The Saints defeated local rivals Rhosgoch Rangers 3-0 last night in front of a large crowd in their opening game of the new season.
The first half was poor from both sides with the Saints looking very nervous with expectations so high. The midfield couldn’t get to play their passing game with the away side closing them down very quickly, Rhosgoch were using the long ball tactics which was dealt with easily by the Saints back three of Mike Havard, Phil Davies and Josh Davies. The first clear chance of the match came after 20 minutes when Rob Snedden beat two men and hit a shot which keeper Ben Barrell tipped around the post, Barrell also saved from Kevin Jones to keep the score at 0-0. HT 0-0.
The first 15 of the second half was the same as the first with the Saints still looking nervous and Rhosgoch trying to hit them on the counter attack with long balls over the top to the Lloyd brothers. Around the hour mark the game changed when Kevin Jones curled a ball into the box which Barrell punched away but only into the path of Saints Captain Chris Preece who blasted it into the top corner from just inside the box, a huge cheer went up from the large home support. This steadied the nerves and it was the Saints who dominated from here on although the introduction of Owain Lloyd made the Saints weary but he was marked very well on the night. Ben Bevan hit a post and Josh Wisniewski hit his shot over the bar from close range as the Saints went looking for the killer second goal. It was Preece who got it with a thumping header from a classy Snedden free kick which gave Barrell no chance. The tension was lifted and with just a few minutes to go Snedden went on a jinking run, he played a one two with Preece and scored a deserved goal to make the final score 3-0.
A good win but not a good performance in my eyes, Rhosgoch always up their game against us and make life difficult. We looked very nervous, you could feel the tension in the crowd(100 plus) just watching, the team have been tagged favourites before a ball had been kicked so a lot of pressure was on the lads tonight so to come away with a 3-0 win and not play that well is a credit to every one of them. It was a battle out there tonight, Rhosgoch thought they didn’t deserve to lose 3-0 but Bryan Kirkham never had a save to make all night which is a credit to the defence in front of him. I thought Phil Davies and Josh Davies were outstanding all night but the Saints supporters voted Chris Preece man of the match for his workrate, 2 goals and an assist.
Team-B.Kirkham, J.Davies, P.Davies, M.Havard, B.Bevan( S.Goodwin), C.Preece(C), R.Jones, S.Powell( J.Maygothling), R.Snedden, J.Wisniewski, K.Jones. Subs not used-J.Daw, J.Atkinson, T.Weaver.