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Trethomas Bluebirds suffered their third league defeat of the season over the weekend in a 1-0 loss to Baglan Dragons at the Centre for Sporting Excellence.

It was an uncharacteristically poor performance from the Bluebirds, who were on an impressive four game winning streak heading into the match on an icy cold Friday night in Ystrad Mynach.

The visitors took a 1-0 lead with 20 minutes left in the game, and despite falling to ten men, held-on fairly comfortably to claim three points.

Even after the loss, the Bluebirds remain top of the Cymru South but have several sides breathing down their neck.

Kick-off

Coming into the game, both the Bluebirds and Dragons had a rare week rest, which on paper should have resulted in a higher quality match.

Not the case on this occasion though – it was a scrappy affair from start to finish.

Things could have perhaps settled sooner if Bluebirds winger Ethan Edwards managed to round the keeper and find the net. He managed the first part okay, but his second touch took it away from him and out for a corner from a blocked shot.

Set pieces were clearly something worked on by Trethomas during their week off. Defender David Vincent was the target at the far post, looking to nod it back across to someone in the middle.

It almost worked first time, but Thomas Gameson’s shot from close range was always rising.

Baglan Dragons had also spent their time preparing for this one, with some key indicators early on that this was going to be a tough evening for the hosts.

Not only was their press well timed and efficient, but the visitors did an outstanding job all game of closing the Trethomas wingers down. Neither Jack Jones or Edwards had many opportunities to run at their fullbacks due to tight marking.

Regardless of any pressure though, the league leaders were still making too many mistakes. They were often second to the ball and the visitors soon realised they had more than half a chance here.

Dylan Thomas looked potentially the most dangerous for the Dragons, finding space in between the lines and probing when afforded time.

It was more of the same for most of the half, Baglan generally on top without posing too much of a threat, while the Bluebirds tried to break and snatch something.

They very nearly did on the stroke of half-time after a sublime ball across by Edwards beat all the defenders to find striker Gareth Tedstone in the middle.

The number nine almost didn’t believe he’d been picked-out, and his shot lacked any power or direction and trickled wide of the post to the relief of the visitors.

Second-half

It was a slightly better start to the second-half for the Bluebirds. They were a bit higher-up the pitch and pressed with more shape.

When they did win the ball back however, there seemed to be a lack of confidence to play the ball forward; a lot of recycling from front to back. In fairness, there weren’t always great options partly due to the compact shape of Baglan.

Still far from convincing however, the visitors broke away down the left and Tom Randall fired a great cross in, splitting the defenders and keeper Harry Irving who was at full stretch.

Substitute Ryan Bolter was there to clear, but couldn’t get enough on it at an awkward angle and Artiom Legavec was there for the simplest of finishes to make it 1-0.

A huge wake up call for the Bluebirds, who were given another reason to sharpen-up after Randall received a second yellow moments after his assist.

Through on goal with a ball in behind, he was muscled off by the defender but went down in a heap. He seemed to kick-out at Bolter nearby and after a discussion with his linesman, Randall was shown red.

This prompted some attacking substitutions from manager Mark Dunford, hoping to capitalise on this man advantage.

Still though, nothing really changed. Goalkeeper Mathew Stanton had little to do all match as Trethomas tried to find space out wide but continued to struggle.

A rare bit of space for Edwards allowed the 21-year-old to burst into the box and round his defender who did seem to lean on him. There were huge shouts for a penalty, but nothing given.

Vincent was thrown up top for the final few minutes to offer a more direct presence, but still nothing would click.

The whistle went on a disappointing performance all round. The Bluebirds will need to dust themselves down and prepare for a short away trip to Cwmrban Celtic on Saturday November 30.

Reaction

After the game, Bluebirds manager Mark Dunford said: “It was a disappointing performance from start to finish.

“We didn’t get going at all and it was a stark contrast from our efforts last time out away to Cambrian United. Individually and collectively not good enough.

“We will take a look at it this week and prepare once again for Cwmbran Celtic next weekend.”