County come back three times in thriller (From Western Telegraph)

County come back three times in thriller

Haverfordwest County 3 RHAYADER TOWN 3

Manager Jason Jones, reflecting on this opening League game, will find positive points in the way in which his team came back three times to equalise in an exciting game, and in the fact that his newly-forged strike partnership of Mardenborough and Miller scored a cracking goal apiece.

He will be less happy with the facts that his defence leaked three rather silly goals and that, in the 25 minutes of play after a very ordinary Rhayader side had been reduced to ten men, the Bluebirds lacked the bite and the penetration to break down the visitors defence.

The first quarter of the game was both exciting and sloppy at the same time.

Twice the Bluebirds conceded soft goals and twice they hit back to equalise well. In the seventh minute Dai Burrows, who thereafter played very well, lost possession needlessly in his own penalty area and ex-Cardiff City striker Cohen Griffith was into the gap to bury the chance.

The Blues equalised within four minutes when Carl Mainwaring nodded a cross down to the feet of Chris Miller, who pivoted before crashing a right foot shot high into the Rhayader net.

But within another four minutes the Bluebirds were behind again when experienced centre half Gareth Abrahams headed on a corner and Miles fumbled, this time for striker Dino Tedaldi to punish the slip.

There followed a rather unsavoury incident when battling midfielder Lee Jones tackled Rhayaders Colin Loss rather heavily and the Reds midfielder retaliated.

Referee Thomas verdict, that Jones should get a yellow card and Loss should be let off with a caution, was not to the liking of the Meadow faithful.

Within ten minutes, Jones had achieved some measure of consolation when Carl Mainwaring was bundled over in the box and Jones was able to bury the resultant penalty.

A feature of the rest of the first half was a really stylish display by the newly-signed Steve Mardenborough, moving quickly on and off the ball, spreading it beautifully and coming desperately close, after a lovely run down the right, with a curling ball which floated just over the bar.

The second half saw a new twist to the Jones-Loss saga.

The Blues midfielder was seen lying prostrate after an off-the-ball incident, Loss was on his way to the dressing room and the Reds were down to ten men.

The next half-hour was a sore disappointment. The Blues looked quite elegant, stroking the ball across the park, building up patiently and looking as if another two or three goals would just be a matter of course.

Jones twice fired wide, Mardenborough thumped one ball into the side netting from perhaps too narrow an angle and Walker blazed over. But the build-up, as so often with the Bluebirds, was too deliberate. They played across Rhayader, allowing the visitors time to funnel back, instead of looking for the quick thrust down the middle.

As so often happens, they were hit on the break. Livewire striker Tedaldi broke on the right, the Bluebirds dithered and Griffith was into the gap to poach his second.

It really looked thereafter as if the Blues were out of it. Still, the build-up was patient (stylish, maybe) but did not look penetrating. And then, in the 90th minute, Mardenborough picked up a stray ball on the edge of the Rhayader box and fired in an absolutely unstoppable right-footer for what had to be the goal of the game and might yet prove to be the goal of the season.

Two minutes into injury time, another half-chance came his way, but this time another right-foot thunderbolt sliced off his boot and the visitors survived.

The Blues will have to look on this display as two points lost, but few of their fans, knowing so well their capricious habits, will bet against them coming back from TNS next week with a result

Haverfordwest County: Ben Miles; Paul Walker, Jamie Rickard, Dylan Blain, Dai Burrows, Mickey George, Carl Mainwaring, Andrew Hughes, Chris Miller, Steve Mardenborough, Lee Jones. Subs: Carl Thomas (for Jones, 68), Dean Busby (for Mainwaring, 75), Lee Hudgell (for Rickard, 87).