Mid Wales League (South)
Saturday, 20 October
If, as was once said, a week is a long time in politics, then it can also prove a useful buffer zone in football as Presteigne Reserves bounced back from their League Cup exit at the first attempt.
The 3-1 defeat at Brecon Town in their previous outing had been a major disappointment for managers’ Bobby Morgan and Mark Weiland and they would certainly have been looking for a response.
The opponents were the same – Brecon Town had dumped the Reserves out of the League Cup the previous weekend – but the outcome was very different.Tom Hooper had netted the Ressies’ consolation goal in that League Cup exit and he must surely be wishing they could play Brecon every week.
‘Hoop-dog’ followed up that goal at Brecon with two more in this match and, with Alan Stocker netting the third, this was a ultimately a comfortable and morale-boosting win for the Reserves.
This win doubled Presteigne’s points tally for the season and lifted them up a further place in the Mid Wales League (South) table as they climbed above Bucknell to twelfth place in the 16-club division.
With a home match against win-less St Harmon to come next, this surely represents a further opportunity for the Reserves to make up ground after that seven-game losing start to the season.
Brecon Town 3 v 1 Presteigne Reserves
Mid Wales League (South) Cup – round one
Saturday, 13 October
After an enforced week away from competitive action due to Newbridge Reserves requesting a postponement of the previous week’s fixture, the Reserves headed to Brecon for their third successive match against a side from the southern end of Powys.
With a record of one win and one defeat from the previous two matches, Bobby Morgan and Mark Weiland’s side would have been looking to make it ‘two and one’ from this one, not least as this would ensure their interest was maintained in the league cup.
But it wasn’t to be as they ended up well beaten by Brecon Town, with Tom Hooper’s penalty all the Reserves had to show for their efforts in this one.
There were few details available from this one in terms of the performance or how the game went, which is usually an illustration that this was one to put behind them and move on.
The plus point from this is that the Reserves won’t have long to wait for a chance of redemption against Brecon Town as they are due at Llanandras Park for a league game next week.
Most manager will tell you the league is all that really matters, so if the Reserves can pick up the three points on offer in a week’s time, then perhaps that would help put this result into perspective.
Presteigne Reserves 1 v 3 Bronllys
Mid Wales League (South)
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Presteigne Reserves’ hopes of making it a quick-fire double over Breconshire sides were dashed as they came unstuck against a solid-looking Bronllys side at Llanandras Park.
The management team had always known Bronllys were likely to prove a tougher nut to crack than Sennybridge and so it proved.
Few people watching would have denied the visitors were good value for their victory – a win that keep them up among the leading clubs in the Mid Wales League (South) this season.
Speaking ahead of the game, Mark Weiland was well aware of the threat posed by a Bronllys side that has improved markedly since its early days in the league.”They’re a good side – I know the manager Ben Bevan very well and they are a very useful team,” he said.
“It was always likely to be a very different game to the Sennybridge match but we were still confident we could give them a game,” he added.
Spencer Napolitano was the Presteigne Reserves’ goalscorer in this one – he was having a run out with the Reserves following his return from a trip overseas with a view to his getting some match practice.
But Bronllys duly took the points and left the home side feeling there is still a fair bit to do if they are turn around their fortunes in the Mid Wales League (South) this season.
Presteigne Reserves 1 v 0 Sennybridge
Mid Wales League (South)
Saturday, 22 September 2012
The Reserves finally have a win on the board – and it came at home
It has been a long time coming, but the Reserves are finally on the board in the Mid Wales League (South) this season after they saw off fellow strugglers Sennybridge by a single goal at Llanandras Park.
Joint-manager Mark Weiland was very relieved to have finally broken their duck, but he felt the margin of victory should have been far wider.
“We could have scored seven or eight times on Saturday but overall this was a good performance,” he said.
“But he played very well and effectively kept Sennybridge in the game,” he added.
Alan Stocker scored the only goal of the game in this one and, while Presteigne Reserves were good value for their win, while it remained at only 1-0, there was always a chance for Sennybridge.
“After we scored in the first half, I have to admit I thought then that things were going to come pretty easy for us,” admitted Mark.
