Pontypridd Town’s young team gave a good account of themselves at title chasing Aberaman as the only difference between the sides proved to be where it mattered most – in front of goal.
Ponty’s supporters must have been a little confused by the sight of eight former Town favourites lining up for the big spending hosts, and it was former legend Chris Summers, who scored 61 goals in 63 games for Ponty, who did most of the damage with a brace.
The opening fifteen minutes was all Ponty as the youngsters played neat pass and move football in midfield but they failed to trouble Aberaman’s well organised defence, and the closest they came was a Cyron Williams header from a corner that was held by the goalkeeper.
The hosts were content to launch long balls to their two ex-Cardiff City strikers Summers and Nogan and it almost worked when a linesman got the offside decision wrong but although Summers rounded Chris Golton, the Ponty goalkeeper did enough to force Summers to shoot wide.
Minutes later Summers missed a second good chance when a miskick at the back let him in but he again fired narrowly wide.
Ponty almost went in front on 35 minutes after an untidy scramble in the penalty area but Wayne Antoniazzi and Stuart Parr both had goalbound shots blocked on the line before the ball was hacked clear.
But with the game in first half stoppage time Aberaman scored the all important first goal thanks largely to sloppy defending. Ponty had possession near their own goal line but tried to play the ball out instead of clearing their lines safely. They lost possession and with the goal at his mercy Kurt Nogan’s shot hit the inside of the post and flew across the face of goal. The ball was crossed back in and Nogan, who looked suspiciously offside, made up for his glaring miss with a close range header into the net.
Ponty started the second half looking determined to grab an equalizer and a lovely sequence of passes put Jamal Roberts in space but his superb whipped in cross just eluded the Ponty strikers. Then another cross from Roberts was met by Stuart Parr only for home keeper Neil Collins to make an excellent save from the centre forward’s header.
Roberts then had a great chance himself but fired wildly over the bar from Antoniazzi’s pinpoint cross after a quick free kick had split Aberaman’s defence, and Ponty’s inability to finish was summed up when Antoniazzi picked up a Roberts cross and rounded the goalkeeper only to see his shot cleared off the line by a covering defender.
Aberaman duly punished Ponty fifteen minutes from the end when Summers headed down a corner and it somehow crept into the net past a scrum of players on the goal line.
To their credit Ponty didn’t give up and Jamal Roberts had the goalkeeper had full stretch with a 35 yard drive that Collins just got a fingertip to and from the resulting corner Cyron Williams had a headed goal harshly ruled out for pushing.
Chris Summers rubbed salt into the wound in stoppage time with a superb finish from a tight angle following another long ball and chase to give the home side a flattering 3-0 winning margin.
Ponty manager Mal Camilleri knows that whilst his team have made great strides already this season they need to be able to put their chances away if they are to pull clear of the relegation zone, and Camilleri is hopeful of bringing in a new player or two ahead of next week’s game.

Pontypridd Town team: Chris Golton, Peter Evans, Anthony Saleh, Craig Green, Cyron Williams, Kyle Johnson (Mark Coles 85), Lee Harriman (Leon Duke 63), Wayne Antoniazzi (Michael Selio 85), Jacob Daly, Jamal Roberts, Stuart Parr.

Ponty face another tough game on Saturday when in form Newport YMCA are the visitors to Ynysangharad Park, kick off 2pm.