Kevin Jones scoring a penalty on the stroke of half time to make it 2-2.

Saints Gav Williams in action.

Match report to follow.

Ledbury Town 2 Saints 4. (K.Jones 3, T.Weaver 1).

Ewyas Harold 1 Kington Town 1. (J.Penrose).

Fownhope 0 Bartestree 6.

Holme Lacy 0 Hereford Lads Club 0.

Wellington Reserves 2 Westfields Reserves 6.

MID WALES SOUTH.

Knighton Town 1 Saints 1. (J.Daw).

Talgarth Town Reserves 4 St Harmon 0.

Llandrindod Wells Reserves 2 Presteigne Reserves 4.

Sennybridge 1 Newcastle 8.

Builth Wells Reserves 6 Knighton Victoria 1.

Newbridge Reserves 3 Radnor Valley 5.

Penybont 0 Rhayader Town Reserves 2.

SPAR MID WALES LEAGUE DIVISION 1.

Presteigne 1 Bow Street 7.

Berriew 7Newbridge 1.

Llansantffraid Village 0 Llanrhaedar 2.

Carno 4 Dyffryn Banw 2.

Llanidloes Town 1 Tywyn Bryncrug 1.

Penparcau 4 Dolgellau 3.

The Mid Wales South side face a trip to one of the league favourites in Knighton Town.

The Hereford Premier side face a trip to Lebury Town.

Both matches kick off at 2.30 pm.

Could all players meet at The Saints Bar for 12.30pm.

Knighton Away Squad- Jack Bradley, Graeme Keeble, Alec Simmonds, Dan Jones, Garry Keeble, Sam Powell, Jamie Howard, Paul Davies, Will Goodwin, Johhny Daw, Stuart Snedden, Gareth Pugh, Kevin Goodwin, John Sly.

Lebury Town Away Squad- Ian Jones, Josh Davies, Phil Davies, Jake Atkinson, Chris Preece, Kevin Jones, Josh Wisniewski, Gavin Williams, Stuart Davies, Mike Havard, Thomas Wilkes, Thomas Weaver, Sam Bradley, Stephen Goodwin.

It all started well for the Saints with Kev Jones loosing his marker well on the half way line and putting over a fine cross for strike partner Josh Wisienewski. Josh seemed to rush though and pulled a scuffed shot wide of the far post.

Porth playing a 3-5-2 formation soon got a hold on the match with good possession against a Hay side set up as a 4-4-2. Stuart Brock(no 2) on the left hand side and Craig Davies number 8, central midfield, were particularly influential . Davies shot over and Brock had 2 shots blocked the first by Havo and the second by Eioss in the Saints goal. Both Davies and Brock could probably have caused more problems if they had not spent the whole of the 1st half questioning every decision made by the referee.

It was the Saints though who then had another glorious chance with a Jones free kick from the right finding Tom Weaver in the clear. Unfortunately he was unable to control the ball and the chance was lost as a covering defender cleared the ball. Again Porth had another long range effort by Davies which was blocked by Stu Davies on the edge of the box.

A period of sustained Hay pressure followed which resulted in the Saints taking the lead. A throw in half way in the away sides half by Brock was thrown to Davies and a sloppy back pass was seized upon by Kev Jones who beat the visiting keeper slotting his shot through the keepers legs. The lead nearly didn’t last long though as the previously immaculate Mike Havard missed a header but then stopped and was closed down by the pacy no. 9 Adam Wright forcing Eioss to rescue the situation.

HT 1-0.

Half time saw the away side get a roasting from their manager Scott Young, reminiscent of the Phil Brown style of half time talks. It did the trick though as the away side came out and scored 5 without reply.

Striker Wright who had been frustrated by Havards dominance in the first half started to pull the defence around and chased every ball. This proved decisive in the 55th minute when he was brought down in the box by Havo although a super save from Eioss kept the Saints in the game.

It wasn’t to be long though before the away side drew level when a free kick into the box was headed back across the goal by John Noble(no 6) for Kristian Orchard (no 10) to slide in at the far post. Their tails werre up now and Josh Davies had to clear off the line to keep the scores level.

Gavin Williams was causing the Porth defence problems down the left in the 2nd half having been switched from the right. Long range efforts from both Stu Davies and Josh Davies were both pulled wide and gave the Saints some cause for optimism. It was though the away side who went into the lead with a diving header from  Orchard after a lovely ball in from the impressive Davies. It was soon to be 3 as the pacy Wright closed Havo down, and I thought fouled him, before hitting the ball across Eioss into the far post.

 Gav then went down the left and a lovely far post cross went unconverted at the back post as Jake Atkinson having just come on as a sub fired wide. Porth then had a goal disallowed for handball by Orchard before Brock got the goal that his performance deserved with a brave header with Eioss clattering in to him. At least he didn’t moan about this although he was probably unable to for a few minutes anyway!!! Soon a scrambled 5th was scored which was probably a bit flattering to the away side, although the win was deserved.

A game which could have been so different if the 2 very good chances we had in the 1st half had been converted. Porth were kept at long distance in the 1st half, the defence and midfield working hard to close down. 2nd half however, Porth were more direct hitting their front men early and their pace particlarly that of Wright caused all sorts of problems.

