TEN-man Usk Town 2nds saw their hopes of finishing top of group A in the Gwent Central Benevolent Cup take a blow with a 6-1 thrashing by hosts Talgarth on Saturday, reports STUART TOWNSEND.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the 18th minute when veteran forward Steve Potter headed home a Ben Sharman cross after an uncleared corner.

The lead was doubled within 60 seconds after Mark Walsh's header found the back of the net from a Tom Sharman-Jones corner before Jake Malyn was shown a red card by referee Gareth Ratcliffe following an altercation with Walsh.

The Monmouthshire club halved the deficit in first-half stoppage time when Kristien Harrison beat Tom Beavan from over 30 yards out.

But the hosts regained their two-goal buffer five minutes after the interval when Will Luckhurst met a Sharman-Jones corner with a diving header at the far post, before Potter's 55th-minute cross was converted by Ben Sharman.

The Royals went nap when Polish forward Grzes Chodnicki slid the ball past Usk custodian Marc Cordell in the 73rd minute. And the scoring was completed four minutes later when Tom Francis' cross was met by a Sharman-Jones header at the far post.

Talgarth now need to win their final group match when they travel to Panteg 2nds, and hope that Usk 2nds slip-up when they host Pontnewynydd 2nds.