The Saints bowed out the Central Wales Cup 1-0 to Cymru Alliance side Rhayader Town FC.
Both teams started brightly and created some good attacking moves. The first real chance of the game fell to Jack Biggs on 4 mins, he chipped Bryan Kirkham in the Rhayader goal but the ball went a couple of feet over the bar. Rhayader then went on the attack following the restart but saw Jean-Luc Alvarez pull his shot wide of the Hay goal. Rhayader had a few half chances from corners but the Hay defence stood firm.
The Saints also had a few half chances from long range and Will Goodwin had a shot blocked from 10 yards after a good pull back. HT 0-0
Rhayader started the brighter of the two sides in the second half and saw Tom Lewis make a good save after a shot from the edge of the area. The following minute Hay responded with a good counter attacking move which saw Will Goodwin put through in a one on one situation with Kirkham, the midfielder just dragged his shot wide of the far post.
Both teams continued to make half chances but both defences dealt with everything thrown at them.
The deadlock was broken by the Cymru Alliance side in the 71st minute when Gethin Davies bundled home a corner from close range.
The Saints continued to pile on the pressure in the closing stages, Jack Biggs had a shot saved by Kirkham and Rob McNamara pulled a shot wide after latching onto a through ball. In the final few minutes Hay had a strong shout for a penalty. The ball fell to Steve Goodwin on the edge of the box after a corner was cleared, Goodwin then skipped past the Rhayader defender, drove to the byline to cross the ball in and was chopped down from behind. The resulting decision was a corner to Hay and Rhayader hung on for a 1-0 victory. FT 1-0
It was a really good performance by the Saints who were missing a number of first team players. All the players that stepped in put in brilliant displays as did the regulars. The back four were solid throughout, the midfielders worked tirelessly and Kevin Jones did a brilliant job up top on his own.
Man of the match was Steve Goodwin who was immense throughout.
Team –
Tom Lewis, Sam Bradley, Jordan Baker, Steve Goodwin, Rory Hackett(GavWilliams), Brendan Hackett, Stu Davies(c), Jack Biggs, Will Goodwin, Kevin Jones, Rob McNamara. Unused Subs Dan Jones, Gareth Jenkis.
Photos Stu Townsend.