THE New Saints scraped to victory at Carmarthen Town after a single goal from Alex Darlington proved enough to give them plenty of cheer heading into Christmas.
Saints battled through the torrid weather conditions against the league’s bottom side to maintain the pressure on the top two as they prepare for a festive double-header with Newtown before the mid-season split.
TNS could have a new director of football to spur them into 2012 following the departure of Mike Davies, with an announcement possible before the end of this week, but manager Carl Darlington wouldn’t be drawn on the speculation, choosing instead to praise his side’s efforts in atrocious conditions.
“It was very difficult. I thought we had good possession of the ball, especially in the first half,” he said.
“We got plenty of crosses into the box but if you don’t put it into the back of the net it puts you under pressure.
“The players stuck at it and worked hard and restricted Carmarthen to just a couple of chances all game.
“It was a difficult pitch to play on but we rolled our sleeves up and the performance showed how well we can adapt to situations such as the conditions today,” he added.
Alex Darlington put TNS in front after only six minutes when Simon Spender’s high ball into the penalty area was missed by Town goalkeeper, Rhys Wilson.
It fell kindly for Darlington however who slotted it between the two defenders on the line before he almost turned provider when Craig Jones narrowly missed out on connecting with his far post cross in the midst of a torrential hailstorm.
Aeron Edwards then clipped the outside of the post with a curling shot as he received Tom Roberts’ lay-off just inside the box, but Steffan Williams wasted a golden chance to level the scores a minute into the second half.
He rode a sliding challenge from Steve Evans before bearing down on goal, but blazed his effort over the bar with just Paul Harrison to beat.
Harrison was forced into action just after the hour, saving with his feet from Nick Harrhy after the ball had been nodded into his path by Jack Christopher.
Jones forced another save from Wilson as TNS looked to kill the game off with a spell of late pressure, but Darlington’s solitary strike proved priceless, keeping his side within touching distance of league leaders Llanelli despite staying in third place.
TNS travel to Newtown on Boxing Day. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.