Match report to follow.
Unfortunately Saints’ Reserves season finished in defeat at championship chasing Ewyas Harold Reserves on Thursday evening. This should not take away the great effort that everyone involved in the squad, and Andrew Harris have put in to this debut season.
The Saints started brightly and were playing some good football particularly down the left where there seemed to be plenty of space. A very strange decision by the referee gave the Saints their first chance as he gave an indirect free kick in the box for a back pass. The ball was rolled to Graeme Keeble however, his shot was blocked. It wasn’t to be long though before the Saints took the lead with a good move down the left involving Chris Bounds and Gareth Jenkins, with Jenks cross finding Ollie Cooke,who worked tirelessly up front all night, and he headed home from 10 yards.0-1
Soon after the injured Jacko Thomas was replaced by Josh Davies who himself was returning from injury and had a good run out to confirm his fitness for the 1st teams run in to the end of the season.
The home side equalised on 20 minutes with a similar goal to Hays as a good right wing cross was headed home at the far post to give keeper Ian Jones no chance. The Saints were not worried by this though and continued to press for a second goal playing some good football at the same time. Jenks,who looked particularly good in the first half, came close from a corner and the impressive Garry Keeble, who had a good game in the middle of midfield, saw a good effort from 20 yards just go past the post.
After 40 minutes the referee evened up his decisions by giving the home side a dubious free kick for a back pass. This time though the home side made no mistake with Rob Gore firing home from 12 yards.HT 2-1
The Saints turned round and continued to press for an equaliser however, they came up against a stubborn home defence. They were caught by a break from the home side and with the defence stretched Ian Jones came out from his goal however, the home striker kept very calm and produced a good finish to make the score 3-1 to Ewyas Harold. Hay kept going looking to get back in to the game and had a few half chances, the best of them probably falling to Cookie on the edge of the box however, he was unable to control his shot and it flashed wide. FT 3-1.
A decent display however, a lack of discipline at the back cost dearly in the end. Not the ending that H and his team were looking for in the end however, they have proved that they can play good football and get results. Well done H on your first season in charge and thanks to all the players who have turned out for the team over the season.