Hughsey: "It's a Good Point"

Aberystwyth Town ended a run of seven games in twenty one days with a hard earned point at Newtown on Saturday, writes Club Media Assistant Matthew Wallace. Although the game won’t be considered a classic, there were certainly enough chances to satisfy supporters of both sides. “It was a solid point. It was a game full of effort and full of determination from both sides. We had chances to win it.” Manager Ian Hughes told atfc.org.uk following the match.

Defensively, Aber are unrecognisable from the beginning of the season right now with just four goals being conceded in the past six league games including two clean sheets in succession. This is an aspect of the side’s play that pleases the manager.

“We conceded six goals in one game here last season and three in the other. That’s nine goals in two games at an average of 4.5 a game so that was something that we needed to address. The back four have been great. Sion James and Craig Williams have been great at full back. Lee Surman has been great and fitted in really well alongside Stuart Jones.  They’ve defended well today and a clean sheet is what they all deserved.”

This game marks the end of a run of fixtures that has seen the Seasiders take to the field for competitive action seven times in three weeks. Aside from the exit from the Word Cup, Town have ended that run undefeated, picking up 12 points from a possible 18. But it’s not been without its trials and tribulations for the side.

“It’s difficult because we’re semi-professional. The players and staff are all semi-professional so to play so many games in a short period of time. It’s tough. It’s been very difficult for the players over the last couple of weeks. We’ve picked up a couple of injuries over that period as well. Antonio Corbisiero is injured and Chris Mullock phoned up this morning with illness. We’ve had Chris Venables on the bench today like on Tuesday where he turned up late through no fault of his own due to work commitments and after the excellent result against Bala, we couldn’t really change it.  He’ll be back in the team sooner rather than later.”

The players will now enjoy a well earned break before next Saturday’s away fixture at Connah’s Quay. The two sides earned a share of the spoils last weekend with Rhys Griffiths grabbing the last minute equaliser. Both sides will be hoping to go one step better when they face off again.

“They’re a strong side with a good manager so it’s going to be a difficult game there’s no getting away from that. But we’re on a good run of form ourselves. We’ve got players who always look capable of scoring and we’re looking much more solid at the back so we’ll get that game out of the way before the easy game against TNS at home!”

Watch Matthew Wallace's post match interviews with Manager Ian Hughes and Stuart Jones, who was playing his 100th game for the Club, on Aber Town's Youtube Channel here.