A disappointing result against the side immediatley below us in the league. Unfortunately the hard earned points battled for against Shobdon have been thrown away in a lacklustre display.
The start was quite encouraging with Graeme Keeble very prominent with his probing passing to set the team going forward. Gareth Pugh made some good breaks on the right and Paul Ward Willis and Will Goodwin were making some good runs up front. Unfortunately there was not an end product though with either a cross not going in or, a shot being taken on. When we did have a corner the ball in to the box was missed by everyone and was cleared beyond the far post.
At the other end only good goalkeeping by Brytan Kirkham and an excellent covering tackle from Chris Bounds kept the visitors at bay.Luck was about to run out however when Fownhope went ahead on the 20 minute mark. Both Fownhope strikers caused problems to the defence all afternoon with their movement and pace.
The reaction was immediate as Pughy again made a strong run on the right and was upended wide on the right some 30 yards from goal. Graeme Keeble took the free kick left footed and the ball eluded everyone to settle in the far corner. Both Keeb and Mike Havard had free kicks around 25 yards out with both not really testing the keeper and Will Goodwin was unlucky with a snap shot that hit the right hand post after another smart ball from Keeb. HT 1-1
Unfortunately right on half time Keeb went down with a knee injury, with no one near him, and shortly into the 2nd half was forced off after trying to run it off. The Saints did miss his creativity in midfield.
Fownhope came more into the game at this stage and again their front two caused the defence problems. Havo was unlucky with a far post header and Will had chance to shoot but just delayed slightly and was closed down by the harworking defence.
Again the Saints went behind 2-1 but the substitute put the Saints right back into the game with a well taken equaliser with 20 minutes to go. The Saints then pushed for the winner with substitute Nick Rodell having a good shot blocked by an on rushing defender. It wasn’t to be though and a sloppy third goal was conceded to give the 3 points to Fownhope.
Team; Bryan Kirkham, Paul Davies, Mike Havard, Chris Bounds, Gareth Pugh, Garry Keeble, Toby Johnson, Haydn Williams(Nick Rodell), Graeme Keeble(Mike Price), Paul Ward Willis, Will Goodwin