Aberaeron Manager Jason Jones called for a full 90 minute performance from his side at Hay St Mary on the weekend and his men duly delivered and almost stole a win in the final seconds.
Hay St Mary 1 Aberaeron 1
Spar Mid Wales Division 1
The black and ambers who came back from a goal down to bag a point were fortunate to be still in the game at half time with the home team dominant and hitting the woodwork on two occasions but a Mattie Davies effort in the dying moments just missed the woodwork by inches with the keeper beaten.
The seagulls were keen to make amends for their defensive lapses of late and were determined to concentrate until the final whistle but they started nervously and lacked composure against a Hay side that started very positively.
The Saints dominated the play and it came as no surprise when a goal arrived after the Seagulls failed to clear from a corner and Jack Biggs sneaked in to score. The visitors responded well and finished the half stronger but could have been trailing by a bigger margin with the home side having two shots bounce back off the post.
Second half saw the home side come out with renewed vigour as Aberaeron struggled to get a foothold in the early play but they eventually began to create some decent chances and played good attacking football as well as keeping a solid defence. Returning youngster Thomas Jones, who had previously signed for Aberystwyth Town came off the bench for Gareth Evans and he made an immediate impact with his pace and trickery down the left side.
The Aberaeron pressure paid off as debutant Jones combined well with his midfield colleagues and front runner Gareth Severs was on hand to finish from close range to make it 1-1.
Hay pressed hard for a winner in the closing stages but couldn’t find a way through a resolute defence and Aberaeron nearly stole all the points in the dying seconds as a clever cross from David Evans was deftly helped on by Mattie Davies only to see his effort roll agonisingly wide at the far post.
Boss Jason Jones and his assistant Aneurin Roberts were pleased with their side despite a shaky opening half and said “We spoke about concentration levels and seeing out the games to the end and today’s second half performance was the best the boys have produced this season so we’ll use that as a bench mark now for what we expect for the rest of our games”.
