The Saints travelled to Penybont yesterday, it turned out to be a very hard fought match on a difficult playing surface due to the recent weather. Manager Dan Jones was only able to name a bare eleven due to numerous players unavailable due to injuries or work/university commitments.
It was all action straight from the kick off and before five minutes were played the Saints looked to be going one-nil down when the referee gave a penalty. The ball was played through the defence with the pacey striker baring down on goal with only Mike Ward to beat full back Jack Cripps came across and made an outstanding tackle clearly taking the ball but the ref didn’t agree and pointed to the spot, fortunately for the Saints the striker fired high and wide. More bad news for the Saints was that Dave Evans picked up an early injury and we were effectively playing with ten men for the majority of the game. Despite the awful pitch the Saints always tried to play good football, Sam Powell and Garry Keeble in the middle of midfield were tying to create chances for the front men. With only a couple of half chances for both teams neither keeper was seriously tested in the first half and both teams went in 0-0 at half time.
With the pitch getting worse with every kick both sides found it hard to carve open any clear opportunities. With twenty minutes to go a long punt out of defence beat the Penbont back line and Paul Ward-Willis was through on goal only to be denied by a great save by the home goalkeeper. Five minutes later the Saints were awarded a free kick 25 yards out Powell took the free kick which was deflected over the crossbar. On 80 minutes it was heartbreak for Hay, the ball was picked up in the midfield by the busy number 6 who played the ball out wide a cross was drilled in which took a couple of deflections Ward palmed the ball out only for the ball to remain stationary in the bogged goalmouth and the on rushing striker slid the ball in from inches out. 1-0. The Saints pushed right until the end and the last couple of minutes must have been exciting for a neutral but nervous and frustrating for the players; the Saints won two corners in injury time one goal mouth scramble was cleared for another corner, the corner was drilled in and Dan Jones’ header looked to be finding the far corner only for it to be cleared of the line, with the ball cleared the referee called time. Full Time 1-0.
I’m absolutely gutted about the result; it was probably the best we’ve played for a couple of games. The lads gave their all today and they all deserve a mention. I’m sure if we were able to bring on fresh legs we would have come away with at least a draw, neither side deserved to lose. Sam Powell was brilliant in the midfield driving the team forward but my Man of the Match is Jack Cripps who was fantastic and didn’t put a foot wrong all game.
Saints – M.Ward, A.Simmonds, D.Jones, P.Williams, J.Cripps, G.Pugh, G.Keeble, S.Powell, S.Snedden, D.Evans, P.Ward-Willis.