CWMBRAN Celtic finally got among the goals to revive their hopes of staving off relegation, but fellow Division One strugglers Caldicot Town lost at home.

In Division Two, results went the way of promotion-seeking Croesyceiliog, while a thumping away win for Abertillery Bluebirds took them out of the danger zone for the first time since October.

Monmouth Town remain in the fringes of the race to go up from Division Three, but relegation-threatened trio Cwmbran Town, Llanwern and Tredegar Town all dropped crucial points.

Celtic hosted another side entrenched at the wrong end of the table, Aberaman Athletic, having not scored in their previous three league games.

But goals from Richard Crees, Luke Sallis and substitute Jon Dunn earned the home side a deserved 3-0 success.

It means they are now unbeaten in three and have not conceded in those matches following on from a couple of 0-0 draws.

The victory doesn’t take Celtic out of the relegation area, but it means teams such as Caldicot, Aberaman and Swansea-based West End are all in their sights.

On a better day, Celtic, who began like a house on fire and had 10 attempts at goal before the break, might have had at least six more goals.

Crees, Sallis and Chris Pearce all struck the woodwork, while other efforts either went narrowly wide or were safely gathered by former Cwmbran goalkeeper Rhys Griffiths.

Celtic number one Nicky Church did have to make a couple of important stops, while Aberaman also spurned one very good chance to score, but in general the hosts held the upper hand throughout.

Afterwards, Celtic boss Ben Graham expressed his relief at the outcome: “With Aberaman being just a couple of places above us, this was a massive three points for us,” he remarked.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but I really believe the boys can move on from this because it was a real convincing win.

“I believe we could have scored another three or four more goals, so we just have to take the confidence gained from this and take it into our game at Cardiff Corries on Thursday.”

Caldicot are one place above Celtic and started against visiting Caerau (Ely) having lost only once in their previous six league outings.

However, they only had a penalty from midfielder David Lloyd to show for it in a 2-1 defeat, with both Caerau’s goals also coming from the 12-yard spot.

Croesyceiliog had Jody Jenkins, Calum Miles and skipper Mark Morris on target in a 3-1 home success over Newcastle Emlyn, but the promotions bids of Caerleon and Aberbargoed Buds stalled with respective 0-0 draws at AFC Porth and at home to Treharris Athletic Western.

However, best result of the day was Abertillery’s 8-2 win at basement outfit Llangeinor, where Phil Melville scored four times to supplement goals from player-manager Adam Bishop (2), Paul Samuel and Owen Goodenough.

Goytre started against visiting Monmouth on the back of a brilliant mid-week Nathaniel League Cup semi-final win over Barry Town.

However, their promotion bid from Division Three is fast slipping following a 3-2 reverse. Brothers Luke and Matthew Prosser were on target for the home side, with Sam Palmer (2, including a penalty) and Matthew Bowen scoring for the Kingfishers.

A goal before the break by Dave Mellon proved enough to hand Newport Civil Service a 1-0 home win over Risca United, while Llanwern were held 2-2 by Cwmbran Town at Newport Stadium.

Marcus Power scored twice, including a penalty for Llanwern, with Kristian Powell and Ricky Amos replying for the Crows.

However, there was late drama when Cwmbran’s Steve Hughes missed a last-minute spot after goalkeeper James Cairns had been sent off.

Tredegar travelled to Margam to face Corus Steel, but were beaten 3-1 with Sean Rees grabbing a consolation goal.

There are a number of mid-week games, including tomorrow night’s Nathaniel League Cup semi-final between divisional and county rivals Aberbargoed and Newport YMCA at Caldicot.

The winners will face Goytre on a date and at a venue yet to be confirmed in what will be the first all-Gwent final in 31 years.

Mid-week games (kick-offs 6.30pm, unless stated): Tuesday: Nathaniel League Cup, semi-final – Aberbargoed Buds v Newport YMCA (at Caldicot Town FC, kick-off 7pm). MacWhirter Welsh League, Division Two – Croesyceiliog v Ton Pentre. Wednesday: Division Three – Goytre v Tredegar Town (6.15pm); Monmouth Town v Newport Civil Service; Risca United v Cwmbran Town (6pm); Treowen Stars v Pontypridd Town (7pm); UWIC v Llanwern (6.15pm). Thursday: Division One – Cardiff Corinthians v Cwmbran Celtic.

Top 6 Hot-Shots: 25 – Luke Prosser (Goytre); 23 – Matthew Bowen (Monmouth Town); 18 – Marcus Power (Llanwern); 17 – Olly Beckett (Newport YMCA); 16 – Elliott Ford (Monmouth Town); 14 – Dave Mellon (Newport Civil Service).

Clean sheets: 8 – Caldicot Town; 7 – Cwmbran Celtic, Goytre, Newport Civil Service; 6 – Caerleon, Crosesyceiliog, Monmouth Town; 5 – Aberbargoed Buds, Risca United, Treowen Stars; 4 – Cwmbran Town, Newport YMCA, Tredegar Town; 3 – Abertillery Bluebirds; 1 – Llanwern.