The Saints recent unbeaten run came to an end tonight when they went down 1-2 to title chasing Rhayader Town.
Rhayader were very dominant in the first half with the outstanding Matthew Lewis causing problems for the Saints back four , Lewis should have opened the scoring early on but blasted the ball over the bar from close range. After a lot of Rhayader possession the Saints counter attacked which resulted in a corner, from the resulting corner a Rhayader defender cleared the ball off the line, another corner was awarded which was cleared down field to defender Dan Jones who misjudged his back pass which was chased down by Lewis but keeper Stephen Price raced out of his box and was first to the ball but his clearance fell kindly to Richard Powell who calmly passed the ball into an empty net from some 35 yards out.
Dan Jones was injured after 30 minutes and was replaced by youngster Toby Johnson who was playing in his first ever Spar League game after some excellent performances for the reserves.
More Rhayader pressure followed with Price having to make two top draw saves to keep the score 0-1, the Saints were living on scraps but from one counter attack Capatin Phil Davies hit a 25 yard effort which was tipped over the bar by the visiting keeper. ht 0-1.
The second half saw the homeside come more into the game, striker Kevin Jones started getting on top of Rhayader Captain Sivell causing him problems with his strength and speed.It was Rhayader though who went 0-2 up from a mix up between Wes Evans and Price, Lewis pounced on the loose ball and rolled into an empty net.
The Saints then really had a go at Rhayader and were awarded a penalty when Jones was tripped in the box as he was about to shoot at goal, his strike partner Josh Wisniewski stepped up and blasted the penalty past the diving keeper to make it 1-2.
With the large home crowd behind them another Kev Jones attack saw his cross headed powerfully towards goal by Wisniewski but the visiting keeper somehow managed to save it. The next incident in the game saw two red cards, one for Price in the Hay goal and one for Rhys Thomas of Rhayader after an altercation in the box from a Rhayader a corner. Defender Wes Evans donned the keepers shirt for the Saints, he was called into action not long after when he saved from Lewis with his legs.
The Saints best move of the game saw Jones burst down the left past Sivel, he held the ball up until he was supported by Rob Snedden who danced past two lunging Rhayader defenders and crossed into the box and once again Wisniewski was the first to the ball sending an even better near post header goalbound but the young keeper pulled off an even better save to keep the ball out. ft 1-2.
I was very impressed with Rhayader especially the first half when we really struggled to get the ball off them, if they had taken their chances the game could of been over by half time. Two mistakes cost us in the end because once we pulled a goal back they started panicking.
Matthew Lewis was very impressive all night for the visitors and youngster Toby Johnson had a quality debut for us, it goes to show the junior section works. Toby came through that, he has also played for our youth team, third team, reserves and is now in the first team.
A special mention to the Rhayader keeper who made two of the best saves I’ve seen this season.
Team- Stephen Price, Dan Jones(Toby Johnson), Wes Evans, Chris Preece(Jamie Howard), Phil Davies(c), Sam Bradley, Sam Powell, Stu Davies, Rob Snedden, Kevin Jones, Josh Wisniewski.