Better late than never
As the clock ticked down, the odds looked very favourable indeed for a Cefn Druids win. However, it’s never over until the fat lady sings. Although she started to warble when Greg Draper equalised in the dying seconds of normal time, it was four minutes deep into added time when she broke out in full song.
The Ancients’ hearts were truly broken when Dean Ebbe secured the three points with a header.
Greg Draper
With the ball coming off the crossbar and dropping favourably to Greg, the New Zealand international tucked the ball away from close range for his 150th TNS FC league goal.
Prior to kick-off we were reliably informed that Mike Wilde is on 153, not 151 as previously believed. Unfortunately, statistics aren’t as widely available – or as accurate – as in the English system. All it means though is that Greg has a couple of more goals to break the record.
Dean Ebbe
The Irishman has scored some key goals for The New Saints since he arrived at Park Hall. Both on the European stage and domestically, one goal from Ebbe has changed the landscape entirely. That was the case with his 90+4 header against Cefn Druids.
Instead of going into a new year in second place, The New Saints ensured that they remained in pole position come the final whistle of 2019.
The swinging sixties
The brace of goals means that we have become the first team in the JD Cymru Premier this season to reach sixty. Our total of sixty-one from twenty games means that we currently have an average of 3.05 per game.
Continue with that for the rest of the season and our total will be ninety-seven (97.6) come the end of April. Of course though, it’s all about winning the title, which we did last time round with ninety-nine goals.
The squad has a lot to thank Dean Ebbe for
Not only did his goal have much significance on the pitch but the knock-on effect continued way beyond result, points and position.
With no game until January 10th, the carrot dangling in front of the players was straight forward. Win and you get a few days off. Lose and you don’t. No doubt a few toasts were raised to Dean over the following few days.
Lead image courtesy of Brian Jones.
