Neath and District League Football

Reserve Division One

Cwm Wanderers 5 Bryn Rovers AFC 5

Reigning league champions Bryn opened the defence of their title at Cwm Wanderers, who were opening their new facility to reserve division action.

With Bryn having lost around nine players from last season’s treble winning team, a period of transition was bound to affect the visitors’ play.

The opening exchanges were shaded by Cwm who opted to field five men across the centre of the park in a bid to frustrate and suffocate Bryn’s fluid midfield.

The hosts eventually took the lead with a close-range header after a defensive mix up, but Dan Richards got Bryn back in the game after the visitors had gone close via Rhys Williams, who had a great game in the middle of the park.

New signing Julian Wycherley used his lightening pace to leave the Cwm defence for dead and finished well to give Bryn the lead before former Cwm player Darren Langford scored a cracking effort to make it 1-3 at the interval.

Cwm got back into the game a minute into the second half when an awkward bounce caught the visitors’ defence out.

But Bryn raced into a 2-5 lead thanks to Wycherely and Langford who both had good games in their second team debuts.

The wheels came off the Bryn machine towards the end of the game with Cwm drawing level at 5-5 as the usually water-tight Bryn defence sprung a leak.

The draw proved a fair result on the day, but Bryn will know they could have sealed the victory.