Presteigne St Andrews FC’s MMP with Norman Lloyd League division two season opened with a creditable 2-2 draw at Machynlleth on Saturday, 11 August.
Club chairman Andy Crowe was among those to make the long trip north for this one and he felt the somewhat makeshift squad had acquitted itself well.
“It was the first game of the season and still in holiday season so we had a raft of players unavailable,” said ‘Crowie’.
“Stubbs, Clay, Creighton, Devereaux, Brimfield, Hughes and Rhodes all missed the game due to holidays but a 14-man squad madke the trip.
“It was a tough opening 15 minutes for the players who were, after all, still getting used to each other.
”They came up against a physical side and Presteigne started slowly on what was a hard, bobbly pitch.
”We conceded a penalty which was well saved, but Machynlleth took the lead after around 15 minutes.
“But, to their credit, Presteigne played themselves back into it and Duane Anning levelled the scores when he headed home from a corner.
”Just when it looked as though we were going to go into half-time all square, Mach regained the lead in the 45th minute when we conceded what could only be described as a ‘soft’ goal.
“For much of the second half Presteigne then played some great football.
”We dominated possession for long periods but couldn’t apply the final touch in front of goal.
”But, just when it looked as though the game was going to slip away from us, Sam Roberts came up with an absolute screamer to equalise and so we came away from the game with a point from a 2-2 draw.”
Given the number of players unavailable for this one, this has to go down as a positive start to the season so well done to everyone involved.
Here’s hoping the first team can back this up on Wednesday, 15 August when they will play their first home match of the season in which they will take on Brecon Northcote.
Our thanks to Bryn Roberts for his kind sponsorship of Wednesday evening’s match.
The kick off at Llanandras Park will be at 7.30pm and admission prices will be the usual £3.00 for adults; £1.50 for senior citi