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16th September 2007 - Wales on Sunday
Saints win but must find their killer touch
Alfie Carter’s sixth goal of the campaign helped The New Saints maintain their revival after reeling off their third straight win at sun-drenched Park Hall. The front runner struck on 25 minutes and when Mike Wilde doubled the tally seven minutes later, it seemed the Saints were heading for a comfortable win. But the defending champions were unable to apply the killer touch with Carter and Wilde spurning a string of further opportunities much to the frustration of manager Ken McKenna who lamented his side’s wasteful finishing. “We could have had five or six, but to be fair to their keeper (Kris Rogers) he made some great saves,” said the Saints boss. “And when you don’t put your chances away you’ve always got a chance of being punished at the other end, which could have happened as Port Talbot had a couple of chances. It’s another three points but we’ll need to improve if we’re going to challenge this season.” The Steelmen, revived by Chad Bond’s leveller on the stroke of half time, could feasibly have snatched a share of the spoils late on when Bond headed wide. A defensive error had earlier seen Carter notch his sixth goal in four games for the Saints while Wilde netted the TNS second when ghosting past two defenders to score from Carter’s pass. But Port Talbot, who made a good contribution to an entertaining game, got back into the game on the stroke of half time when Bond latched on to a Martin Rose pass to plant the ball past keeper Paul Harrison. Encouraged by the goal the visitors had TNS on the back foot early in the second half, but Bond screwed a shot wide in an early attack while Lee Surman headed straight at Harrison from Lee John’s free-kick. At the other end Carter and Wilde were guilty of missing good chances to make the game safe, while keeper Rogers did well to save from Wilde and Luke Holden. And the missed opportunities almost proved costly in the final minute when the Steelmen went close to earning parity as Bond headed wide from in front of goal following a Kerry Morgan set-piece.
15th September 2007 - www.welsh-premier.com
Saints lack the killer touch
The New Saints made heavy weather of taking the spoils from Port Talbot in a game where they failed to take their chances. Despite cruising into a two-goal lead within half an hour, TNS were pegged back by Chad Bond's goal on the stroke of half-time and were unable to apply the killer touch in the second-half. A defensive error from the Steelmen led to the opening goal when an under-strength back header from a defender fell to Alfie Carter, who seized the chance to notch his sixth goal in four games. Michael Wilde saw his effort a minute later balloon onto the roof of the net as keeper Kris Rogers got down well to block the shot but, after missing another opening Wilde got the second, ghosting past two defenders from Carter's pass to score. Talbot made a good contribution to an entertaining game and got their reward when Bond latched on to a Martin Rose pass to plant the ball past keeper Paul Harrison. Encouraged by the goal, the visitors had TNS on the back foot early in the second half, but Bond screwed a shot wide in an early attack while Lee Surman headed straight at Harrison from Lee John's free-kick. Carter and Wilde were guilty of missing several good chances to make the game safe, while keeper Rogers did well to save from Wilde and Luke Holden. And the misses could have proved costly in the final minute when the Steelmen almost snatched a point they barely deserved, Bond heading wide from in front of goal following a Kerry Morgan set-piece.
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