Hay St Marys Reserves went down 3-1 at home to Clydach Reserves this afternoon. The game itself was pretty even but the visitors were a little more clinical in front of goal with the Saints often lacking that final attacking spark. Kevin Goodwin scored the only goal for the Reserves with a late consolation.
The opening stages were scrappy with neither side able to get the ball down and play on a tricky surface with long grass. After the game finally settled into some rhythm, the visitors took the lead. Chris Lloyd rushed out of his goal to try and block the oncoming attacker but missed and a penalty was awarded, despite there being minimal contact. The penalty was easily converted with Lloyd going the wrong way. Haydn Williams came close to equalising with a free-kick from 20 yards the but the ‘keeper tipped it away. Ceri Ward also had a free-kick from a similar position but failed to hit the target. On the stroke of half-time, the Saints should have equalised. A ball out of defence found Goodwin, who beat his man on the left-wing before cutting back to Dan Jones, who couldn’t provide the finishing touch from six yards despite being in a fine position, shooting straight at the goalie.
The second-half followed a similar pattern to the first with the Saints having a fair amount of possession but creating little. Clydach added a second early in the second-period when a stone-wall offside decision was waved away by the referee and their striker flicked the ball past Lloyd. The ‘keeper made a couple of decent saves, including a fine one handed tip to deny a powerful free-kick, before being beaten for a third time. A ball into the box made its way to the back-post and despite the despairing challenge of Sam Bradley in the air, Clydach’s winger nodded in. After this goal, Hay dominated proceedings as Clydach relaxed. David Evans blasted past the post after the ball had fallen nicely for him inside the box whilst soon after, Hay had something to show for their afternoon. Gareth Jenkins’ pin-point pass found Goodwin inside the box and he took one touch before lifting the ball over the ‘keeper for a near identical goal to his strike against Sennybridge. After that Hay had more chances with Jamie Howard forcing a fine save from the ‘keeper with a long-range effort whilst the follow up from Alex Simmonds was held.
The result was disappointing for the Reserves but manager Andrew Harris will have had a good look at a number of fringe players this afternoon. The pitch didn’t help Hay’s passing style although as the old saying goes, it’s the same for both sides. My man of the match goes to youngster Haydn Williams, who performed well at left-back with some tidy play.
Saints Reserves: Lloyd, M. Pugh, L. Pugh, Winstone, Williams, Jenkins, Howard, Ward, Goodwin, Miles, Evans.
Subs: Bradley, Simmonds, Jones, Metcalfe.