It was very disappointing that there were no linesmen for this fixture with the away side and referee deciding that club linesman were not good enough to give offside decicions and therfore leaving it to the referee to be sole decision maker. When you consider that the person who ran their line was Keith Burge, ex Premier League referee,you wonder why this was the case. It seems to me that if South Wales clubs come to Mid Wales then they should comply to what we do in this area, as when we go into South Wales we are always told by referees that they will do all the offsides if their are no official linesmen. Considering the referee was a Mid Wales referee you would have thought it would have worked the other way. This would have obviuously have not been a problem if the Welsh FA had appointed official linesmen for what is their premier cup competition..

Hay St Marys would like to wish AFC Porth all the best for the next round of the Welsh Cup and a successful season which will hopefully see them regain their Welsh League Division 1 status.

Manager Sean Hackett will be missing three defenders as Chris Preece(holiday) Sam Bradley(not available) and Wes Evans has informed the club this week that he will be signing for his home village side Weobley.

Afc Porth play in The Welsh League second division and so will be a very strong outfit.

To view Afc Porths website click on the link below-

http://www.afcporth.co.uk/

Manager Sean Hackett as named the following squad-

Ian Jones, Josh Davies, Phil Davies, Tom Wilkes, Mike Havard, Tom Weaver, Stuart Davies, Steve Goodwin, Will Goodwin, Kevin Jones, Josh Wisniewski, Robert Snedden, Gavin Williams, Jake Atkinson.

Meet at the ground for 1pm.

Saints v Afc Porth k.o. 2.00pm.

Refreshments will be available during the game.

Programmes availlable.

I won’t be at the game so if anyone who helps do write ups on the here could put a match report on I’d be very grateful.

Ben Bevan in action.

Dan Jones in action.

Ben Bevan has agreed to manage our Mid Wales South side and will be assisted by Dan Jones. Everyone at the club wishes them well for the season.

An excellent second-half performance from Hay saw them come away from Talgarth Reserves with a decent 3-0 victory. The first-half saw an equal encounter, with the tightly set up formation allowing few chances for the host. Yet, in the second-period, a change to 4-4-2 allowed more freedom in Hay’s play and they took advantage of this with Johnny Daw netting either side of a close-range Will Goodwin finish.

The first-half was a tight affair and chances were few and far between. Byron Carey had a strong appeal for a penalty waved away after he looked to be tripped by Ian Jones. Hay’s best chances came from long-range, with Daw shooting straight at Meadows, and likewise Steve Goodwin. Will Goodwin’s curling strike bought out the best of Meadows, with his strike heading towards the top corner but Meadows made a fine diving tip to push it over the bar. With the scores level at half-time, the first goal was always going to be very important.

Both teams came out in the wet conditions with attacking intent at the start of the second-period with Jones having to be alert to backtrack and pick up a long ball that had deflected goalwards off Phil Davies. A goalmouth scramble saw W. Goodwin head against the bar before Talgarth managed to smash the ball out of the danger area. Yet, around the 55th minute, Daw struck to hand Hay an all important lead. Good work from S. Goodwin in the middle saw him create some room and feed a pass to Daw, who span before skimming a shot off the surface and past the despairing dive of Meadows. With that goal, the confidence started to spread amongst the team and chances were soon being created and the second goal soon followed. A counter-attack down the right started with Graeme Keeble finding Kevin Goodwin. He fed in the right-wing burst from Tom Wilkes and his delicious low cross was indefendable allowing W. Goodwin to tap in at the far post. The scores was made 3-0 with the goal of the evening as Daw struck for the second time. Again, some nice one and two touch football eventually saw the ball make its way to Daw and he curled a right-foot shot from 25 yards into the corner and out of the reach of Meadows. A further goal perhaps should have been added as Jamie Howard somehow struck over the bar from close-range when neatly put in.

In blustery and wet conditions, the first-half lacked action. Hay however picked it up in the second-period and thoroughly deserved the points at the end of the ninety minutes. Man of the match goes to Daw, who was a constant threat with neat footwork, a class first-touch and two superbly executed goals. S. Goodwin pushed him close for a hard-working display in the middle of the park. Next up is The Welsh Cup on Saturday when Afc Porth are the visitors to Forest Road.

Hay: I. Jones, J. Atkinson (P. Davies), S. Bradley, C. Preece, T. Johnson (T. Wilkes), W. Goodwin, Gary Keeble, Graeme Keeble, S. Goodwin (J. Howard), J. Daw, K. Goodwin.

Subs not used: J. Sly, D. Evans.

Final score: Talgarth Reserves 0-3 Hay.

Kick off is 6.45 pm.

Players meet at The Saints Bar at 5.30pm.

Sqaud- Ian Jones, Sam Bradley, Dave Evans,  Jamie Howard, John Daw, Will Goodwin, John Sly, Garry Keeble, Chris Preece, Toby Johnson, Steve Goodwin, Graeme Keeble, Jake Atkinson, Kevin Goodwin.

New tops which will availbale at training tomorrow night.