Cogan Coronation 1 - Rees

Cadoxton Barry FC 2 - Dawson, Morgan

STRUGGLING Cogan belied their lowly position in the league with a plucky display which saw them going down by the odd goal in three - the difference in the standing of the sides not being apparent in the very early minutes.

But five minutes in came the first talking point when a Cadoxton Barry attack down the left wing saw a perfectly weighted cross towards the centre with Oaten running on and looking likely to score while the referee was standing well back behind the action near the half-way line.

From the point directly behind the goal and facing the attack, there was a late challenge from the left and slightly behind to make no contact with the ball whilst leaving Oaten crumpled on the ground.

Play was waved on and was already at the opposite end of the field before the referee blew to allow Oaten attention. But the leg injury was too painful for him to continue.

The challenge seemed to carry no malicious intent, but a penalty with no booking was the very least that should have been awarded.

With Rhodri Morgan on in Oaten's place Cadoxton Barry started to take the game to the opposition though Cogan continued to look very capable on the break.

This was demonstrated when Rees danced through a retreating Cadoxton Barry defence to fire home a blinder of a rising shot from the left edge of the box in the 12th minute.

Undeterred, Cadoxton Barry continued to press, Sansome heading over at the far post following a cross from the right.

Then the home 'keeper pulled off a brilliant double save as he tipped a curling Sansome free kick onto the bar before adjusting quickly to block the return shot on the line after it had rebounded back into play.

Another shot was blocked near the line when Morgan turned and fired after being set-up by Sansome. With goal line blocks being the order of the day, both Sansome and Morgan had further goal bound shots blocked by a dogged and well drilled Cogan defence.

Then a slick team passing move culminated with a Harris-Raffel shot that went narrowly wide.

But Cogan gave Cadoxton Barry a little reminder that they still potentially had a sting in their tail when a break down the left saw the cross ignite a bit of a mix up in front of goal before it came out of the mix to be fired home.

To the bafflement to both sides and all spectators it was ruled out. It later emerged that it was voided because a Cogan player had given the instruction, 'let it roll' without naming who the instruction was aimed at - a little harsh under any circumstances.

What might have been a 2 - 0 half-time lead to the hosts remained just 1 - 0.

The early stages of the second half saw Cogan enjoying their first spell of decent pressure, though Constant, Curran, Weekly and Adamson seemed to cope fairly comfortably until the point that 'keeper Warner was forced to leave the field with an injury.

Curran took his place in goal while Donnelly came on in Curran's place for the latter stages plus injury time. There was an immediate flap in front of Curran's goal which Cadoxton Barry were glad to survive as the 'keeper eventually gathered.

Cadoxton Barry broke away to see Sansome up ended from behind as he raced into the box. It looked to be a stone wall penalty though none was given.

Though, better late than never, Cadoxton Barry once again took control of proceedings, a clear hand ball assisting a clearance from the Cogan box once again failing to earn the penalty.

Frustrations were growing among the Cadoxton Barry players as wave after wave of attack met the solid wall that was Cogan's back four.

But then Cadoxton Barry earned a corner. Morgan found Harris Rafell to side foot it across to his left from where Dawson made no mistake with a rising drive into the roof of the net to level things up.

The sides looked to be settling for the draw when, in the 90th minute of normal time Thompson turned a free kick from the right touch line back to Morgan who lashed the ball home from the middle of the box.

An early half Cogan injury coupled with Warner's meant that around 10 minutes were added, enough time for a Jackhontaw foray into the box to be halted by a crunching tackle from behind - no penalty. It was also enough time to allow Cogan a couple of breaks up field, though they were well dealt with by the Cadoxton Barry back four into which Donnelly fitted well.

Next Saturday, Cadoxton Barry entertain Cwmamman at Bryn-Y-Don. Kick-off at 2.30pm. Programmes may be available.