ABERYSTWYTH Town were left feeling the Boxing Day blues as they fell to a bitterly disappointing 1-0 defeat away at west Wales rivals Carmarthen Town in a dismal festive clash at Richmond Park.

In a scrappy encounter of very few chances, Carmarthen captain Liam Thomas scored the game’s only goal with a well-placed half volley in the 35th minute.

The defeat left Neville Powell’s side nine points adrift of sixth placed Barry Town in the JD Welsh Premier League table, with three games to go until the split.

On a cold and rainy day in Carmarthenshire, Aber had made one change to the starting side that had lost at The New Saints four days earlier, with John Owen replacing Joe Phillips on the left flank.

Hosts Carmarthen started the brightest, with Liam Thomas forcing a smart save from visiting keeper Chris Mullock at his near post, before Dave Vincent then headed narrowly wide from a corner kick.

Aber struggled to adapt to the hosts’ physical approach, and were unable to get any kind of meaningful attacking play going in the final third of the pitch.

The closest that Powell’s side came to opening the scoring in the opening 30 minutes was through a Ryan Wade volley, which sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.

On 35 minutes, the hosts took the lead as Liam Thomas pounced on a poor clearance, before turning and striking a right-footed half volley into the bottom corner beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mullock.

Aber continued to struggle to get into the game, as Carmarthen continued to break up the play and stop the visitors from finding their rhythm and tempo.

On 43 minutes, Liam Thomas nearly scored his second goal of the game as he forced his way into the penalty area, only for his scuffed effort to roll inches wide.

Aber’s goal was living a charmed life, and the Seasiders were a little fortunate to go into the break just one goal behind.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, with both teams struggling to keep the ball down, and Carmarthen winning the majority of the second balls.

On 51 minutes, Aber created their first meaningful effort on goal as Ashley Young strode forward, before unleashing a thunderous strike that was excellently tipped over the bar by keeper Lee Idzi.

Suddenly, Powell’s side had momentum, and they had another good opportunity as Craig Hobson fired a shot over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.

Around the hour, however, the hosts should have put the game to bed when Kyle Bassett was given the freedom of the penalty area to fire his shot beyond Chris Mullock, only for Declan Walker to produce a miraculous goal-line clearance.

Both Geoff Kellaway and Joe Phillips were introduced from the bench to provide some added impetus for the visitors, but nothing was going Aber’s way.

Declan Walker came closest to finding the breakthrough when his cross-come-shot was tipped on to the crossbar by Idzi, before John McKenna’s late effort was well saved by Carmarthen’s ‘keeper.

It wasn’t to be for Powell’s side, however, as they succumbed to their fourth consecutive away defeat in the league.

CARMARTHEN: L Idzi, L Cummings, D Sheehan, L Walsh (L Griffiths 76’), D Vincent, J Knott, K Bassett, K Lewis, L Thomas, C Morgan, C Hanford (L Surman 84’). Subs not used: K Georgievsky, T Brock, D Thomas.

ABERYSTWYTH: C Mullock, D Walker, J Spittle, R Wollacott, C Hobson, J Owen (J Phillips 57’), L Borrelli, R Wade (G Kellaway 70’), M Jones, A Young, J McKenna. Subs not used: J Rimmer, H Horwood, L Jenkins, H Rowe. Attendance: 517. Referee: D Morgan.