CWMBRAN TOWN 3 CAERSWS 2

CWMBRAN took a giant step towards qualification for next season's lucrative FAW Premier Cup last night when they staged a remarkable recovery to stretch their unbeaten record to an eighth game.

With 30 seconds left of the first-half, the Crows were being outplayed and looked dead and buried as their nearest rivals for eighth place in the Welsh Premier table prepared to go in to the interval 2-0 up.

An unfortunate own goal from right-side midfielder Chris Watkins and a magnificent long-range effort from Graham Jones had earned Caersws that advantage and in all honesty, the visitors could well have been four or even five goals to the good at that stage.

However, Watkins, restored to the side after missing last Saturday's Welsh Cup quarter-final win against Bangor City, threw Cwmbran a lifeline by firing in a low drive to reduce the arrears.

Soon, another significant moment came Cwmbran's way when Caersws' influential skipper and central defender Anthony Griffiths failed to appear for the start of the second period because of a leg strain.

And with his replacement, Craig Richards, going on to endure a nightmare 45 minutes, Cwmbran were able to progress to score more than one goal in a game for the first time in six outings.

Nonetheless it took them another 23 minutes before Watkins rounded goalkeeper Andy Mulliner and Richards sliced an attempted clearance past the custodian for the winner nine minutes from time.

Less than 60 seconds later, Richards' woe continued when he was sent off for bringing down striker Mark Dunn.

And by the final whistle, Mulliner had made a couple of fine stops to prevent the comeback being even more empathic.

"I thought our second half performance was great and that we deserved the victory," said a delighted Cwmbran first-team coach and academy manager Del Cheedy.

"We were poor, very poor before the break, but we showed a lot of character, determination and drive.

"When we applied a bit of width to our game, it meant we were able to create more chances which we took."

Cwmbran Town: M Ellacott, R Carter, N Smothers, N Wigg, G Wharton, R Jones, C Watkins, A Moore (c), J Welsh (D Davies, 74), M Dunn, R Hurlin (L O'Connor, 74). Sub not used: M Morris. Goals: Watkins (44 & 78), Richards (81, own goal).

Caersws: A Mulliner, A Thomas, S Jehu, A Griffiths (c) (C Richards, 46), H Clarke, C Reynolds, A Williams, A Marfell (J Davies, 83), G Evans, G Jones, A Davies. Sub not used: G Williams. Goals: Watkins (13, own goal), Jones (39). Booked: Reynolds (85, foul). Sent off: Richards (82, foul).