Brecon Corries consolidated their place in the top-six of the Ardal South East table following a 4-1 home victory over Abercarn United at the Rich Field on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts came into the match having won their two precious outings but had not seen action for three weeks due to the inclement weather playing havoc with the Corries’ fixture list. Meanwhile, Abercarn United were looking to avoid an instant return to the Gwent Premier League after earning promotion from last term.
Brecon Corries opened the scoring in the seventh minute, when the Welfare Ground outfit could only partially clear a corner, and Joe Cooper’s shot from the edge of the penalty area found the back of the net despite visiting keeper Ben Mitchell getting a hand to the ball.
Abercarn United drew back on level terms 15 minutes later when Ceian Evans latched on to a long ball played out of defence. He was denied by Declan Gaydon but Alex Adams was in the right place to follow-up and force the ball over the line in the ensuing melee.
But Brecon Corries regained the lead four minutes before the interval when home skipper Dale Evans was on hand to sweep the ball home after a corner was not cleared from the penalty area.
Brecon Corries manager Damien Daniels would have no doubt have been pleased with the performance during opening 45 minutes, given the heavy conditions underfoot following the recent rainfall, but would have been disappointed to concede a goal on the counter-attack.
The match took a twist five minutes after the interval when Gaydon was shown a red card by referee Chris Corfield after handling the ball outside of his penalty area as he attempted to halt an attack by the visitors. Jack Bainton tested the reflexes of Joel Evans, who replaced Gaydon in goal following the dismissal, when he saw his 30 yard free-kick turned behind for a corner.
Dale Evans found the back of the net in the 60th minute courtesy of a 20-yard free-kick to hand his team a useful buffer after going down to 10 players.
Abercarn United were then reduced to 10 players in the 63rd minute when Kyran Howells was dismissed for pulling back an opponent who would have been through on goal before Joe Cooper clipped the top of the crossbar from the left edge of the penalty area within 60 seconds of the restart.
Brecon Corries secured the points with four minutes remaining on the clock when they broke quickly down the left flank and substitute Nyle Slade was on hand to finish from close range to extend the lead.
The hosts nearly scored their fifth in the final minute of normal time but Cooper pulled his shot wide, but the Corries had already done enough to record a third successive victory.