Presteigne Juniors Under 17s pushed the Hereford Football League leaders, Ledbury Swifts Rovers all the way, but were eventually beaten 4-3 in their meeting at Llanandras Park on Sunday, 12 October.
It was to prove another frustrating day for everyone connected with the Presteigne squad as joint-manager Haydn Williams felt – given their share of the breaks – they could have taken at least a point from this game.
Of particular frustration was the loss of a number of key players to injuries – both before the game and during it.
“Without wishing to sound like a broken record, this was another game that we were desperately unlucky to lose,” said Haydn.
“We started brightly, but fell behind when a high ball wasn’t gathered by the keeper – it dropped to the feet of a Ledbury attacker who had a simple tap in.
“We then took the game to Ledbury playing some great stuff and raced into a 3-1 lead with well worked goals from Tom Crichton, Josh Gardner and Kai Dayas.
“Yes, we conceded before half time, but fully deserved to go in at the interval in front.
“We knew ledbury would come out strongly second half, and they got a goal back very early with a well worked move.
“Already without influential players Josh Griffiths and Kieran Lusher, we lost another in Kai Dayas early in the second half and then Luke hobbled off soon after that
“We reshuffled but couldn’t prevent Ledbury grabbing another goal to run out 4-3 winners and so they remain top of the table.
“We had a good penalty shout in the second half when ‘Pidge’ [Josh Carini] was pulled over in the box, while we also went close with some free kicks but couldn’t get the goal we deserved.
“At the other end, Will Tyler made some top saves in the second half as we pushed forward looking for goals.
“All in all, this was a very unfortunate result against a strong side who were very lucky to finish with 11 players after a blatant stamp on Owen Williams was only punished with a yellow card.
“We have to stay positive as we had a depleted squad for this game, but still matched the leaders all the way.
“Let’s get revenge against them next week in the cup – while Ross Juniors Colts beat a strong Hinton team 3-1 away so it’s a wide open league.
“Also, we wish all of our injured players a speedy recovery – let’s hope they are back soon.”