Presteigne St Andrews went down 2-0 in their pre-season match against Newbridge at Llanandras Park, but the game proved very useful in the build up to the new season.
All the damage was done early on as Presteigne were caught out in the opening five minutes when a long ball forward wasn’t dealt with and a Newbridge player nipped in to open the scoring.
It was 2-0 after about 20 minutes when a Newbridge player was felled inside the area – it looked a ‘stonewall’ penalty, and I was around 100 yards away, so few complaints from the home supporters over that decision – unusual, I know!
Presteigne had their moments – mainly in the second half when a Christian Roberts bullet header came back off the underside of the cross bar, while the same player was denied by a piece of brilliance by the visiting keeper.
It appeared as though Christian was going to force home the ball from close range when the Newbridge keeper produced a top drawer recovery to somehow keep the ball out.
Our thanks to Trevor Gummer who was pressed into service as match referee for what was a hastily-arranged game.
On Saturday, it is likely a mixture of first-team and reserves players will take to the field for the next pre-season match in which Bartestree will visit Llanandras Park for a 3.00pm kick off.