Abergavenny Thursdays - 1
AC Pontymister - 2
AFTER finally hitting their stride with a 10-2 thrashing of West Pontnewydd in their previous game, the Thursdays finally thought they had shaken the losing monkey off their back, but Saturday's result at Pen-y-Pound proved otherwise.
Club secretary Chris Wilkins told the Chronicle, "I think the fact that it was our first game after a long lay-off was the main problem, added to the fact that Ponty are currently sitting in third place in Gwent County Division Three, and riding the crest of the wave at the moment.
"Ultimately we may have lost, but it wasn't a case of us playing badly, it was more a touch of the good performance/bad result syndrome.
"During the game we had strikes that hit the post, shots that went wide, and two clearances off the line. It was just one of those days where things failed to gel fully for us - perhaps because we were a bit rusty.
"The lads were understandably disappointed after the match, but it was not a bad performance by any means against a team that have the pedigree Pontymmister has.
"In fact believe it or not, our keeper wasn't really troubled at all by the visitors, and the goals Ponty scored both came off a couple of good plays that were the exception rather than the norm.
"Everyone involved with the club knows that patience is now the name of the game. We can't let everything become all doom and gloom.
"The Thursdays have been at the bottom for so long, that we've adopted a long-term strategy which involves thinking about things in the long term.
"For example the team now has both the quality and the youth that we may have lacked in previous years. The average age of the club has dropped considerably this season, and we have just made a new signing in Nick Dash, who was formerly of the Mardy, and is an exceptionally bright young prospect.
"If the club can attract more players of Dash's calibre and age in addition to the quality we already have on board, than I'm sure after we tuck a couple of wins under our belt, our confidence will grow, we'll gel more as a team, and really make our presence felt.
"It's still only early doors yet, our spirits remain high, and we're going to be flying the Thursdays flag with pride this Saturday when we face Caldicot Castle away."
Elsewhere, the Abergavenny Thursdays stars of tomorrow in the U14 side have made a thundering start to the new season.
With three wins out of three to date, and a storming 5-1 win on the weekend with goals from Joe Richardson, Joe Palmer and Zac Scaddan, the future looks bright for the club. The future looks green.