Welsh League Division One:

Cwmbran Celtic 2- 3 Haverfordwest County

A VICTORY against a decent mid-table side is always creditable and the Bluebirds battled through well to earn these three points, even if their progress eventually was more nerve-wracking than it promised to be early on, writes Robert Nisbet.

After the disappointment of losing 3-2 to Goytre United in the week, the Blues blasted their way into this game in quite spectacular fashion with a dramatic three-goal burst in the space of five minutes.

Elliot Scotcher curled a fine free kick around the wall, before a shot from Greg Walters took a deflection and Steff Williams was alert enough to drive in the rebound.

Then when a corner was only partly cleared and played back in, Sean Pemberton was on hand to knock the ball in.

The Blues might even have had a fourth when Dan Williams’ shot came back off the crossbar.

It really looked as if Celtic would have been played out of the game by half-time but a Chris Ham penalty just before the interval kept them in with a hope.

This hope began to loom even more largely about halfway through the second period when Ham bent a lovely free kick around the defensive wall for the second goal and to set up a feverish finish.

The intensity grew shortly afterwards when a Celtic player was red-carded after a two-footed tackle in midfield.

As expected the final 20 minutes were tough but the Blues were able to weather them to bring the crucial three points back to Pembrokeshire. The Bluebirds now need just one more point if they are to clinch runners-up spot.

On Saturday they travel to play their final game, at Caerau (Ely), kickoff 2.30pm.

Haverfordwest County: Nick Jones; Leon Luby, Alaric Jones, Sean Pemberton, Sam Rodon (Matthew Broome, 60), Tim Hicks, Ricky Watts, Steffan Williams (Charlie Davies, 75), Greg Walters, Dan Williams (Fraser Finlay, 85), Elliot Scotcher