By Laurence Dockerty
A stunning comeback saw Carmarthen Town end any hopes third-placed Pontypridd United had of putting pressure on the clubs above them in the Cymru South table.
Goals from Noah Daley, Rio Booth and Liam Thomas in the space of 12 second half minutes saw Carmarthen leave the USW Sports Park with all three points, after the hosts had gone ahead in the 11th minute through Sam Johnson.
Ponty were forced to replace injured Alfie Lewis with Tom Stokes in just the seventh minute.
And Stokes made an impact just four minutes later as he played the ball through to Johnson to slot home.
Carmarthen also had to make a change when Jordan Vickers collided with Pontypridd goalkeeper Cameron Clarke. Vickers broke his rib in the impact, being replaced by Rio Booth in the 21st minute.
Despite going behind, Carmarthen controlled most of the possession and were rewarded in the 51st minute when a brilliant move down the left-hand side ended with Daley calmly placing the ball into the right-hand corner of the Ponty et for the equaliser.
Carmarthen kept up the pressure, with Daley creating two massive chances for himself only to be denied by Clarke.
In the 55th minute, a Carmarthen free-kick caused a scramble in the Ponty box and Booth’s deflected shot put the visitors ahead.
And Carmarthen all but made certain of the points in the 63rd minute.
A short goal kick saw Ponty’s Luke Cummings lose the ball to Daley outside the box, with Liam Thomas the goalscoring beneficiary.
Defeat leaves Ponty nine points adrift of leaders Llanelli ahead of their next fixture – away to Afan Lido on Tuesday night.