Match report to follow.
All other games were postponed due to the weather.
The Saints gained a creditable draw against a side who had beaten them easily 5-1 at Forest Road only weeks earlier. They showed real committment on a pitch that in my opinion was not fit to play on with the players sounding like horses running on a road and the ball sometimes bouncing sideways like a rugby ball.
The Saints had the better of the first half with the defence dealing well with the strong home forwards. Occasionally we did get caught when we tried to play too much football from the back and were sold short by the pitch. We were dominant in midfield with Stu Davies having another good game in central midfield and Garry Keeble proving a useful outlet on the right. Keeble went close with a cracking left foot shot from 20 yards before Will Goodwin showed his poaching instincts finishing after Tom Wilkes’ shot had been blocked. HT 0-1.
In the second half the home side came out and played like Hay had the first getting the ball wide early and started to get on top without really testing Sulli in goal. A couple of times he showed his experience though by reading situations well and clearing up behind the defence. Alex Winstone also came into his own dominating in the air as the home side launched everything long as they tried to force there way into the game,
Hays best chances in the second half fell to Wini who had two headed chances. The first from a Chris Bounds free kick where he almost squeezed the ball in at the far post and, the second from a Keeble corner which he didn’t quite get enough on and the keeper saved.
The home side equalised controversially with 15 minutes to go when they broke and as the ball was crossed the offside flag went up and was ignored as the centre forward finished past Sulli.
With the pitch condition getting worse both sides were happy to hear the final whistle with no injuries caused by the dangerous conditions.
Team; R Sullivan,A Howard, A Winstone, L Pugh, C Bounds, Ga Keeble, J Howard(B Walsh), S Davies, T Wilkes, W Goodwin. M Ward. Unused subs; Gr Keeble, T Johnston.