“I said to the boys at half-time that we just needed to be patient and we would get the second goal but the keeper kept them in the game and we just couldn’t find the net again,” he added.The Reserves and those watching the game might have been living on their nerves for the closing stages of this one, but they key fact was they held on for a win that lifted them off the foot of the Mid Wales League (South) table.
In fact, the Ressies climbed three places as a result of this victory as Sennybridge, St Harmon and Talgarth Town Reserves are all still to record a victory this season.
Llanidloes Town Reserves 4 v 0 Presteigne Reserves
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Llanidloes Town are usually strong on their own ground
Presteigne Reserves’ management team had always suspected this could prove a tough test of their side and ultimately this was how it proved.
But joint-manager Mark Weiland felt his side had played better in this match than the final score might have suggested.
“We played really well at Llani, but things just didn’t drop for us and so we didn’t get anything from it,” he said.
“That was pretty much the story of the couple of games before that, too.
“But the boys are sticking at it and as long as we keep working hard, we are confident things will turn our way in the next few games,” he added.
Llanidloes Town Reserves have returned to the Mid Wales League (South) this season and are widely tipped to be up among the leading clubs.
The general view is that they will prove especially difficult to beat on their own ground and there’s no doubt the Reserves won’t be the only side to leave the Daffs empty-handed.
But, even allowing for this, it is now seven straight defeats for the Reserves and they will know they will have to start picking up points soon if the league campaign isn’t to fizzle out before it has really begun.
Penybont 5 v 0 Presteigne Reserves
Mid Wales League (South)
Saturday, 8 September 2012
The Reserves are still looking for their first point of the season
Given the Reserves’ tough start to the season, there were more than a few Presteigne supporters who would have looked at this fixture coming up and thought: ‘Penybont, away – just what you need when you are on a tough run’.
They were proved right as the ‘bont proved far too strong for the Reserves at the Racecourse as they ran out comfortable winners.
Penybont are the Emrys Morgan Cup holders while they also enjoyed a very strong season in the Mid Wales League (South) last year, so it was always going to be a big ask.
But, for all this, the Reserves didn’t play very well in this one and were often their own worst enemies at key moments in the game.
Joint-manager Mark Weiland said it was another one of those games in which the side had shown glimpses of what was needed, but they were nowhere near consistent enough.
“Too often we have played well in patches but we have got to do it over 90 minutes,” he admitted.
“The boys are just gelling as there are a few who haven’t played with each other before,” he added.
“We started at Rhayader Reserves who were right up there last season and they were a good strong side, while we then played Newcastle second game in and they won it last season,” he said.
“Now we have another tough game coming up on Saturday (15 September) when we go to Llanidloes, so let’s hope we can get something up there.”
Presteigne Reserves 1 v 4 Llandrindod Wells Reserves
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Alan Stocker (left) put the Reserves ahead in this one
Presteigne Reserves slipped to their fifth straight defeat in the Mid Wales League (South) on Tuesday, 4 September when they went down 4-1 against Llandrindod Wells Reserves at Llanandras Park.
This was all the more disappointing as the Ressies started well in this one with some neat interchanges going forward and early pressure on the visitors’ goal.
Presteigne Reserves went in front when a ball down the left picked out Ioan Hughes who beat his full back for pace and whipped over an excellent cross that was met by the onrushing Alan Stocker who turned the ball home from around six yards out.
This served as a wake up call for Llan’dod Reserves and they came close to a spectacular equaliser when Simon Washington in the Presteigne goal made a fine diving save to push a 25-yard drive round the post.
But Duane Anning might have doubled Presteigne’s lead when he beat two or three players on the edge of the area but stabbed his final shot over the bar.
Llandrindod Reserves turned the game on its head shortly before half-time when they scored two goals in rapid order to effectively undo all the home side’s good work up to this point.
Llan’dod added two more goals after the break to run out 4-1 winners and some sources tell me they were good value for that margin of victory.
So, more hard work to be done by the squad and joint-managers Bobby Morgan and Mark Weiland will know they will have to lift the squad before they head to Penybont on Saturday, 8 September.
