The Saints Reserves beat Llandrindod Wells tonight in The Alfred Sparey Cup.
After 120 minutes of football the result was decided on a penalty shootout which The Saints won 4-3, veteran Mike Havard scored the winning penalty for The Green and Whites. The scores were 1-1 after 90 minutes and 2-2 after extra time.
I’ll try and get a more detailed report on here soon.
Llandod’s “Blue Army” starting to arrive before the game.
It was all hands on deck in a thrilling cup match at the Saints Forest road ground on Wednesday as the reserves triumphed against the odds to beat Llandrindod F.C 4-3 on penalties after extra time still couldn’t separate the sides.
Harris opted to start with a 4-5-1 formation in a bid to stifle Llandods passing game but in truth the Saints never really adapted to the system and the first twenty minutes were dominated by the away side. The switch back to a more comfortable 3-5-2 however nearly brought immediate dividends as a chance came to the recently prolific John Sly who flashed his effort across goal but it went the wrong side of the post. The ‘Dod’ had plenty of chances themselves -and were constantly buoyed by their travelling ‘Blue Army’- but couldn’t find a way past keeper’ Ian Jones who had a fantastic night.
In every cup tie you expect to see some passion and this one certainly didn’t disappoint as Jamie Howard and Dan Smith brought more than one lecture from the referee.
Just as Hay seemed to be settling and as Harris was planning his half time team talk disaster struck when Liam Pugh got the wrong side of his man and brought him down for a penalty. If Llandod were looking to strike a killer blow to the homes sides chances then no-body had told Jones as he flew to his right and saved the penalty to the relief of the home crowd.
HT 0-0
Harris gave out a few home truths to his side at half time and reminded pointed out that although they had worked hard that they were doing it in the wrong areas of the pitch and that he wanted to see more positive play from the in the second half. Gary Keeble certainly picked up on his wishes as almost straight from the re-start he burst down the right after a neat one-two with Olly Cooke and won the home side a corner. Keeble himself took it and found the busy Cooke who scooped it home from five yards.
With Hay clearly in the ascendancy the game started to boil over with a mad five minutes that saw the home sides Jamie Howard and the away sides Dan Smith both find their way into the referees book.
Harris altered things early into the half with Steve Goodwin replacing Howard and Alex Howard replacing the tiring Liam Pugh. Thier were half chances for both sides with Hay’s Mike Havard and Lloyd Holland starting to dominate the middle of the pitch.
With around twenty left on the clock disaster struck as an innocuous challenge from Holland brought a soft free kick for the visitors. The home side were doubly punished when Dan Thomas scored from it with the ball bouncing wickedly in from of the home sides ‘keeper.
Harris responded by introducing young Will Goodwin to replace Keeble with Cooke moving to the right hand side.
The game was littered with half chances and with both sides giving away silly free kicks the game struggled to get any rhythm but it was Llandod who nearly stole it right at the death when the home defence was carved open and with Jones stranded but the shot rebounded off the post.
FT 1-1
The game moved into extra time and within minutes the Saints were up against it as Gavin Williams limped off after recently returning from injury. The ten men of Hay put up strong resistence and nearly took the lead themselves but were caught out when Leeroy Smith cashed in to put the visitors in front for the first time in the match. Hays effort couldn’t be faulted tho and they kept plugging away even though the odds were stacked against them. Their perseverance paid off with eight minutes left when Will Goodwin coolly slotted home from fifteen yards to send the home side wild with relief.
With moments left ‘keeper Jones got a nasty blow on the ankle which caused concern but he was able to shake it off whilst Gavin Williams returned for the final moments. The final whistle sounded sending the game to penalties…..
Harris asked for volunteers and was met with only four, however Mike Havard put his name forward at the last minute. With the lottery of a shootout all Harris asked was for his players to hit the target and give themselves a chance.
Leeroy Smith went first for the visitors and put them one up only for Ian Jones to reply with a fantastic penalty hard and low into the corner. 1-1
Tom Goodwin scored his penalty and to the home sides horror Sam Bradleys was saved by Adam Wright who guessed right. 2-1 Dod
However the momentum was short lived as Chris Davies skied his spot kit whilst Gavin Williams calmed the nerves by scoring in the corner. 2-2
Paul Bishop and Steve Goodwin then cancelled each other out as they both scored. Goodwins penalty in off the bar. 3-3
The nerves obviously got to Dan Thomas who missed his penalty ant then man of the moment Mike Havard stepped up to seal proceedings 3-4 Saints.
He was mobbed by team mates and an ecstatic manager as the nerves faded in euphoria. Harris was clearly delighted with the result and paid special credit to the five who took the penalties. “It takes alot of character after 120 minutes of football and it’s a fantastic achievement for the lads to beat a very good Llandrindod side. I thought that their supporters were fantastic and it only added to the atmosphere and i hope they make as much noise next Tuesday in their Emrys Morgan semi against Bishops Castle and i wish them luck”
Harris paid tribute to the fantastic attitude of the home side saying ” Even when the chips were down and we looked to be going out I always had faith that the lads could sneak something and tonight they got what they deserved”
When pushed for his man of the match Harris didn’t want to name one individual due to the performance from the team as a whole but felt that Lloyd Hollands second half and extra time performance really stood out. ” He was everywhere at one point and his distribution was top class.”
Hay now move onto the semi final where they could meet Presteigne Reserves, Talgarth Town or the winners of Shobden vs Leominster.