Andrew Harris’s Hay St. Mary’s Reserves got back to winning ways after two games without a victory, with a comprehensive 4-1 away scoreline at Penybont Athletic. Goals from the returning Rob Snedden, Jamie Howard, Johnny Daw and Jake Atkinson sealed the three points.
The first-half was dominated by the Saints but a bobbly pitch meant that it was difficult, at times, to keep the ball on the floor and keep it moving swiftly. The first real chance of the game fell to Snedden, when he was felled 20 yards and a deft yet accurate free-kick beat the ‘keeper at his near-post. The impetus was there for Hay to push on to gain a second with Sam Bradley heading past the post and also forcing the ‘keeper into a fine save with a powerful long-range effort, whilst only an unfortunate slip by Daw saw him mis-kick a fine chance from inside the area. Snedden rattled a cross-bar with a strong effort from 25 yards before Howard tucked in the second, and his first of the season. The move started down the left and a low ball into the box was well-finished by the hard-working midfielder. Penybont rarely threatened but Hay were warned when a long-ball over the top saw the home striker out-muscle his marker but was foiled by the onrushing stand-in goalie Mike Ward. Ward though was beaten soon after when a cross from the right was controlled by the striker, who directed the ball into the corner with a confident finish. Hay soon had their two goal advantage intact though with Daw making it 3-1, with a neat-finish after fine-work down the right-wing by Atkinson. Jon Sly had a couple of chances to add to the scoreline towards the end of the half but his efforts were well saved by the goalie.
The second-half lacked the fluency and chances that the first-half had brung but Hay still were fairly comfortable. The defensive back three of Gareth Jenkins, Bradley and Ceri Ward were looking solid, with all three doing very well in the air. Sly hadn’t got his shooting boots on, with a number of missed opportunities; the striker did well on a number of occasions to get in behind the defence with his pace but he couldn’t muster up a way to beat the goalie. Toby Johnson nodded a Snedden cross past the far-post, before Snedden was given his marching orders for two yellow cards. The first of these was for a combination of factors, with Snedden kicking the ball away and dissent but the second-yellow looked extremely soft for the slightest of nicks on an opposition player. The fact that he was already a marked man didn’t help his case but it was a poor decision. The Saints carried on as normal though, and extended their lead towards the end of the game with Atkinson signing off before he moves away to Uni with a superb strike from an acute angle off the right-wing which beat the ‘keeper at his front post.
The Saints had stumbled a little in recent weeks but today’s game was all about getting the points and they did just that. There were plenty of chances created and a little more quality in front of goal could have seen the scoreline be much higher than it ended. Next up for Harris and co is the visit of CP Llandaras on Thursday evening.
Saints Reserves: M. Ward, J. Atkinson, S. Bradley, G. Jenkins, C. Ward, Z. Snape, J. Howard, T. Johnson, R. Snedden, J. Daw, J. Sly.
Subs: D. Jones, A. Simmonds, K. Goodwin.