Sean Hackett’s men progressed in the Radnorshire Cup with a 2-1 home victory over local rivals Talgarth Town. Kevin Jones sweetly struck drive handed Hay a half-time lead, before a powerful Gavin Williams goal doubled the advantage mid-way through the second. The visitors handed themselves a late lifeline when they bundled the ball into the back of the net but it’s the Saints who went through.
Hay had the better of the early stages, with the threat of Phil Davies and Williams on the left-hand side causing Talgarth all sorts of problems. Williams found good crossing positions on a number of occasions but the Saints were unable to finish off his whipped efforts. Hay took the lead through Jones, when a scrappy passage of play inside the Talgarth area eventually broke to the powerful striker who smashed a left-foot shot into the corner past former Saint Bryan Kirkham. Both sides had a couple of half-chances towards the end of the first-period but failed to concern either ‘keeper.
The second-half provided a more lively encounter, with Hay gaining a foothold in the match and starting to sustain some pressure on the visitors’ backline. Mike Havard had an effort cleared off the line by Joel Weale on two seperate ocassions before Hay finally made their pressure count with a delightful move. Josh Davies played the ball out to the left where P. Davies picked up, and his expertly weighted through ball fed the run of Williams, who took one touch with his left foot before smashing home high past Kirkham. The former Saint was on top form on the night, making a number of fine saves to deny Hay a third. In particular, Havard’s long-range strike looked to be looping in but Kirkham did well to push the ball over the bar. Sub Steve Goodwin struck a trademark long-range effort goalwards and cannoned the post before Talgarth pulled a late goal back. Scrappy defending from the Saints eventually saw their attacker poke the ball past Ian Jones to make it 2-1. However, Hay fended off any late pressure from the visitors comfortably and held on to progress to the next round.
The scoreline suggests a very close-game, which in one view was the case but another would see that Hay had plenty of good goalscoring opportunities, whilst the visitors had few. Having not seen the first-team in competitive action so far this season, a number of players impressed me. In particular, Josh Davies looked very assured at the back, Gavin Williams was full of running, scoring an excellent goal and providing some superb crosses and finally, Kevin Jones had a good game up top, holding the ball up well and bringing others into play.
Manager Sean Hackett heaped praise on Phil Davies but his man of the match was the outstanding Gavin Williams.
Hay: I. Jones, Bradley, Preece, J. Davies, P. Davies, Atkinson, Wilkes, Havard, Williams, K. Jones, Wisniewski.
Subs: Goodwin, S. Davies, Keeble, Weaver.
Next up sees The Saints travel to league leaders Kington Town on Saturday for yet another Derby.
Kington Town v Saints k.o.2.30pm