Presteigne St Andrews might not have been expected to have got anything from their away trip to Spar Mid Wales League, second division promotion hopefuls Hay St Marys, but they gave the home side an almighty fright.
In the end, Presteigne went down 4-3, but not before they had asked serious questions of the Hay squad, while Jamie Allen’s side will also point to the fact the winning goal had more than a suspicion of offside about it – a point not disputed by senior figures from within the Hay camp.
Presteigne got a dream start when Callum Matthews picked up a pass from the left, span his defender and hammered the ball low into the bottom corner of the Hay net with barely a minute gone.
Hay created their own fair share of chances but they found Anthony ‘Rambo’ Vernalls in very good form in the Presteigne goal as he made a number of smart chances.
Rambo almost went from goalkeeper to goalscorer when his long clearance bounced inside the Hay penalty area and was misjudged by his opposite number who could could only get a hand to it.
Callum Matthews was just unable to capitalise as the ball appeared to get stuck under his body as he fell and so the chance was gone.
But Presteigne doubled their lead shortly afterwards – and in bizarre style – when Tom Hooper whipped in a corner from the left which eluded everyone and ended up in the far corner of the net.
Jamie Allen’s side needed to keep it tight for the remaining 10-12 minutes of the first half, but instead Hay netted twice in a minute to square the game before the interval.
Hay could have scored four times in the opening six or seven minutes of the second half but a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping for ‘Rambo’ saw it remain at 2-2 – for the time being, at least.
But Hay were not to be denied and few could deny they were worth the lead when it came – they had created enough chances in the second half to have won a couple of matches.
But Jamie Allen then introduced substitutes Shaun Prince and Kai Dayas, with Adam Crowe also joining the fray for the closing minutes of the match and they did look more lively on the break.
Presteigne drew level with what was the best move of the game – a ball out to the right-hand side resulted in a quality delivery which was seized on by Shaun Prince who gleefully hammered the ball home from close range.
But Hay St Marys were not to be denied – although there was much controversy over the winning goal.
Hay threaded the ball through to a player who looked well offside but, as the Presteigne defenders appealed for offside, the home side did what we were all told at school – played to the whistle – and the goal stood.
Presteigne were without a number of key players going into this game and this would have played a part in the outcome, but few neutrals – or even those travelling supporters – could have disputed Hay were good value for the win.
A word for Anthony Vernalls who was outstanding in goal for Presteigne – although even he had to rely on the cross bar and an upright in the second half to prevent the home side extending their lead.
After a couple of heavy defeats, this was another loss, but there was at least a performance in this game with no shortage of commitment from Jamie Allen’s side.