JD Cymru Premier

Aberystwyth Town 2 Haverfordwest County 1

ABERYSTWYTH held on for eight minutes of stoppage time after being reduced to 10 men to pick up another precious three points on Friday evening.

Strikes by Harry Arnison and Jon Owen gave the Seasiders the lead before Jordan Davies got one back for County on the hour.

The Bluebirds were given another boost when Jonathan Evans was given his marching orders with eight minutes of normal time to go after receiving a second caution.

But the resilient Seasiders held firm until the end of 90 minutes and a nervous eight minutes of stoppage time to clinch a third successive 2-1 win at Park Avenue.

Aber boss Anthony Williams: “For the first half, the amount of corners we had, the amount of dominance, possession and territory we had to be just 1-0 probably didn’t do us justice.

“Getting an early goal in the second half was nice but then we gave a bit of a sloppy goal away fairly early on so it put us under a bit of pressure.

“They’re a good team, they are a side full of good individuals. Whether that gels together as a team is another matter.

“My boys are a small squad. There’s a real togetherness amongst them and you can see they fight for each other.

“As a group you couldn’t single anyone out. It was a good team effort, we were organised and had a game plan.”

He added: “We should have got something out of our last two games (away to Cardiff Met and Penybont). Our performances suggest we are going in the right direction. I think If I’m anyone playing against us at the moment I’d be worried.

“We’ve got that desire, determination and we’ll give anyone a run for their money.”

The Black and Greens started brightly with Arnison finding the back of the net with a fine finish from the edge of the area after just two minutes only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.

With his father in attendance after flying in from Australia, the young midfielder showed his prowess again on 24 minutes to break the deadlock.

Pouncing on Lee Jenkins’ miss kick from Eliot Scotcher’s back header, he burst clear to round the keeper and slot the ball home.

Aber were well on top with the visitors barely offering a threat, Jordan Davies heading a rare chance wide with the Seasiders bossing possession.

The hosts struggled to create clear openings though and the score remained 1-0 at the break.

They continued to press after the turnaround and reaped their reward with an early second goal, Jon Owen ghosting in to flick a header past Zac Jones after Niall Flint had won a corner.

That stung Haverfordwest into some kind of reaction and they went for it.

They pulled one back on 68 minutes when Davies burst through from midfield to slide the ball under keeper Lewis Webb.

He went close again and County had a goal disallowed for offside before Evans, with eight minutes to go, received a second yellow for a foul on the touchline.

Webb tipped over a long range effort from Iori Humphreys as the visitors pressed for a share of the spoils, before a series of injuries saw the game extended by eight minutes.

There was time for the visitors to create a few half chances but the improving Aberystwyth team held on for a deserved three points.

Up to eighth in the table with 12 points from their opening 10 matches, up next for Aber is a trip to Caernarfon Town on Friday (ko 7.45pm).