Third time lucky, as they say
Following exits from the Nathaniel MG Cup and Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup at the first hurdle, it was a case of ‘third time lucky’ for The New Saints this time round, as we progressed for the first time in a 2019/2020 domestic cup competition.
The last time we won in a knockout competition – apart from the UEFA Champions League victory in Kosovo – was in the JD Welsh Cup back in May. On that occasion we beat Connah’s Quay Nomads 3-0 to lift the trophy.
For the second Saturday on the bounce, goals galore
A week previously, we beat Airbus UK Broughton 12-0 on the road in the JD Cymru Premier, which means we found the net a grand total of twenty-one times in two Saturday games. That is an average of one goal every 8.5 minutes.
However, sandwiched in the middle was a 1-0 league win at home to Carmarthen Town. Can we play on Saturday every week, please? As they say, it’s a funny old game sometimes.
Another clean sheet
This was our fourth clean sheet on the bounce and fifth from the last six games. Working on ninety minutes per match, that means we have conceded just one in five hundred and forty minutes of play.
When you consider that we went twelve games on the trot without keeping a clean sheet – from August 23 to October 19 – that’s an impressive turnaround in itself.
Kurtis Byrne
We have three top quality strikers in the first team squad and this time round it was the turn of Kurtis to grab the headlines. For the second Saturday on the bounce, we had an individual player who found the net four times in a game.
It was Adrian Cieslewicz who bagged a hat-trick plus one in the Airbus UK Broughton game, this time round his tally was matched by Kurtis.
Lewis Dutton
Having signed a professional contract this season with The New Saints, the young ‘keeper has waited patiently for his chance. With the side 5-0 to the good, Scott Ruscoe made the switch by bringing off Paul Harrison and handing Lewis his debut.
Dutton pulled off a great save to deny the visitors a consolation, when he tipped a goal-bound strike over the bar. In addition, he also clutched a header that was destined for the back of the net shortly afterwards. All in all, a great debut for the youngster and we interviewed him following the final whistle.
Lead image courtesy of Brian Jones
