Autocentre Gwent Premier One

Mardy AFC 0 Machen FC 1

A HORRENDOUS injury for veteran striker Phillip Melville marred Mardy's day at home to Machen as they slipped to a last-gasp defeat, reports CLIVE HARRY.

The hosts went into Saturday's league fixture with a patched-up side featuring a veteran strike partnership of Melville and Mark Hughes, and made a good start coming close to scoring on several occasions.

Mardy had a great opportunity to open the scoring in the third minute when Hughes was played through on goal, but was unable to keep his shot on target before Daniel Palmer fired an effort over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area five minutes later.

Mardy in red missed out 1-0 at home to Machen
Mardy in red missed out 1-0 at home to Machen (Stuart Townsend/ Barcud Coch)

But after 13 minutes, they were caught on the break when a Machen attacker was worked clear only to be foiled in the act of shooting by some great defending from Ellis French.

Mardy pushed back but lacked the final killer pass until on the half-hour mark, a high ball into the area was met with a lovely lob volley by Melville which beat keeper Colin Adams but bounced agonisingly inches wide.

More good interplay between Hughes and Melville then resulted in a shooting chance for Owen Vaughan which was nicely struck but safely held by Adams.

A Mardy player tries his luck in the Machen box
A Mardy player tries his luck in the Machen box (Stuart Townsend/ Barcud Coch)

Melville was holding the ball up well and causing problems up front, but then his afternoon and his season were brought to an end by a horrible injury with the half-time whistle imminent.

The Mardy striker looked to be breaking clear and about to cross when he was met by a fierce sliding tackle from a Machen defender.

It was obvious straight away that the Mardy striker was seriously hurt and referee Paul Lewis sensibly blew for half-time immediately.

Melville was subsequently taken to hospital and X rays revealed probable breaks to the leg and ankle which may need surgery.

Unsurprisingly, the second half started in rather subdued fashion until the 51st minute when a low shot from outside the box by Dan Palmer was safely held by Adams.

The keeper wins the race for a loose ball in Saturday's Mardy v Machen clash
The keeper wins the race for a loose ball in Saturday's Mardy v Machen clash (Stuart Townsend/ Barcud Coch)

The game degenerated into a rather scrappy affair after this and clear cut chances for either side were few and far between, although a raft of Mardy substitutions seemed to affect the team's fluency, with Machen starting to press with time running out.

Nevertheless the game was starting to look as if it would be a goalless stalemate until with two minutes remaining, the visitors looked certain to take all three points when a perfect cross was met by a goal bound header, only for Mardy keeper Logan Hamer to appear from nowhere to push the ball away with a great save.

That should have been it but, with the last attack of the game, Machen's Daniel Lewis let fly from distance with a great shot which rebounded from the bar after Hamer had got fingertips to it.

But the ball wasn't cleared and Tyler Kidley latched onto it and drilled a low shot into the corner of the net to take the spoils, leaving Mardy ninth in the table.

This Saturday (March 22), the team will be at home again to Albion Rovers while the second team travel to play Fairfield United Development in the Gwent Central League.