Ten-man Brecon Corries left themselves with too much to do as they fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat at Goytre AFC (Gwent) in their Ardal League South East opener last Tuesday night.

But Damien Daniels’ side were a shade unfortunate not to have snatched a point following a much-improved second-half performance.

Corries handed a first league start to Lloyd Francis, who has joined from Clydach Wasps, while former Hay St Marys midfielder Brendan Hackett made his debut from the bench. Goytre are much changed, with seven new faces in their starting line-up, and forged an early two-goal lead. Lewis McCauley and Lewis Iles had them two up inside twelve minutes, and Josh Gibson added a third midway through the half.

Corries started the second half in determined fashion and Dale Evans pulled a goal back with a well-placed free-kick after just two minutes. And it was game on five minutes later as Paul Keddle further reduced the deficit, firing home from a Corey Evans assist. Despite losing Keddle to a red card on 65 minutes, Corries tried hard for an equaliser in the closing stages, but Goytre also had chances to add to their tally.

Dale Evans celebrates pulling a goal back for Brecon Corries
Dale Evans celebrates pulling a goal back for Brecon Corries (Barcud-Coch Photography)

Chris Ham was the leading scorer in the Ardal South East last season but has moved from Goytre to Chepstow Town and was among the goals as his new team, who have been installed as title favourites, kicked off with a 4-0 victory over Undy AFC.

Elsewhere, veteran Lee Trundle turned out for Cwmbran Town, who were beaten 3-0 at local rivals Cwmbran Celtic, with former Builth Wells striker Rudi Griffiths grabbing a goal and an assist on his Celtic debut following a transfer from Abergavenny Town.