Mid Wales League (South)
The Reserves are scoring goals, but the problem is they are shipping too many at the other end
After a couple of encouraging performances in narrow defeats to strong Newcastle and Radnor Valley sides, the wheel officially came of the Reserves’ cart in the home match against Builth Wells Reserves.
“Again, it was a lack of concentration as in the first quarter of an hour in that game we were the better side,” said joint-manager Mark Weiland.
“We were chasing the game after that and it was hard to get back into it,” he admitted.
‘Weido’ says you don’t need to be a footballing genius to work out the root cause of the side’s problems at the moment.
“We have got to sort it out at the back as that is where we are leaking goals at the moment,” he said.
“The scoring side of things isn’t too bad at the moment but it is the shipping of goals at the other end.
“Hopefully we can get that sorted out and then things should be ok.”
Radnor Valley 4 v 3 Presteigne Reserves
Mid Wales League (South)
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
The Reserves will provide the entertainment at Llanandras Park this weekend
Presteigne Reserves were to suffer last-minute heartbreak in their opening derby game of the season in which they lost out by the odd goal in seven.
Alan Stocker was twice on target for the Reserves and he admitted it had been a bitterly disappointing way to lose what had been a good game.
“To be fair, Radnor look as though they are going to be strong this season and we stuck at it.
“To lose when one of your former players – Callum Matthews – scored the winner with what was pretty much the final kick of the game was a bit of a sickener,” he added.
The Reserves have been beaten by a single goal against strong opposition in each of their last two outings and they will be looking to redress that balance when they take on Builth Wells Reserves in their next match on Saturday, 1 September.
Alan feels the Reserves will become stronger over the next few weeks as first-team manager Adriano Girolami continues to tinker with his squad by adding one or two new faces.
“Maybe this will allow one or two members of the current first-team squad to drop down and help us out,” he said.
“But we will stick at it and the results will come – after all, we are pushing the better sides already so if we could add one or two more to our squad then we would be really competitive.”
Presteigne Reserves 2 v 3 Newcastle
Mid Wales League (South)
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
A spirited second-half fight back ultimately wasn’t enough for the Reserves
Presteigne Reserves produced a battling second-half showing but ultimately paid the price for costly errors as they slipped to a 3-2 home defeat in their Mid Wales League (South) match against Newcastle.
The Reserves were guilty of individual errors as they fell two goals down at half-time and joint-manager Bobby Morgan acknowledged it was always likely to be a long way back from there.
“We were 2-0 down at half-time and we said then the next goal would be make or break and we went 3-0 down,” he said.
“But we battled hard and got it back to 3-2 and then had a couple of good chances at the end to score.
“To be honest, we probably had more chances than them, while we also lost our keeper [Daryl Gower] after only five minutes with a hand injury,” he added.
Newcastle arrived at Llanandras Park as the defending Mid Wales League (South) champions but would have left knowing they had been in a game.
Tom Watkins and Ieuan Crowe were the Reserves’ goalscorers and Bobby felt there were plenty of plus points to take from the second-half comeback.
“It was good – we should have had something out of it at the end but it came down to three stupid mistakes,” he said.
“We have got no game on Saturday but we have got Radnor [Valley] away next Tuesday night [28 August].
Rhayader Town Reserves 3 v 0 Presteigne Reserves
Mid Wales League (South)
Saturday, 18 August 2012
This was to prove a disappointing start for the Reserves
Presteigne Reserves opened their Mid Wales League (South) season with a disappointing 3-0 reversal at The Weirglodd.
Joint-manager Bobby Morgan felt his side had been slow out of the blocks in this one and they could have few complaints about the eventual outcome.
It could have been worse had goalkeeper Trevor Gummer not saved a Rhayader penalty.
“We always knew it was likely to be a tough game up here and that is the way it proved, but I did feel that there were some promising signs.
“We created a few good chances of our own but we were unable to make them count and if you don’t do that then you are always going to struggle.
“But we have to take the plus points from this showing and move on – it isn’t promising to get a whole lot easier in the coming weeks with games against Newcastle, at Radnor Valley and then Builth and Llan’dod.
“But we will keep working at it and I am sure we do have the players that mean we might be able to do something this season.”
