A game of two halfs is definately the cliche that describes this local derby game .
Without the unavailable Mike Vaux manager Owen was forced to play centre midfielder Richie Shire up front and Steve Stinton came in for him , Carl baugh was brought back in as a replacement for the injured Paul Tanner , Steve Perszewski was back afetr suspension and Marcus Power then dropped back to wing back at the expense of Ryan Corey .
In lively opening exchanges no goalkeeper was tested but Llanwern zipped the ball around and made the most of the wide spaces and enjoy the most possesion . A blow to the Steelmen on 10 minutes though was the back injury picked up by Mike Aviss who had to be replaced by the able Gareth Wysome .
The game got its first goal on 22 minutes when a ball into Perszewskis feet 22 yards out and with his back to goal saw him flick up the ball and superbly turn his marker Parfitt in one movement and drive a ferocious volley past the helpless Nicky church in the Celtic goal .
Llanwern continued to knock the ball around with confidence from left to right and from the back to front men and a charge down on Church which left him dumped in the penalty area saw Perszewski miss what should have been his second goal , Perszewski for all his effort and bullying of his marker Parfitt was guilty of missing another two excellent chances when he opted for Power instead of Placement in the space of 5 minutes of each other , these misses were the undoing of the wern and on 42 minutes when Centre half Binnings casual attempted cross field ball was intercepted by Williamson whos run on goal and beating of Wysome saw him finish clinically past keeper Hart ,

HT 1-1.

With the half only 10 minutes old celtic looked like they were denied a second when Wysome acrobatically volleyed off the line but the ball appeared to be over the line but the linesman waved play on !!
Celtic were now coming back into the game and pushing Llanwern back and opportunities were spurned by Williamson and Sallis on 64 and 67 minutes but on 69 minutes Llanwern went 2-1 up when a shove on Quarterly in the box gave the steelmen a penalty and Perszewski scored from the spot his 24th goal of the season although Nicky Church in the Celtic goal got a big hand on the strike and was unlucky to see it cross the line.
Llanwern were now getting pegged back and 2 or 3 half chances could have been converted by Celtic with more composure ? Perszewski at the other end dragged a shot wide of the post when well placed to at least hit the target . With only 3 minutes left on the clock a run from sustitute Porter saw his shot well saved by Hart and then then save again from williamson but the ball fell to the impressive Sallis whose shot went under Wysome at the near post to make it 2-2 and full time .

Again after controlling play and going in front Llanwern failed to take their chances and once more only came away with a point and could have got beat late on , they really must start to finish sides off and concentrate and continue playing with confidence for the whole 90 minutes of a game !!