The First Team lost 2-0 at Montgomery Town FC this afternoon. The Saints had more than their fair share of possession but failed to get on the score sheet.
We started well and tried playing keep ball on a very bobbly pitch, all we had to show for it in the first 10 minutes was a couple of long range shots.
On Monty’s first attack the ball was half cleared by Jordan Baker only for one of their midfielders to hit a peach of a volley which Tom Lewis somehow tipped over the bar at full stretch. Up the other end a good move saw full back Tom James square the ball to Jack Biggs, the midfielder hit a shot from 25 yards which cannoned off the bar.
Midway through the half Monty got on top and soon went 1-0 up when a ball wasn’t cleared. The lead was doubled just before half time, a corner came in and after a scramble player manager Lee Jones headed in. Ht 2-0.
The second half saw us have a lot of possession but we struggled to break down the Monty defence. The home side had two long range efforts well saved by Lewis, the one was top drawer as it hit a divot and shot up high before he tipped it over the bar.
Steve Goodwin in the Monty goal also pulled off a brilliant save from a dipping Rob McNamara effort which he tipped over the bar. Brendan Hackett had a few shots on the run but it was near impossible to control the ball on the bobbly pitch. The closest we came was in the 80th minute when Macca beat two men in the box and shot from 8 yards but Goodwin saved with his legs. Ft 2-0.
I feel this was a lesson learnt today in how to play to the conditions, the pitch wasn’t great yet we still tried tip tapping the ball around where as Monty got it forward quick and squeezed us in. I’m not using the pitch as an excuse, the weather has been so rubbish most groundsmen can’t get on the pitches to do any work.
The set up at Monty is excellent, you can see the hard work that has been put in over the years on the ground.
Team –
Tom Lewis, Tom James, Josh Davies(Rory Hackett), Steve Goodwin(Will Goodwin), Jordan Baker, Brendan Hackett, Chris Preece(Adam Finn), Rob McNamara, Matt James, Jack Biggs, Stu Davies(c).
