Saints Reserves narrowly lost out in the Mid-Wales South this weekend, with a 2-1 defeat away at high-flying Prestiegne Reserves. Goals from Alan Stocker and Callum Matthews, either side of an equaliser Jon Sly, left Barry Williams’ team with the points.
The opening exchanges saw both sides fail to settle in a scrappy opening period but it was the home side that would settle the nerves by going ahead in the seventh minute. A long throw into the box wasn’t dealt with and Stocker nicked in on the right-hand side, rounding stand-in ‘keeper Jack Bradley, before firing into an open goal. The hosts though were soon pegged back when an instinctive counter-attack resulted in an equaliser; a break in the middle of the park from Rob Snedden saw him feed a through ball to Sly, who showed his confidence with a precise finish across the helpless Trevor Gummer and in off the far post. Both sides had chances to take the lead as the half progressed, with a neat run from Kevin Goodwin down the left wing, saw him cut back inside but his snapshot was well off target. A Snedden free-kick also caused problems, with the ball eventually having to be cleared off the line. At the other end, Jack Bowen forced Bradley to rush off his line and block his close-range shot.
Conditions in the second-half became difficult with heavy rain causing the surface to become extremely slippy; both sides were keen to play football which made for a competitive but lively encounter. Chances were few and far between though with Bradley rarely called into action although as the half progressed, the game burst into life. The Saints had a golden opportunity to take the lead, when Goodwin’s nippy run past two men was eventually impeded by Danny Ives inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Snedden stepped up but saw his spot-kick was stopped by Gummer, much to the delight of the home support. Hay were too rue this miss as soon after, a through ball was latched onto by Matthews, who got himself in front of the defender, before nipping the ball past the onrushing Bradley. The Saints rallied in the closing-stages and had a couple of opportunites to equalise, with Snedden missing the target with a free-kick whilst in the final minute, a corner from the right wasn’t cleared and Alec Winstone’s close-range strike was superbly tipped onto his own bar by Gummer.
Andrew Harris will no doubt have been disappointed not to have picked up a point as the Saints more than matched their opponents during the game, but on the day it was the hosts who took their chances and this ultimately was the difference. Both sides played some excellent football at times, in a competitive encounter, which really was a good advert for the Mid-Wales South.Next up is a trip to Knighton Town, where Hay will be looking to avenge a 5-0 defeat at Forest Road earlier in the campaign.
Saints: J. Bradley, M. Ward, A. Howard, S. Bradley, A. Winstone, K. Goodwin, C. Ward, M. Crane, R. Snedden, J. Sly, S. Snedden (A. Simmonds).