

It was a fast and positive start from the Bluebirds, who would have had a serious talking to from the coaching staff at half-time.

Thomas skipped past a few down the left and drew a free-kick, only for the visitors to break with ease and almost score themselves up the other end. Everything was far too easy for the title favourites.

The resulting corner led to what was surely the killer blow. Not cleared away far enough, the ball was crossed back into dangerman Ethan Cann who made no mistake with an unmarked header.

Things soon went from bad to worse when Evans crunched into a Llanelli forward on the break. It wasn’t a clever tackle, but when referee Jordan Harman was surrounded by red shirts, it looked certain he was going to show that exact colour.

Now down to ten-men, it was going to be a case of keeping the scoreline respectable for the Bluebirds, not something they’ve had to do very often if at all.

Cann probably should have had his second of the afternoon soon after. A good save from Irving though, who put in a few, kept it at three.

Barry Town loanee Callum Huggins was brought on to try and apply some pressure further-up the pitch, but he naturally struggled to get much time on the ball.

It became a little sloppy from both sides, but when chances came they fell to the visitors.

Danny Williams had the best of them with ten minutes to go. Having rounded the keeper, he had to score. Somehow though, he fired wide.

The day was just about summed-up for the Bluebirds when the final touch of the game was a free-kick fired straight at Irving by Hunt. The ball was dropped to the feet of substitute Lewis Iles who couldn’t miss. 4-1.

It was a disappointing result for Trethomas, but more disappointing was the performance. From minute one they were second best, and were consequently punished by an excellent Llanelli side.

Despite the loss, they do remain top of the Cymru South on goal difference over Cambrian United and Newport City.

Reaction

After the game, Mark Dunford reflected on the defeat: “We were poor today. When you don’t turn up against sides like this, you’ll get hurt.

“Sometimes you can be poor and get away with it, but it wasn’t good enough from start to finish today.

“We had a couple of spells but there was some poor decision making in the opening 15 minutes which cost us.”

A team who typically start well, Dunford was asked why that wasn’t the case this time: “I counted about seven bad decisions from the start of the game which, like I say, against quality teams like Llanelli is all the difference.”

The Bluebirds face another tester on the road to Pontypridd United in their next match. Asked about that one, Dunford said: “I’ve just spoken to the boys and reminded them we have been here before, not very often, but we have.

“You don’t suddenly become bad footballers or a bad team overnight. We’ll hurt today but then dig deep, train well, and go again.”