Hay welcomed Llandrindod Wells to Forest Road this afternoon in what was a hard battle for two well organised sides. Ben Bevan was away with the Hereford Saints side so Dan Jones took charge while there was a string of other changes from previous weeks, Alex Simmonds and skipper Gary Keeble returned and there was a debut for new signing Tom James, meanwhile Ceri Ward has decided to join bottom club Bronllys.
Man of the match Pughy who also netted twice on the day.
The Saints stuck to the 3-4-3 formation that had seen them score many goals recently, It looked like they might have carried on the trend as they had the Llandod defence chasing shadows in the early stages with the front three of Snedden, Ward-Willis and Evans linking up well, the best of the chances fell after ten minutes with Snedden breaking down the left but his final shot let him down in a good position. The Saints continued to dominate while Llandod looked for the route one option, Hay had a warning after 30 minutes with a long ball again beating the defence with the striker lobbing the Saints keeper fortunately the ref disallowed it for offside. Five minutes later it was 1-0, the same striker turned his man and curled a sweet shot beyond the diving keeper. Hay continued to attack with purpose and were level on the stroke of half time, after some neat footwork from Snedden on the edge of box the ball broke to Ward-Willis who curled a left footed shot into the far corner, it was no more than the Saints deserved. HT 1-1.
The first quarter of an hour of the second half belonged to the Saints, just after 50 minutes a piece of unbelievable skill by Snedden on the touchline left the full back for dead and he cut inside but his cross was blocked and Gareth Pugh picked up the loose ball and lobbed the keeper from 35 yards. 2-1. Ten minutes later it was three, a cross from debutant Tom James was met again by Pugh who out-jumped the keeper and his header creeped over the line. 3-1. Now came a turning point in the game which was the Llandod keeper Peter Horne coming out of goal and causing a nuisance upfront while their manager threw on two other strikers. After 70 minutes it was 3-2, a free kick wide on the left was floated in which deceived the whole Hay defence, Horne headed in at the far post to make it 3-2. Llandod were continuing to dominate and on 85 minutes they were rewarded for their constant pressure, a tame shot was spilled by the Saints stopper with the follow up beating the desperate dive of Jones, for 3-3, in the final minute the home keeper made up for his mistake with a great bloke from Horne. Full Time 3-3.
It can only be said that a draw was a fair result, with both teams bossing the play at some stage during the game, however the Saints will be disappointed to concede two goals while we were 3-1 up. The boys battled well against a good side which sets them up nicely for two more hard games to come. Stuart Snedden impressed today showing very tidy touches and had two assists but Man of the Match goes to Gareth Pugh who was outstanding in the middle of midfield and scored two crucial goals. Next up we welcome Newcastle at Forest Road next Saturday.