Sports report by Alan (The Reds) Evans
Any misgivings Llanelli Town may have had in taking on opponents who were on an unbeaten run of five league matches were quickly dispelled by a top class performance by them, and the home side were almost casually despatched in no uncertain manner.
Yet another Lee Trundle hat-trick and a Chris Jones goal saw them through with some ease, and it could well have been more, as a number of chances were either denied by the woodwork and some desperate home defending.
The Lido cause was not helped by the dismissal just before half time of Kieran Cullen for a second yellow card, but even with a full complement, the end result would almost certainly have been the same.
An early Chris Thomas backheel following a Jordan Davies corner was just off target as the Reds showed their intentions, although the home side responded through Sean Hanbury when he sent a ball across the face of goal but which went harmlessly out of play.
Cullen then received his first caution from referee Daniel Richardson for a foul on Joe Clarke, and from the resulting free kick by Chris Jones his namesake, Ross, headed past goalkeeper Chris Curtis only to be denied by an offside flag.
Despite this disappointment, the visitors were calling the tune with the Lido relying on the occasional break, and from one of these, Sacha Walters made ground up the left before his delivery into the middle saw Mark Jones just fail to make contact, but it was then met by Cullen whose strike was kept out at the foot of the post by Reds` keeper Scott Coughlan at the expense of a corner.
When Trundle struck a 30 yard free kick into the goalmouth, Curtis was hard pressed to just about keep it out, but he was eventually beaten on the half hour mark when an initial chance by Chris Jones was blocked and recycled back into the middle where it was met by Trundle who glanced his header into the net.
With the interval approaching, Cullen was then dismissed by referee Richardson for another caution when he caught Chris Jones, and events for the Lido continued to take a downward turn when the visitors struck again just three minutes after the restart.
Davies was initially involved, before finding Trundle who displayed his magic by turning a couple of defenders and squaring a pass across the goalmouth where Chris Jones was on hand to guide it past Curtis
Well in control, the Reds continued to dictate matters, and could well have gone further ahead when Chris Jones met an Antonio Facciuto cross but headed wide from a decent position.
This miss did not prove to be too costly, as the lead was increased again on 56 minutes when Trundle accepted a ball into his feet before swivelling and shooting goalwards, where a wicked deflection off Craig Davies took it past the helpless keeper.
The Reds then made a change with James Loveridge replacing Ross Jones, but with the contest already out of their reach, the hosts launched a couple of counters with Jones once again narrowly
failing to make contact with a Walters cross, while Walters himself sent a speculative effort just wide.
When the Reds retaliated, Trundle smashed his attempt against the underside of the crossbar, with the rebound met by Clarke being scrambled off the line.
With time running out, the visitors inflicted even more misery on their opponents by scoring a fourth on the stroke of the final whistle, with Trundle completing his treble by firing low past Curtis when he was found in space in the area.
A supremely satisfactory result for the Reds, who were probably expecting a far tougher assignment than the one which eventually transpired.
AFAN LIDO; Curtis; Doyle; Hanbury (Williams, 72); Davies ©; Owens; B. Thomas (Webber, 63);
E. Thomas; McReesh (Fleming, 70); Jones; Walters; Cullen; Subs. not used; De Vulgt;
Evans.
LLANELLI TOWN; Coughlan; Graves; Facciuto; March (Morgan, 83); C. Thomas; Bevan; C. Jones
(Samuel, 83); Davies; Clarke ©; Trundle; R. Jones (Loveridge, 59);
Subs. not used; R. Thomas; Follows.
SCORERS; Llanelli Town – Trundle, 30, 56, 90.; C. Jones, 48.
YELLOW CARDS; Afan Lido – Cullen (2); B. Thomas.
RED CARD; Afan Lido – Cullen.
REFEREE; Daniel Richardson (Barry).
The Reds entertain Port Talbot Town on Friday evening at Stebonheath, kick off 7.30 p.m.
