Cogan win a point in difficult game

Cefn Cribwr 2 Cogan Coronation 2

COGAN came away from this tricky away tie with a hard-earned point, but will feel they could have taken all three.

Cefn Cribwr had been unbeaten since the turn of the year and in impressive form. While Cogan arrived fresh off the back of two big victories against top three rivals St Albans. So despite the home side sitting ninth in the league, Cogan knew they were in for a tough test.

It was the home side who began brightest. With their strikers peeling off into wide positions, Cefn Cribwr caused Cogan’s backline some early problems, with Stewart Owadally and Joel Lapton being dragged out towards their touchlines.

Gareth Clarke, brought deeper into midfield than he would normally play in the absence of Liam Beddard, ensured the space wasn’t exploited too much but that didn’t mean Cefn Cribwr weren’t causing problems.

Going forward, Jon Matthews and Leigh Bennett were trying to attack from their full back positions, but were struggling to press too high. Rhys Buckley and Haidn Dibble in centre midfield were being bypassed by the home side who looked long for their strikers and wingers.

It all combined to give Cogan a difficult opening to the game, and they needed to adapt to Cefn Cribwr’s play. However once they did, they began to take a foothold.

Clarke, Dibble and Buckley were getting more of the ball, and finding Gaz Blyth and Josh Bell in room on the flanks. But every time Cogan advanced, they were met with a solid backline.

On a narrow pitch, striker Gavin Beddard wasn’t given any room by the home defence and Blyth and Bell’s preference to cut in meant Cogan didn’t see many openings.

The clearest chance came to Blyth, who came in from the left and got his shot off only to see it saved well by the goalkeeper. Beddard also saw a shot fly wide.

While Rhys Buckley’s stunning volley from the edge of the box hit the bar, bounced back onto the goalkeeper, but found its way somehow around the post. It was agonisingly close to a wonderful goal for Buckley, whose performance overall would have deserved a goal.

Although they seemed in control, it was Cogan who conceded first. A rare error from Dibble saw possession change hands just outside the box.

The ball was squared and Owadally blocked the first shot from the Cefn Cribwr striker but the rebound fell kindly to his strike partner who finished well.

Cogan went into the break 1-0 down, but by no means outplayed. The second half called for patience.

The visitors kept plugging away. Beddard had forced a couple of fantastic saves from the home goalkeeper before they eventually found their way through but not after a tense moment at their own end.

A mistimed tackle from Owadally allowed the striker through one-on-one with Mark Hussey in goal. Hussey won the battle, guessed right, and made a fine save.

Within seconds, Josh Bell had got Cogan back on terms. Cutting in from the right, he smashed a shot with too much power for the ‘keeper and the ball flew into the top of the net. It was Bell’s second in two games, and the start of what Cogan will hope is a good goal-scoring run.

The visitors rallied. Beddard had another attempt saved by a goalkeeper who was fast turning in a man-of-the-match performance. Bell came close and some intricate passing from Clarke and Bell almost turned into a good chance for Beddard but the defence snuffed it out just in time.

At the other end, the home side weren’t done. Hussey was called into action on more than one occasion, and showed some fine positioning and handling to cut out some long balls and deal with tricky crosses.

Cogan lost Leigh Bennett to injury, replaced by Brad Munn. While Gaz Blyth was replaced by Jamie Harris who instantly injected energy and brought some extra width.

With the game opening up, it felt like a goal was on the way and when it did come it was for the home side. Another long ball over the midfield was flicked on into the path of the Cefn Cribwr winger cutting in from the right. Another fine finish gave them the lead.

But the lead didn’t last too long. As Cogan pressed to equalise, they won a corner kick and as the ball bounced around the box, Clarke was clumsily brought down.

The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Beddard had no hesitation in stepping up. He smashed it down the middle to bring the game to 2-2.

As the home side looked to see the game out, they dropped deeper and deeper. Even late on, there was still time for drama.

A corner was sung in by Bell and met by Beddard, his header looked perfect, but the goalkeeper somehow got down to his right hand corner to palm the ball behind.

At full-time, it was a fair point, with both teams putting in a good display, and goalkeepers at either end who didn’t deserve to be on a losing side.