ST ASAPH City manager Daniel Brewerton was encouraged by what he saw from his players in the second half of their 1-0 friendly win over Rhuddlan Town.

The Saints were made to work hard by their lower league opponents during what proved to be another positive friendly fixture for the squad, with Brewerton rotating his line-up to give others a chance with the Football Association of Wales and the Welsh Government yet to relax the rule of 30 for those who haven’t been granted ‘elite athlete’ status by Sport Wales.

A fine strike from James Williams just before the break settled the tie, with the hosts missing several good opportunities after the interval as they took control of proceedings.

Brewerton, said: “It was another opportunity to rotate the squad and build match fitness for the lads. We had three who hadn’t played any minutes for us before so I was really pleased to get them out on the pitch.

“We struggled in the first half an hour to get control of the game, we didn’t make good decisions with the ball and to be fair to Rhuddlan they played a system we didn’t expect and they looked good in spells.

“We changed our system and were able to start taking control of the game in the second half and I felt we looked really comfortable, kept the ball well and worked some good opportunities.

“With a bit more composure in front of goal, we should have scored two or three more.”

Brewerton also singled out Keiran Evans for special praise, who combined his captaincy role with managerial duties after Town boss Wayne Hughes was unable to attend the game.

“Huge credit goes to those Rhuddlan lads especially Kieran Evans,” added Brewerton.

“To come down with no management team on the side and put in a good tactical performance in that first half is something they should be really pleased with.”