Saints in seventh heaven at Cyncoed Campus

Match Report

Goals: Brobbel (7), McManus (27, 52), Cieslewicz (32, 58, 70), J. Williams (88)
Substitutions: Wilson for McManus (73), J. Williams for Brobbel (73), D. Williams for Redmond (74), Kirkman for Marriott (76)

Match report by Sam Wood

The New Saints run riot at Cyncoed Campus to record a 7-0 victory against Cardiff Met University – their biggest of the season so far.

Four different players got their names on the scoresheet, with the highlight undoubtedly a hat-trick from Adrian Cieslewicz.

The win increases The Saints’ lead at the top of the JD Cymru Premier to four points, as we take a break from domestic action for the SPFL Trust Trophy on Friday.

It was a positive start from Craig Harrison’s side and it took just seven minutes for the opening goal to arrive.

It was Ryan Brobbel on hand to connect with Danny Redmond’s cross, sending a superb volley into the top corner of the net from the edge of the six-yard box.

Seven minutes later, Brobbel was causing problems again, this time trying his luck with a free-kick from distance.

With 20 minutes gone, the Northern Ireland under-21 international was involved again, forcing a spectacular save from Lang after cutting inside from the right.

To say that it was all TNS in the opening stages is no exaggeration, and with 27 minutes gone, the visitors doubled their lead.

It was another assist for Redmond, as he slipped the ball through to Declan McManus, and the Scottish striker proceeded to beat the goalkeeper with a deft finish from close range.

And just five minutes later, The Saints were celebrating again as they extended their lead further.

After picking up the ball on the right of the penalty area, Brobbel cut it back across the box, giving Adrian Cieslewicz an easy finish from close range to score his first goal of the season.

The Archers looked a lot livelier following the restart and they had a rare excursion forward in the 48th minute. Connor Roberts wasn’t troubled by Sam Jones’ edge-of-the-box effort however.

Just 10 minutes later though, Adrian Cieslewicz put to bed any sort of a Met comeback by scoring his second of the day with a curling effort from close range.

Four minutes later, the home side’s afternoon went from bad to worse, with McManus poking the ball past the goalkeeper to score a brace of his own.

Harrison’s team continued to dominate, and it wasn’t long before Cieslewicz was celebrating his hat-trick.

After great vision from Clark, who drilled the ball across the face of goal, the Polish winger was left with an easy finish, turning the ball over the line from just a couple of yards out.

The JD Cymru Premier champions weren’t done there either. With two minutes of normal time to go, substitute, Jordan Williams, added a seventh goal from a corner to make it a day to remember for The Saints.

The New Saints are next in action on Friday (September 23), welcoming Dundee to Park Hall in the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy.

https://twitter.com/tnsfc/status/1571158522976411652?s=20&t=ymQ04mQJtpcZ_Ct6dEVWgg