The Saints were held to a goalless draw at Forest Road in a lacklustre encounter against Llanrhaeadr. The squad was boosted by a return to first-team action for both Rob Snedden and Mike Havard, whilst Ben Bevan overcame an injury to start.
The first-half saw Hay playing up the slope with the visitors using the long-ball for the majority of their attacking play. Stephen Price was playing a sweeper role, often coming out to meet the long boots over the back-four, making a number of good blocks. At the other end, a flowing move down the left involving Bevan saw his pass eventually fall for captain Phil Davies, who sent a left-foot volley past the near post. Snedden also had a half-chance to open the scoring, after a cross from the left wasn’t cleared but he flashed his shot into the side netting from the edge of the box. The visitors threatened with some half-chances of their own, with a header narrowly looping over Price’s bar whilst on another occasion, Price made a strong low save to deny the number 9 from a close-range finish.
Hay pressed more in the second-half, with the midfield pairing of Havard and Stuart Davies battling well in the centre of the park. It was the latter who nearly broke the deadlock when the ball was shifted to him and a controlled shot from 20 yards was parried around the post. The Saints looked the more likely to find the decisive goal, with the visitors only really threatening on the break. A corner from the left wasn’t fully cleared, and Chris Preece’s superbly struck volley was inches from the target whilst only an offside flag against Josh Wisniewski denied Bevan the opener when he drilled a shot home from inside the box. In the closing moments, Hay were still searching for the goal that’d turn one point into three and Kevin Jones came close to doing so, when smartly set up inside the area but his low strike was well blocked by the visiting ‘keeper. In the closing moments, Bevan was bought down on the edge of the box allowing Snedden a sniff at goal; his free-kick was as close as Hay would go when it rebounded off the crossbar. In stoppage-time, Wes Evans rose highest at the back-post to meet a Bevan cross but he failed to keep his header down and the game ended goalless.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Hay who had the better of the game throughout, but couldn’t find that elusive breakthrough. The point however stops the rot after a poor string of results in the league, and Fil Wisniewski will no doubt be looking to go one better on Wednesday evening when the Saints visit struggling Newbridge-on-Wye.
Hay: S. Price, G. Jenkins (J. Davies), W. Evans, C. Preece, P. Davies, R. Snedden, M. Havard, S. Davies, B. Bevan, K. Jones (K. Goodwin), J. Wisniewski.Subs not used: D. Jones, S. Powell.