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Saints out of Welsh Cup

AFC Porth came to Hay and dominated possession particularly in the 1st half to go away with a 5-1 win and progress in this seasons Welsh Cup. A first half goal from Kevin Jones gave the Saints some hope however, a 5 goal 2nd half performnace from the visitors gave them a deserved, if maybe somewhat flattering result.

It all started well for the Saints with Kev Jones loosing his marker well on the half way line and putting over a fine cross for strike partner Josh Wisienewski. Josh seemed to rush though and pulled a scuffed shot wide of the far post.

Porth playing a 3-5-2 formation soon got a hold on the match with good possession against a Hay side set up as a 4-4-2. Stuart Brock(no 2) on the left hand side and Craig Davies number 8, central midfield, were particularly influential . Davies shot over and Brock had 2 shots blocked the first by Havo and the second by Eioss in the Saints goal. Both Davies and Brock could probably have caused more problems if they had not spent the whole of the 1st half questioning every decision made by the referee.

It was the Saints though who then had another glorious chance with a Jones free kick from the right finding Tom Weaver in the clear. Unfortunately he was unable to control the ball and the chance was lost as a covering defender cleared the ball. Again Porth had another long range effort by Davies which was blocked by Stu Davies on the edge of the box.

A period of sustained Hay pressure followed which resulted in the Saints taking the lead. A throw in half way in the away sides half by Brock was thrown to Davies and a sloppy back pass was seized upon by Kev Jones who beat the visiting keeper slotting his shot through the keepers legs. The lead nearly didn’t last long though as the previously immaculate Mike Havard missed a header but then stopped and was closed down by the pacy no. 9 Adam Wright forcing Eioss to rescue the situation.

HT 1-0.

Half time saw the away side get a roasting from their manager Scott Young, reminiscent of the Phil Brown style of half time talks. It did the trick though as the away side came out and scored 5 without reply.

Striker Wright who had been frustrated by Havards dominance in the first half started to pull the defence around and chased every ball. This proved decisive in the 55th minute when he was brought down in the box by Havo although a super save from Eioss kept the Saints in the game.

It wasn’t to be long though before the away side drew level when a free kick into the box was headed back across the goal by John Noble(no 6) for Kristian Orchard (no 10) to slide in at the far post. Their tails werre up now and Josh Davies had to clear off the line to keep the scores level.

Gavin Williams was causing the Porth defence problems down the left in the 2nd half having been switched from the right. Long range efforts from both Stu Davies and Josh Davies were both pulled wide and gave the Saints some cause for optimism. It was though the away side who went into the lead with a diving header from  Orchard after a lovely ball in from the impressive Davies. It was soon to be 3 as the pacy Wright closed Havo down, and I thought fouled him, before hitting the ball across Eioss into the far post.

 Gav then went down the left and a lovely far post cross went unconverted at the back post as Jake Atkinson having just come on as a sub fired wide. Porth then had a goal disallowed for handball by Orchard before Brock got the goal that his performance deserved with a brave header with Eioss clattering in to him. At least he didn’t moan about this although he was probably unable to for a few minutes anyway!!! Soon a scrambled 5th was scored which was probably a bit flattering to the away side, although the win was deserved.

A game which could have been so different if the 2 very good chances we had in the 1st half had been converted. Porth were kept at long distance in the 1st half, the defence and midfield working hard to close down. 2nd half however, Porth were more direct hitting their front men early and their pace particlarly that of Wright caused all sorts of problems.

It was very disappointing that there were no linesmen for this fixture with the away side and referee deciding that club linesman were not good enough to give offside decicions and therfore leaving it to the referee to be sole decision maker. When you consider that the person who ran their line was Keith Burge, ex Premier League referee,you wonder why this was the case. It seems to me that if South Wales clubs come to Mid Wales then they should comply to what we do in this area, as when we go into South Wales we are always told by referees that they will do all the offsides if their are no official linesmen. Considering the referee was a Mid Wales referee you would have thought it would have worked the other way. This would have obviuously have not been a problem if the Welsh FA had appointed official linesmen for what is their premier cup competition..

Hay St Marys would like to wish AFC Porth all the best for the next round of the Welsh Cup and a successful season which will hopefully see them regain their Welsh League Division 1 status.

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