The Saints lost out in a league encounter at Newbridge this evening 4-2 in treacherous playing conditions. Despite going ahead twice through goals from Kevin Jones and Josh Wisniewski, the hosts fought back to claim the three points.
Hay started the game playing into a strong wind and were finding it difficult to get their usual ball on the ground strategy going; Newbridge made the early inroads without troubling Stephen Price. The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute when a long ball over the back four was chased down by Jones, who saw his initial right-foot shot blocked by the out-rushing ‘keeper but the ball fell nicely to the striker who made no mistake second-time round by firing in with his left-foot. Newbridge didn’t have to wait long to get back on level terms when captain Adriano Girolami caught Price off-guard with a free-kick which beat him his near-post. Despite the set-back of the goal, the Saints managed to take the lead once more when a break down the left hand side from Ben Bevan saw him cut in before picking out Wisniewski who had the simple task of tapping home from close-range. Yet, in a similar pattern to the first equaliser, Newbridge’s second came within moments of Wisniewski’s strike. Slack defending contributed to Steve Morgan getting in behind the back four, and rounding Price before tucking home into the unguarded net. Gareth Jenkins came close to putting Hay back into the lead when he headed over from close-range, following a smart corner move but instead it was Bridge who managed to gain the important foothold before the break. A superb through ball split the Hay defence and Morgan, who had opened his account with the previous goal showed confidence from this with an excellent finish into the corner of the goal.
The swirling wind and the heavy hail-stones died down in time for the second-half which helped the hosts who didn’t have to play into the conditions that Hay faced in the first-half. Both sides were having their fair-share of the possession but often lacked the final impetus within the attacking third of the pitch. The game was just about put to bed mid-way through the second-half when Bridge picked up the ball around the centre circle, allowing Chris Jones to play a neat one-two with Morgan before placing a first-time shot into the corner leaving Price rooted to his spot. With that goal, Hay looked dead and buried but they pushed men forward in the final twenty minutes and created some decent openings. In particular, a low cross from the right-hand side was flicked goalwards at the near-post but somehow didn’t end up in the back of the net, with Bevan inches away from providing the finishing touch. Wisniewski sliding strike was gathered by the ‘keeper and a free-kick from Rob Snedden was fumbled by the ‘keeper but nobody was on hand to tuck in the rebound.
All in all, it was another disapponting display from the Saints, who looked short on confidence lately. On the evening, a lack of concentration cost them dearly with the old saying, “A team are at their most vulnerable after they’ve scored” springing to mind. Hopefully the goals scored by Jones and Wisniewski will boost their confidence in front of goal, whilst promising displays in the middle of the park from the hard-working Stuart Davies, and sub Tom Weaver, who got the ball down and looked very creative will spur Hay on for the final push in the league.
Hay: S. Price, G. Jenkins (T. Weaver), W. Evans, C. Preece, P. Davies (C), R. Snedden, S. Davies (S. Powell), M. Havard, B. Bevan (K. Goodwin), K. Jones, J. Wisniewski.
Sub not used: D. Jones.