A Hat-Trick For Two – The New Saints FC 6-1 Llandudno FC

Match Report

Substitutions: Lewis for Hudson (55), Seargeant for Brobbel (61), Byrne for Mullan (63)
Attendance: 304

The New Saints kept up the pressure on Connah’s Quay Nomads at the top of the table with a very convincing 6-1 win over Llandudno.

Hat-tricks from both Ryan Brobbel and Greg Draper ensured The Saints won their third match in a row and moved to within two points of Andy Morrison’s side.

The win sets the table up delicately for Saturday’s top of the table clash, as The Nomads made the trip to Park Hall in the JD Welsh Premier League.

First-half

The New Saints took the lead with twelve minutes gone. Jamie Mullan pulled back a pass on the edge of the box looking for Ryan Brobbel. The ball took a deflection, before reaching Brobbel, and the midfielder made no mistake, unleashing a curling effort into the bottom right corner of the goal.

It wasn’t long before Scott Ruscoe’s side doubled their advantage. This time it was Greg Draper who was on hand to turn the ball home. He benefited from Simon Spender’s excellent cross, meeting the ball in the centre of the box and beating the goalkeeper.

The pressure from the home side continued. Ryan Brobbel had a second with 35 minutes gone. He found plenty of space at the back post, leaving him with an easy finish once the ball reached him at the back.

It got even worse for The Seasiders just before half-time. Greg Draper raced into the space in between the Llandudno defence, before getting a one on one chance with Shaun Pearson in goal. He sent the keeper the wrong way to further extend The Saints lead and ensure that the score was 4-0 at the interval.

Second-half

There was no let up from Scott Ruscoe’s side as the second 45 minutes began. With just five minutes played, Ryan Brobbel had wrapped up his hat-trick. Benefiting from a well-timed ball from Aeron Edwards, the Northern Ireland under-21 picked the ball up on the left side of the penalty area, before firing a well-placed effort beneath the goalkeeper.

The visitors did find some joy with 14 minutes remaining though. John Owen took advantage of a Saints defensive mistake, beating Paul Harrison and giving his side a late consolation goal.

But that wasn’t the end of the goal scoring. Not to be outdone by his teammate Brobbel, Greg Draper grabbed a hat-trick of his own. The number nine found plenty of space in the penalty area, allowing him to comfortably meet a cross from the left, nodding the ball past the goalkeeper and scoring his third goal in the process.