Druids v Haverfordwest Match Report
Yesterday afternoon at The Rock turned out to be a great day of football for Druids. The sun was out, and we produced a fantastic performance, but this time followed it with the right result. A convincing 4-1 victory for our first home win of the season. The win sees us move off the bottom of the table to only 1 point behind both Aberystwyth and Newtown.
There was a much changed squad after a series of injuries to Sam Phillips, Jacob Wise and Joe Faux. Charley Edge and Cody Ruberto came into the starting 11 with Chris Aziamale slotting in down the wing. It was also great to see Tom Reilly and Jonny Taylor back in the squad after longstanding injuries. The match began quite tight with neither team able to take control of the ball and a few half chances falling to Druids that went astray. However, we slowly began getting the ball down and controlling the tempo of the game with Edge getting our best chance early on, his strike from just inside the box going wide of the top corner.
Shortly after though, Haverfordwest created a very good chance as a ball over the top saw forward Mark Jones in on goal by Druids keeper and captain Michael Jones produced a fantastic reaction save down low to deny him, and the follow up was blasted over after some frantic defending by Druids. However, we didn’t panic and got the ball down to continue playing our football and shortly after broke the deadlock on 35 minutes, when Cody Ruberto pounced first on a loose ball in the box and smashed it home to go 1-0 up!
Following the goal, Druids were well and truly on top. More chances forced solid saves by Haverfordwest keeper Gadja and we had them pinned in their half. Druids went into the break determined to get a reward from their dominance in the second half and put the game to bed.
As expected, Druids continued their control and pressure as soon as the second half began. Early chances for Darlington and Kershaw again keeping our opponents on the back foot. Then on 57 minutes Charley Edge picked up the ball on the left wing and found Aziamale with a great cross. His header was saved well down low by Gadja, but he made no mistake with the follow up, finding the back of the net in what was Chris’s first goal for the club! 2-0 Druids!
Following the second, Haverfordwest remained a threat at times and created another great chance. A clever ball over the top saw forward Griffiths get in behind the Druids defence, but again Michael Jones came to the rescue with another great save and was able to smother the rebound to prevent our opponents getting back in the game. Then on 70 minutes, Druids hit a third when Darlington found himself in a great position on the side of the box, however instead of shooting, he found Edge in a better position with a delightful dinked cross and Charley took one touch and smashed it under the keeper to make it 3-0! Druids in dreamland!
The game was opening up at this point and only minutes later Haverfordwest sparked a glimmer of hope of a comeback after a mix up at the back allowed Jack Wilson to sneak in and cleverly lob the ball over Jones into the back of the net. Haverfordwest were now pressing for another and had a solid spell of possession, pinning us back. But the Druids defence held firm. Then minutes before the final whistle, Druids won a freekick on the edge of the box. As the lads were discussing who was to take, Jonny Taylor, who had been on the pitch for only a minute or so saw the run of Niall Flint and played a clever quick freekick, putting Flint through on goal while the Haverfordwest defence were napping. Niall found the bottom corner to make it 4-1 and extinguish any hope of a comeback!
The full-time whistle blew shortly after in a great performance by the Druids. It was clear that we were in control of that game for large periods and thoroughly deserved the 3 points. We look forward now to our next fixture at Flint Town on Tuesday evening and another chance to continue our climb up the table.
We keep going!
More than just a football club 
