10-man Haverfordwest County slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Pontypridd United at the USW Sport Park on Saturday.

Goals from Jarrad Wright and Kieran Lewis, after Jazz Richards had given the Bluebirds the lead, were enough to give the Dragons all three points in Treforest.

The Town were dealt a blow in the early stages of the second half when defender Oscar Borg was shown a straight red card for preventing striker Ben Ahmun a clear goalscoring opportunity, and the hosts duly took advantage.

The result means the Bluebirds are now two points behind seventh-placed Caernarfon Town, who occupy seventh place heading into the break.

Tony Pennock’s side made a positive start to the game and had a great chance after just two minutes when Ben Fawcett raced through on goal, but the striker’s effort rolled agonisingly wide of the right post.

Three minutes later, a precise ball over the top from Jazz played Fawcett in, but the defence recovered just in time to prevent the striker from getting a shot away.

County were rewarded for their positive start when Jordan Davies did really well to a get cross into the box from the byline, and Jazz was on hand to head on goal with George Ratcliffe unable to keep it out to give the Bluebirds the lead.

The lead only lasted nine minutes though, as the hosts drew themselves level when a corner was met by the unmarked Wright, who headed home to make it 1-1 just after the half-hour mark.

With the game level as the second-half resumed, the result was there for the taking for both sides, however the Town’s hopes weren’t helped when Borg was given his marching orders four minutes after the restart. Things got even worse when former Bluebird Kieran Lewis found the net from the resulting free-kick to make it 2-1.

The remainder of the half was surprisingly even, with County battling hard to stay in the contest and preventing the Dragons from creating any clear-cut chances.

Henry Jones saw his shot from range gathered by Ratcliffe with the hour mark approaching, with the only other chance of note coming with a minute of normal time remaining, when Zac Jones denied Danny Williams before Owain Jones fired wide on the rebound.

All in all, it proved to be a frustrating afternoon for the Bluebirds, who will now look to bounce back when they travel to Aberystwyth Town in a fortnight’s time.

Pontypridd United: Ratcliffe, Cummings, Knott, Williams, Ahmun, Lewis, Wright, Richards (Rees 85′), Green (C), Margetson, Bright (Jones 80′)

Substitutes not used: Vincent, Evans, Jenkins, Karadogan

Yellow card: Cummings 86′

Haverfordwest County: Z. Jones, Jazz (Wilson 45′), Patten, Jenkins, Borg, Abbruzzese, Rees (C), H. Jones (Veale 77′), Leahy (Watts 77′), J. Davies, Fawcett

Substitutes not used: Idzi, Humphreys, Dugan, H. John

Yellow cards: Jazz 37′, Wilson 85′

Red card: Borg 49′