TNS V Haverfordwest County (Park Hall 06/11/2021)

The New Saints V Haverfordwest County – JD Cymru Premier (06/11/2021)

I travelled home this weekend to Shropshire but with Shrewsbury Town being drawn away in the FA Cup on the Sunday, I had to look elsewhere for a fixture to attend. So I got a lift off me owd mate Crouchy through to Oswestry as I met him after getting the train from Telford to Shrewsbury, for my first ever Welsh Premier League game and visit to Park Hall for The New Saints against Haverfordwest County. Managed to get a parking spot outside the ground, then went to the venue which is connected to the ground for some pre match grub and a drink. I got a hot dog for £3.50 which was a steal, a bit of a wait which meant I watched the first 10 minutes of the game from inside the venue, worth the wait as the hot dog was amazing.

Another new ground checked off the list, Park Hall looks pretty modern with an astro-turf pitch and two stands. There’s a main stand on one of the touchlines, which was covered with a fabric cover and a stand behind the goal. Due to the rain we sat in the covered stand running down the touch line, about 10 yards outside of the 18 yard box.

TNS’s Ryan Brobbel opened the scoring after a whipped ball in from Redmond and was headed in from close range for 1-0 with about 30 minutes gone. Three minutes later McManus cooly slotted the ball past the keeper from close range for 2-0 to the home side. It was soon 3-0, following a mistake by the away keeper who passed the ball straight into the path of McManus who easily finished just shy of the 40th minute.

It’s safe to say TNS were the dominant side from the opening of the first half and deserved the lead at the break. The away sides keeper had a mare and Haverfordwest were playing the long ball game with nothing coming off, as they looked to have no ideas in the final third of the pitch.

With 15 minutes of the second half gone TNS made it 4-0 with a screamer by Danny Redmond from outside of the box into the bottom right corner that easily beat the keeper, easily the best goal of the game in my opinion.

15 minutes were left to play and McManus got his hat trick, he looked in an offside position but the flag stayed down and he composed himself to neatly beat the keeper for 5-0 to TNS. The goal fest was completed as the score went to 6-0, via a goal from Dean Ebbe after a superb long ball over the top he pulled the ball down well and with his second touch beat the keeper.

Looking at the league table before the game the 15 point gap between the sides and the 8 places between them made me think the game was only going to go one way, and I wasn’t wrong as Haverfordwest failed to ever get into the game. TNS looked really strong and showed why they have been top dogs in Welsh football for a long time.

So onto my ratings…

Ticket Price – £8

Programme Price – N/A

Programme Rating – N/A (Team-sheet only)

Refreshments – 8/10

Stadium Facilities – 8/10

Getting To Stadium – 8/10

Stadium Rating – 7/10

Thanks for reading my thoughts on TNS against Haverfordwest County.

Daz Carding