Haverfordwest County AFC striker Ben Fawcett was left with mixed emotions after the 2-1 defeat to The New Saints on Sunday, as his fifth goal of the season wasn’t enough to see the Bluebirds leave Park Hall with something to show for an impressive all-round display.
The forward’s well-taken goal had made it 1-0 after 18 minutes, and the former Hakin United youngster had two further opportunities to extend the Bluebirds’ lead, only to be denied by an excellent save from TNS goalkeeper Connor Roberts and a goal line clearance by Ben Clark.
Fawcett has had to be patient in the early stages of the season, but he appears to now be reaping the rewards as his tireless performances are starting to be supplemented with some impressive goals for the Town.
Here’s what the striker had to say in full after the game:
On the game
First half, we dominated them I thought. We were the better team, we had loads of chances, I think they only had one or two chances. It was just disappointing that after I’d scored the early goal I couldn’t capitalise on that. I had two more chances and I thought Connor pulled off a really good save for the second one and I got lucky on the third, but the boys were unbelievable today. Winning second balls, we’ve been looking solid at the back and that showed today. We pressed them really well and we got the rewards, but unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise on that final bit. We showed today the confidence we have. I mean, we’ve got no reason not to be confident, the way we’re sitting in the league and the way we’re playing, and that showed today. I thought overall we were probably the better team, but just unlucky on the day.
On the goals we conceded
TNS goals are normally, they carve teams open and they get an easy finish. But today it wasn’t the case. It was a set-piece and back post header, which we switched off for. Sometimes that happens and hopefully we’ll just change it next week and we get a good result next week in the cup.
On our resilience
When their second goal went in, our heads didn’t drop and we didn’t get pushed back. We had a lot of the ball and created a few more few chances which is good to see. Last year, if we conceded a goal our heads would drop a bit, but now it’s like ‘come on, we’re going to get a goal back’, and we usually do. It’s good to see. We didn’t get the result we wanted today, but we’ve got to take the positives from it.
On the togetherness in the group
We have a laugh on the away trips and we’re all together. We don’t leave anyone out of the group, and it’s shown in our performances as well.
On the JD Welsh Cup
We haven’t had a great run in the cups in the last few years, so hopefully we can get the job done on Saturday now and get into the quarter-finals.
On his goalscoring run
I’m still a bit disappointed I didn’t get a few more today, but hopefully the goals keep coming. The boys are providing me with brilliant balls in and we’re pushing forward. We’re getting a lot of chances. So hopefully that carries on.