REDS END JUST AS IT STARTED
THE NEW SAINTS................5 LLANELLI TOWN.................0
BATTERED at home on the opening day of the season last August, and thrashed in their final game before the mid-season split.
IT has been a tough campaign for Llanelli Town since their 7-0 defeat at Stebonheath by Connah’s Quay in their first match back in the JD Welsh Premier League.
Here they were subjected to another heavy defeat at Park Hall.
Outclassed and outplayed, the visitors were overwhelmed by their opponents, and damage limitation was very much the game plan, not too successfully as it transpired.
Reds keeper Scott Coughlan had a busy evening, pulling off a string of saves which, combined with some wayward finishing by the hosts, at least prevented the final tally from reaching double figures.
An early indication of the way the contest was to develop came in the opening minutes when a cross by Daniel Redmond into the Llanelli goalmouth was met by Aeron Edwards, who somehow managed to loft his finish over the top from pointblank range.
Even so, the Saints did not to have wait long to open their account. On seven minutes Simon Spender directed a diagonal ball into the middle where Kurtis Byrne guided it past Coughlan inside the near post.
As the half progressed the visitors were being increasingly run ragged by the incisive one-touch football of their opponents and found themselves chasing shadows.
Edwards headed over when he met a Jamie Mullan delivery, while the latter then found the head of Ryan Brobbel, but again the finish was off target.
Coughlan did well to divert an effort from Mullan with his foot for a corner, and when Mullan turned provider, Chris Marriott just failed to connect from a few yards out.
Spender and Mullan were a constant threat down the right flank with Kurtis March at times the sole defender up against them, and one such combination resulted in yet another cross which was deflected for a corner.
It was one-way traffic and the only surprise was that it was still only 1-0, but eventually on 37 minutes the visiting defence was again breached. Once more the Spender-Mullan pairing led to the goal, with Byrne again the recipient, heading home the final cross.
With the break approaching, Coughlan turned away a well-struck shot by Jon Routledge, before brilliantly diverting over another effort from Redmond.
About the only positives the visi- tors could possibly take from the first half was that they were only 2-0 down, but after the restart it was service as usual, with Coughlan again coming to the rescue by denying both Redmond and Byrne in quick succession.
He had little hope, however, of preventing the Saints’ third goal after 58 minutes, with Byrne completing his treble when he met another cross before swivelling quickly and despatching his finish into the net.
Ross Jones came on for namesake Chris as the Reds rang the changes on 61 minutes, but again Coughlan was called into action, this time diverting a header by Byrne around the post.
With the match already won, the Saints brought on their three substitutes within four minutes, Byrne being replaced by Greg Draper, Dean Ebbe for Tom Holland and new signing Jack Bodenham, for Blaire Hudson.
The replacements were soon in the thick of the action, with Ebbe meet- ing a far-post ball for goal No. 4 in the 73rd minute, before the Reds, with their only attempt on goal, almost pulled one back when James Loveridge, who had barely had a sniff of a chance, spotted Saints goalkeeper Paul Harrison off his line and from inside the centre circle launched the ball goalwards. It was heading for the net before Harrison, backpedalling furiously, just managed to touch it over the bar.
The visitors made another change with Joe Dyer, son of assistant manager Simon, making his debut, replacing Anthony Finselbach, and he almost made an instant impact, screwing his finish from a Joe Clarke assist narrowly wide.
With two minutes remaining the Saints turned the screw further. The ball was driven low into the box and Draper reacted first, diverting it past Coughlan to seal an emphatic win.
The league make-up for the second part of the season starting in February will see the Reds in the same group as Aberystwyth Town, Cardiff Met, Carmarthen Town, Cefn Druids and Llandudno.
Reds fans will hope their new signings, including young French striker Emile Kpama Ngog, who has received international clearance, will make a difference as they try to retain the club’s Welsh Premier League status.