Rhyl 1, Cwmbran Town 0

CWMBRAN slipped to their second league defeat in the last three games and the result and the performance may well convince manager Tony Willcox to bring in some new faces.

Perhaps the time has come to freshen up the dressing room because the Gwent outfit were a mere shadow of the side which had done so well in winning 3-1 at Bangor the previous Saturday.

In between, an under-strength Cwmbran side had run Newport County close in an FAW Premier Cup tie and that display convinced many that a positive result could be gained at Belle Vue.

However, too many players had an off day, a fact coach Roger Gibbins agreed with: "We just missed the cutting edge required and we didn't look quite right."

It's as well goalkeeper Pat O'Hagan wasn't one of those off colour otherwise Willcox's men would have been forced to make the 165-mile home journey with their tails firmly between their legs.

O'Hagan, particularly in the second half, made a series of fine saves for the visitors.. Skipper Sean Wharton was also outstanding in the heart of Cwmbran's defence, which is sadly lacking an authentic central defender.

Rhyl were simply too strong, especially in midfield, and worked much harder all over the park than the visitors.

Cwmbran, though, did have their moments, striker Rhys Griffiths, who was playing Cardiff parks football with Lisvane before his pre-season signing, forced home goalkeeper Lee Williams into a smart save on the stroke of half-time.

And they went even closer after the break when top scorer Craig Hughes deflected a Chris Watkins shot on to a post.

There were other Cwmbran efforts which went narrowly wide on the home side's woodwork, but in all honesty Rhyl deserved this win, which took them above the visitors into fifth place in the League of Wales table.

All the goals in Cwmbran's 3-2 defeat by County came from set pieces, as did Rhyl's match winner from Gareth Wilson.

Not only wasn't a 53rd minute corner not properly cleared, but there was also no-one marking Wilson 25 yards out.

It meant the midfielder was able to compose himself before cracking a 25-yard thunderbolt which flew into the top right-hand corner, leaving O'Hagan absolutely helpless.

Cwmbran have now lost four times in the league and with difficult away games against Rhayader Town, Barry Town, TNS and Newtown to come before the New Year, they really can't afford to lose too many times again if they are to realise their title aspirations.

Meanwhile, Cwmbran Town are again struggling to field a full-strength for their return FAW Premier Cup tie against Newport County at Spytty tonight (7.30 pm).

The League of Wales outfit were minus five first-team regulars and even had to name three players from their newly-formed academy on the bench when the teams met at Barry's Jenner Park last Tuesday, County winning 3-2.

They will definitely be without suspended top-scorer Craig Hughes and look likely to be minus the services of several others.

Goalkeeper Pat O'Hagan could miss the game with a recurrence of the ankle strain which kept him out of the Jenner Park clash while defender Neil Smothers and winger Nathan Cotterrall also picked up knocks during Saturday's 1-0 away league defeat at Rhyl.

"We had a few injuries at Rhyl, were forced to make a few substitutions earlier than we would have liked and the lads who came on were carrying little knocks," revealed Cwmbran coach Roger Gibbins, a former Newport County manager.