Hay St Mary’s played their first friendly under new manager Gareth Jenkins.
Talgarth Town 0-1 SAINTS
The new look Saints started very positively and had a lot of possession in the opening stages, playing some nice football. Strikers Matty Tong and Jack Biggs were causing a threat but the Talgarth centre back duo of Gethin Davies and Matthew Lloyd were very solid. The Saints continued to dominate but seemed to be trying to play the killer ball too often. Jack Cripps went close but Talgarth keeper Jordan Bailey made a good save. Talgarth had a chance to take the lead when the Hay defence misjudged a long ball, Paul Keddle ran through on goal but Zack Snape recovered and did enough to put Keddle off who dragged his shot wide. The Saints continued to control possession. Jack Cook was linking up well with the front two and a good partnership was forming between Liam McAnally and Phil Davies. Talgarth had their best bit of play in the half when Rhys Davies beat two Saints players down the left wing and drilled a really good low cross across the six yard box but no Town player was on hand to tap in. The Saints could have then had a penalty. Tong ran through on goal and was clattered by keeper Bailey, Tong some how stayed on his feet but was forced wide and tackled by Charley Howarth. Five minutes before half time the Saints made the breakthrough when Jack Biggs had a curling shot from 20 yards which beat keeper Bailey and ended up in the roof of the net. Ht 0-1.
The Saints almost doubled their lead straight from kick off when Jack Biggs tried another long range effort but Bailey did well to tip it over the bar. The next 20mins Talgarth saw more of the ball and created a few chances. The Saints defence blocked a few shots and managed to get a foot in when needed. Rhys Davies went close from a 25 yard free kick but his effort just dipped over Josh Davies and the Saints crossbar. The final quarter of the game opened up. Tong held the ball up well and layer it off to Tom Landon who saw his shot from 8 yards go straight at Bailey. Landon then turned provider for Tong who’s snap shot went wide of the far post. Rhys Davies had a few more runs down the left but Will Goodwin stayed strong. Callum Maddy was working tirelessly in midfield for Hay and won a lit of tackles and interceptions. He played an early free kick to Tong on the half way line who was clean through on goal but the ref blew up for offside. On 80mins the ball was layed off to Maddy who ran onto it and powered a shot at goal from 12 yards. Town keeper Bailey again making a good save by pushing the ball over the bar. Rob Sneddon come on for the Saints and looked threatening, linking up well with the midfield. On the 83rd minute Tong won a free kick when Charley Howarth brought him down. The two players had a good battle all evening. Snedden took the resulting free kick from between the 18 yard box and touchline. His curling effort beat Bailey but cone back off the crossbar. In the final minutes the home side had a strong shout for a penalty after Jordan Harvey seemed to brought down by the impressive Adam Finn. Ft 0-1
Team; Josh Davies, Liam McAnally, Will Goodwin, Adam Finn, Zack Snape, Phil Davies, Callum Maddy, Jack Cripps, Jack Cook, Matty Tong, Jack Biggs. Subs. Steve Jones, Tom Landon, Rob Snedden, Gabriel Moore.
It was a really competitive friendly and was enjoyable to watch. Both managers are sure to be pleased with what they saw from their teams. The only negative was Steve Jones having to come off with a nasty gash on his knee after looking solid while on. Thanks to Paul Sharman for helping with the medical attention. All the best to Talgarth for the coming season.