The Saints picked up another 3 points tonight after a hard fought victory over Caersws Rerserves with goals from Mike Havard, Gareth Jenkins and youngster Tom Wilkes.
It was very close to being 1-0 right from the kick off when striker Kevin Jones’ attempted lob beat the keeper but went just over the bar, Gavin Williams went close when put in by Jones but saw his effort well saved by the young Caersws goalkeeper. The Saints continued to pressure the visitors back four but only had a few long range efforts to show for all their efforts.
Caersws got into the game and were the better side for the next 20 minutes with their quick left winger shooting from the edge of the box after beating two Saints players but his shot clipped the outside of the post, keeper Steve Price tipped a curling shot around the post after Caersws were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. Neither side really looked like scoring after this and the referee blew up for half time with the score 0-0.
The visitors started the second half brightly and Price had to be alert to keep a couple of efforts out and when they did finally beat him midfielder Gareth Jenkins was on hand to acrobatically clear the ball off the line.
The opening goal came on 65 minutes after Will Goodwin played in Jones whose shot was well saved but the first person to react was substitute Mike Havard who blasted the ball in from close range 1-0. The lead was doubled just 4 minutes later when Gareth Jenkins shot through a crowd of players after Caersws attempted to clear a corner 2-0.
With just 20 minutes to go it looked comfortable for the homeside but the visitors had other ideas and made it 2-1 in the 72 minutes after good build up play their sub Mark Griffiths who was coming back from being injured for the first team was played in and with his first touch of the night slipped the ball by the advancing Price. The same player made it 2-2 with the easiest of finishes from close range after Price misjudged a Gareth Mansell cross.
It now looked like the visitors would go on to claim the three points but the Saints had other ideas and were awarded a free kick around 25 yards out, everyone expected Jones to have a shot but his quick pass found Jenkins who had burst into the box on the right unmarked, his shot was once again well saved but the first person to react was sub Tom Wilkes who finished well from 6 yards out.
There was one more incident when a back pass by a visiting defender was missed by the keeeper who chased back and hooked the ball out of the net when it was clearly over the line but the referee didn’t award the goal as he couldn’t see from his position, the whistle went shortly after to the relief of the home supporters. ft 3-2.
Not the best of performances in my opinion but we still managed to get 3 points, I thought Jenko did well defending and scored and made a goal so he gets my man of the match.
Team- Steve Price, Gareth Jenkins, Chris Preece(c), Wes Evans(Stu Davies), Phil Davies, Gavin Williams, Steve Goodwin, Sam Powell(Mike Havard), Tom Weaver, Kevin Jones, Will Goodwin(Tom Wilkes).