Rectifying the 3-0 home defeat to Carmarthen Town will be the aim for Port Talbot Town when the teams face each other on Friday evening at Victoria Road. They went into the Carmarthen game off the back of a four-match win-less streak however and current form albeit with a loss last weekend suggests that they are better equipped to snare the points on Saturday.
In between then and now they did draw 0-0 with the West Wales outfit in Carmarthen but now Andy Dyer’s men will want to get the 3 points in front of the Port Talbot ultras.
Know your opponent
Carmarthen are two places better off than the blues, sitting in eighth position and come into this match in indifferent form. Their last league win came in a 2-1 victory at Aberystwyth Town on 29 December, before which was their win against the Steelmen. In the last three outings Carmarthen have drawn 0-0 with our very own Port Talbot, lost 2-1 to Bala and lastly drew 1-1 to Rhyl.
Together those matches paint a picture of a team that are lacking in potency upfront and short of confidence. To coin a phrase from Manchester United fans, the blues must “attack, attack attack” as they did when earning a draw back in January.
Ironically the Steelmen couldn’t score on that occasion although they came close on countless occasions in a dominant first half. Interchanging buckaneering movement from Martin Rose, Kostya Georgievsky and James Loveridge nearly led to a goal on numerous occasions and defending by holding possession further forward will again be key. Add to that the fact that Kerry Morgan is in line for his home league debut and the hosts chances look promising.
I am going to predict a 2-1 home victory at the third time of asking.
Key Men
Port Talbot Town
An in-form Martin Rose is my bet for first goalscorer courtesy of an assist by Loveridge or Morgan.
Carmarthen Town
Luke Cummings pops up with the odd goal from defence and will be a threat from set plays.
Likely Line Ups
Port Talbot XI: Steve Cann (C); Kurtis March, Leigh De-Vulgt, Alan Tate, James Parry; Joe Clarke, Paul Fowler, Chris Jones; James Loveridge, Kostya Georgievsky, Martin Rose.
Carmarthen XI: Lee Idzi; Luke Cummings, Craig Hanford, Dwaine Bailey, Daniel Sheehan; Chris Thomas (C), Ceri Morgan, Jordan Knott, Luke Prosserr; Liam Thomas, Kieran Lewis.
Match Details
Friday 12 February
Kick Off is at 7.45 pm at Victoria Road