Haverfordwest County slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Aberystwyth Town at Park Avenue in the JD Cymru Premier last night.

Goals from Harry Arnison and John Owen gave the Seasiders a two-goal lead, before Jordan Davies pulled one back for the Bluebirds.

County pushed hard to find an equalise, with the majority of the second half being one-way traffic, but they were unable to find the net for a second time.

Manager Tony Pennock made three changes to the team from last Saturday, with Zac Jones, Elliot Scotcher and Jordan Davies coming into the starting lineup.

Haverfordwest County could have taken the lead inside the first minute when a ball into the area from the right side found Davies, but his shot was deflected behind at the near post.

The Seasiders thought they had gone ahead just a minute later when Niall Flint diverted the ball in, but the linesman’s flag went up for offside.

Having put the Bluebirds under pressure in the opening exchanges, Aberystwyth went ahead when Arnison capitalised on a loose ball to race through on goal and slide it past Jones to make it 1-0.

Pennock’s side were struggling to impose themselves in the first half, but they did come close to finding an equaliser with the half-hour mark approaching when Davies headed just wide of the left post from a free-kick.

In an effort to change his side’s fortunes in the second half, the manager made a substitution at half time, with Iori Humphreys coming on to replace Ryan George, as County reverted to their familiar setup of three at the back.

However, it was the hosts who struck first after the restart. From a corner, the ball was headed goalwards by Owen, with the linesman indicating that the ball had crossed the line to double the Black and Greens’ lead.

At this point, the Bluebirds knew they had no option but to go on the offensive to find a way back into the game, as youngster Harri John was introduced from the bench.

And just two minutes later, the deficit was halved as the ball was hooked over the top of the defence by Elliott Dugan to play Davies in, and the forward showed good pace to get on the end of it and fire past Lewis Webb to make it 2-1.

A similar scenario less than 10 minutes later gave Davies another chance to find the net, but on this occasion his effort was wide of the mark.

Ben Fawcett was brought on with just over 20 minutes remaining as he completed his return from injury, and the striker had the ball in the net not long after coming on, however he was adjudged to be in an offisde position when directing the ball home.

Aberystwyth were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages as Jonathan Evans was shown a second yellow card, with the remainder of the game being attack versus defence as the Bluebirds tried everything to find a second goal. Despite their efforts, though, it was to no avail.

Haverfordwest County are next in action on Saturday, October 22 when we host Bala Town at the Ogi Bridge Meadow. Kick-off is at 2pm.

Aberystwyth Town: Webb, Bradford, Litchfield, Thorn (C), Evans, Lewis, Owen, Flint, Edge, Horwood (Perry 84′), Arnison

Substitutes not used: Phillips, Jenkins, Jones, Erickson, Darlington

Yellow cards: Evans 28′ & 83′, Arnison 76′, Flint 78′, Owen 81′

Red card: Evans 83′

Haverfordwest County: Jones (Idzi 86′), George (Humphreys 46′), Rees (C), Jenkins, Abbruzzese, Scotcher, Watts (John 55′), Veale, Wilson, J. Davies, Dugan (Fawcett 68′)

Substitutes not used: Pattenn, James, Watkins

Yellow card: Scotcher 61′

Attendance: 401