Christmas came early for Ponty at chilly Caldicot on Saturday with a thrilling display of counter attacking football after enduring a torrid opening fifteen minutes.
The home side dominated possession early on and poured forward with Dragons keeper Chris Golton (below right) having to make a smart save from Jason Thorn after five minutes. Caldicot continued to monopolise the ball but movements generally broke down in the final quarter of the pitch with central defenders Cyron Williams and Craig Green tackling as if their lives depended on it. On the occasions when the home team did get through, there was a lack of composure and a number of crosses and shots sailed high or wide. Ponty’s only attack of note at this stage came after eleven minutes when Jacob Daly got behind the defence but his shot lacked the power to trouble keeper James Smallcombe.
It was not until the twenty minute mark that the visitors began to settle and Ebony Dixon looked to have got clear but was pulled down from behind by Jacob Guy. The prostrate player was then hit on the head after the ball was kicked at him by home skipper David Lloyd. Both Caldicot players were booked and although Wayne Antoniazzi’s well struck free kick was safely held by Smallcombe, the incident undoubtedly helped to spark the visitors into action. However, the home side had their best chance so far five minutes later when a defensive mix up gave Mark Williams a clear run on goal before shooting wide after Golton had stayed on his feet and narrowed the angle.
Ten minutes before the break, Ponty got the goal they had been threatening when Williams won a tackle near halfway and went on a powerful run past four players before crossing from the edge of the box. The ball reached Dixon on the eighteen yard line but there appeared to be no danger with the player having his back to goal. However, he spun and shot in one movement to find the corner of the net for a superbly struck goal.
Caldicot came close to equalising shortly afterwards when an attacker got clear and although Golton did well to half stop the shot, it was bouncing towards the net only for Tommy Saleh to get back and make a miraculous clearance from almost on the line. Nevertheless, Ponty were now rampant and they scored a second three minutes before the interval when Jamal Roberts latched onto a through ball but was brought down by Smallcombe after putting the ball past him. A penalty was the inevitable outcome with the home keeper probably being spared a card because of a doubt over whether Roberts would have retained possession before the ball went behind. Daly (left) scored confidently from the spot with Smallcombe getting a hand to the ball but not able to stop it hitting the back of the net with some force.
The Dragons delight knew no bounds when a ten minute purple patch was completed with a third goal almost on the whistle. The goal came about when a through ball bounced over a square defence and Dixon latched onto it to find the net with a low right foot shot. The Ponty striker caused problems for the defence all afternoon and can only get better after recently returning to the game after a year out.
The home team introduced all three substitutes at the start of the second half and threw caution to the wind with an attacker shooting well over from the edge of the six yard box almost immediately. The rock solid Golton then did well to save a free kick which had been swerved around the wall by Kel Stevens. However, Caldicot were now vulnerable on the break and David Avery (below) showed his full range of skills on a number of occasions to get the visitors on the attack with the post being struck after good work in the box by Daly. The same player got clear in the box again shortly afterwards with Smallcombe flinging out an arm to deflect his goal bound shot.
Caldicot then hit double card trouble again with Gareth Heywood booked for a nasty tackle on Heywood and Peter Little shown a straight red for some injudicious remarks before play could be restarted.
With the result no longer in doubt, it was now only a question of whether Ponty would score again and a fourth goal arrived when the ever dangerous Daly scored with a low shot after good work by Roberts and Dixon. The icing on the cake came with three minutes to go when Vinny Avery burst into the box from midfield and scored with a neat shot into the corner.
This was an excellent performance throughout the team with players such as Kyle Johnson producing his best display of the season and Peter Evans and Green performing well in unaccustomed positions.

Pontypridd Town: Chris Golton; Peter Evans (sub. Gareth Liddon), Craig Green, Cyron Williams, Tommy Saleh, Jamal Roberts, Wayne Antoniazzi (sub. Mike Selio), Kyle Johnson, David Avery, Jacob Daly, Ebony Dixon.

Pontypridd now face two tough fixtures with a number of players unavailable through suspension and holidays starting with Dinas Powys at home this Saturday followed by a trip to Goytre on December 29th.