ON Saturday, December 13, Dinas Powys FC faced Llanwern with Dinas losing 3-1.

Dinas could well have taken something from this game but a poor second half performance saw them throw away a one goal lead at half time and concede three times.

Llanwern started brightly, keeping the ball well and spraying passes around on what was an excellent surface considering all the rain on the previous days.

They had an early free kick taken by Daniel Hooper which Dinas keeper Alex Hales took comfortably but the hosts were quicker to the ball at this stage and forced the first corner of the game after 10 minutes which led to a spectacular overhead kick by Jordan Jones which was well over the Dinas cross-bar. The hosts continued to press and a cross from Robbie James was side-footed goal-ward by Nic Hooper but was wide of the target.

Dinas began to get into the game and good work from Carlos Indjai forced a corner taken by Nicky Bruce which the defence dealt with easily. They followed this up with some excellent play by young King Junior Mwedzo wide on the right; he played the ball in to Keiron James who made room for a shot from just inside the box, the ball just going the wrong side of ex-Dinas keeper Chris Golton's right post. Dinas were playing well at this stage and a cross from Luke Swaffield was headed goal-ward by Indjai but his effort was cleared off the line.

At the other end Hales had to make a double save from close range before Dinas broke away again and as Sam Johnson drove into the box he was tripped, the referee pointing straight to the penalty spot. Full back Nicky Bruce stepped up and drove the ball hard and low into the net giving Golton no chance to give Dinas the lead on 25 minutes.

The visitors continued to press, a cross by Johnson found Ben Ah-Mun at the far post who got his header on target but it didn't have enough power to trouble Golton and another cross from Indjai was met by Ah-Mun but his effort was well over the bar under pressure.

At the other end Hales pulled off an excellent save from Matthew Hibbs and the hosts began to press again, a cross from the right was headed just over the bar by Nic Hooper and in the last minute of the half Nic Hooper laid the ball off to his brother Daniel but his effort was off target and Dinas went into the interval with their lead intact.

Llanwern came out firing on all cylinders for the second half and Dinas were thankful to Swaffield who blocked an early effort from close range but, just three minutes into the half they were awarded a free kick just outside the box which Nic Hooper took getting it up and over the wall and beating Hales for the equaliser.

Tempers began to flare at this stage and the referee stopped the game for some time showing yellow cards to several players after consulting with his linesman.

Things settled down again but Dinas just didn't seem up for it anymore and it was the hosts who looked the best side for most of the second half. They forced two corners which Dinas managed to clear but 20 minutes into the half they got their noses in front, a cross from the right was headed home by Michael Bishop at the far post.

Dinas manager Lee Saunders then rang the chances, Ben Ah-Mun was replaced by Mamadu Banguraso followed 10 minutes later by Bruce who was replaced by James Alloway with 10 minutes remaining. The nearest Dinas came to getting back on terms was a shot from Banguraso which Golton had to push round the upright for a corner.

This spurred Dinas on and they did rally for the last 10 minutes forcing a goalmouth scramble which looked as though they must equalise. But somehow the Llanwern defence eventually cleared it and Dinas were made to pay with a couple of minutes left when James Marr was dispossessed by Hibbs to slot home for 3-1 and in the last minute Indjai did get in a deep cross which Golton collected and at the final whistle Llanwern were worth the three points.

Dinas squad: 1 Alex Hales, 2 Luke Swaffield, 3 Nicky Bruce (1), 4 James Marr, 5 Steve Provis (C), 6 Keiron James, 7 Sam Johnson, 8 Atif Bashir, 9 Carlos Indjai, 10 King Junior Mwedzo, 11 Ben Ah-Mun, 12 James Alloway, 14 Mamadu Banguraso and 15 James Bloxham.

On Saturday, December 20 Dinas host Undy Athletic at the Murch with a 2pm kick off where they will be looking for a much better all-round performance.

Peter King