Welsh League, Division One

Goytre United 1

Haverfordwest County 1

A POINT taken from a side which was placed third before this game was a decent achievement, but the Bluebirds will still have been disappointed not to have won a game they had dominated for the first hour.

The Bluebirds opened with the returning Steffan Williams playing alongside Jordan Follows and Steffan Davies up front, and the side had a good, if goalless, first half. Sam Rodon and Dale Griffiths kept a tight rein on the United attack and Greg Walters was looking increasingly assured in his new role as right back. The Goytre midfield was finding the going difficult, as Kieran Howard in particular dictated terms, so their forwards threatened only in the odd breakaway.

At the other end the Blues had four decent chances. The first fell to Williams in the 10th minute but he couldn’t quite get the balance to give his shot power. Davies had the best chance when a lob over the big Goytre centre backs put him in, but he was forced out to a more oblique angle than he would have liked and his shot hit the side netting.

Another chance followed one of Howard’s well-judged corners, when Sean Pemberton flicked a neat header to the far post but the ball came just a shade too sharply for Williams to control it. It was Howard himself who produced the fourth real tilt at goal with a 30-yard pile-driver which the keeper did well to turn away for a corner.

The Blues’ pressure continued into the second half and it looked for a moment as if it might have been rewarded in the 60th minute when they were awarded a penalty, but Dale Griffiths’ miss with the spot kick seemed to give the game’s plot a new twist. The Glanhafod Park side found a new spirit and did in fact go ahead from Jack McKenna’s strike in the 85th minute. That let the Blues back in for a desperate late surge and they did get the point they deserved when Williams was able to poach an equaliser in the very last minutes.

Dropping two points during a promotion chase is always disappointing, but the Blues are due to play Goytre United on the Meadow soon and will still feel that a 4-point return from the two games will be a good performance.

This Saturday the Blues are away to Goytre (this time the Gwent side).

Haverfordwest County: Craig Morris, Greg Walters, Antonio Facciuto, Sam Rodon, Dale Griffiths, Sean Pemberton, Kieran Howard (Owen Thomas, 75), Nicky Palmer, Steffan Davies, Jordan Follows (James Hartson, 75), Steffan Williams. Subs not used: Lloyd Hughes; Matthew D’Ivry, Joe Brill.