The Saints finished their season with a 1-1 draw at Ewyas Harold. A scorcher of a strike put the hosts in front with just over ten minutes remaining but Colan Badham tucked home a late penalty to mean the points were shared, after Tom Weaver had been felled.
Hay had to field a make-shift side due to a number of unavailable players, with a handful of the reserve team making the step up to the first-team. In a fast-paced first-half, Harold were pressing the Saints back into their half with some neat football but ‘keeper Dan Bufton was largely untroubled. In fact, the best opportunity of the first-half fell to Badham, when he attempted to lob the ‘keeper from over 40 yards out forcing a strong hand to push the ball over the crossbar. A number of corners put Hay under pressure but headers from the home team were off-target. A couple of powerful long-range efforts were easily held by Bufton, whilst both Toby Johnson and Chris Preece made some excellent blocks inside the area to deny the hosts strikes on goal.
The second period saw the game open up as both teams tired; Ewyas Harold were pressing more men forward but were once again unable to carve out anything more than shots from outside the box after the Saints backline held firm. Weaver and Preece were off-target with long-range strikes of their own, whilst the impressive Stuart Davies tamely struck goalwards after a lung-busting run forward. The home side took the lead with just over ten minutes to play after a quick break through the middle, their midfielder hit an unstoppable right-foot strike into the top corner, giving Bufton no chance. However, they were soon undone by Hay as a neat move down the right-hand side saw Oli Cooke get past his man on the by-line and play the ball to Weaver, who jinked past his man before eventually being bought down. The responsibility was left to Badham, and he made no mistake, striking cleanly into the corner to bring the scores level. In the final couple of minutes, Hay were given a scare when a Johnson back-header nearly deceived Bufton, but the ‘keeper was on hand to tip the ball around the post.
In a physical encounter, the make-shift Hay team held strong and claimed a decent point to end the season. Stand out performers include Davies in the middle of the park, and Paul Williams, who had a strong game at right-back. The work-rate of the whole team was second to none on the day, with Badham and Cooke running themselves into the ground up front.
Hay: Bufton, Williams, Preece, Johnson, Keeble, Weaver, Howard, Davies, Goodwin, Badham, Cooke.
Goalscorer Colan Badham.