St Clears 3

Monkton Swifts 2

MONKTON Swifts can count themselves rather unlucky that they didn’t get at least a draw in this clash and that was confirmed by St Clears’ manager Craig Weston.

“They played well and worked their socks off,” said Weston. “Don’t get me wrong I’m happy we’ve claimed the win, but the Swifts were very unlucky not to get anything from this game.”

St Clears picked up their fifth win of the campaign, and are sitting pretty in fourth place in the table, while Mark Powell’s struggling Swifts outfit are sitting uncomfortably third from bottom.

Saints striker Dan Ramsey headed home Nathan Evans’ cross for the opener in the 15th minute. Five minutes before half time and Aidan Rainbow doubled the Saints’ lead with powerful low drive from 20 yards out.

The visitors pulled a goal back when substitute Scott Page committed a foul inside the box, and Craig George made no mistake with the resulting spot-take.

However, the Saints’ restored their two-goal advantage in the 70th minute. Steve Thomas squared the ball to Ramsey who scored his second goal of the game with a simple far post tap-in, but Liam Butland pulled another back for the gritty Swifts in the 80th minute, with a sublime 20-yard finish, setting up a tense finale as the Saints held out for victory.

St Clears: James Dixon, Danny Peters, Nick Squire, Martin Thomas, Gareth Griffiths, Nathan Evans, Sean Seymour-Davies, Josh Jones, Owain Evans, Aidan Rainbow, Dan Ramsey. Subs: Scott Page, Steve Thomas, Ian Darbyshire.

Monkton Swifts: Lance Creese, Matthew Davies, Lee Evans, Aaron Butland, Liam Butland, Jordan Kilby, Michael Canton, Ryan Griffiths, Craig George, Robin Stanley, Lee Gilpin. Subs: Gordon Nesbitt, Daniel Scourfield, Blake James.

Referee: Paul Jackson.