A late leveller from opposition goalkeeper Mathew Stanton denied Ammanford a victory against a highly organised Baglan Dragons in the JD Cymru South.

In a game where clear sights at goal were at a premium, the Dragons took the lead early on before Callum Thomas equalised. Skipper Luke Harris thought he’d earned Ammanford the maximum points late on but in the dying minutes, keeper Stanton caught everyone out with his effort from distance to score his second of the term from between the sticks.

The visitors enjoyed most of the early possession and got the goal their positivity merited after just thirteen minutes. A contentiously awarded corner was headed home by Thomas Davies for his 5th goal of the season.

Ammanford were struggling to maintain possession and aside from Lewis Reed’s effort that was superbly blocked on the edge of the area, they failed to test Stanton in the Dragons goal.

In fact, it was the league newcomers who came closest to the second goal after half an hour. A rasping effort from outside the box beat Luke Martin but thankfully not the post as it cannoned away to safety to keep the deficit to one.

The visitors were made to rue that missed opportunity as minutes before the break, Ammanford found themselves on equal terms. After spending ten minutes growing more into the game, Tristan Jenkins broke well down the left and laid the ball off to Harry Huddart. The ex-Preston man played a beautiful cross into the box for Callum Thomas to swoop low to send the teams in level at the interval.

After the restart, Ammanford came close to completing the turnaround as they were presented with an indirect freekick inside the area following the handling of a back pass however, Reed’s effort smashed against the bar and bounced the wrong side of the line for those of Black and White persuasion.

In a half of little chances, not helped by the torrential rain that battered the Recreation Ground, taking any opportunity was going to be crucial and that was the case as Gruff Harrison’s men had to wait until the 78th minute for their next chance and with it, got their noses in front for the first time in the contest.

Following Stanton’s decision to punch the ball to safety at the edge of the box, Harris lifted the ball into the unguarded net to give Town the lead. 

But in bizarre circumstances, the visitors weren’t to be denied a share of the spoils. Stanton took a freekick from range, which evaded everyone and looped into the back of the net.

There was still time for a nervy finish for Town as Harris was sent off in the final embers for a second caution of the night but in keeping with much of the previous action of the game, neither team could create a clear-cut chance and both sides had to settle for a point.

Final score: Ammanford AFC 2 – 2 Baglan Dragons.

Ammanford’s next home fixture is on Friday night against Trefelin BGC with a kick off time of 7:30pm.