Southern Youth League West Division
Wed 21 Dec 2011
Hartley Wintney U18 0 v Guildford City U18 2

Our last game before Christmas was a well contested affair played in front of a good crowd. With all the live football on the large TV in the bar, there was also a great atmosphere in the clubhouse after the game.

We started a little slowly (something that is starting to annoy me a little, we seem to not take the warm up seriously and as a result get out of the blocks slowly) - I believe this is a maturity issue, with players not understanding the importance of the warm up and what their attitude needs to be when warming up - this is something I feel we will improve on and have the correct culture in place for next season.

The game itself was mostly evenly contested. Guildford took the lead early on after a mistake from our keeper Dan Pearson, allowing the ball to trickle through his legs. Minutes later Dan made amends for his earlier mistake, making a superb penalty save and demonstrating what a good goalkeeper he is.

Hartley clawed their way back into the game, competed better in midfield and started to create chances. What impressed me most is that we managed to play well for a longer period (70 minutes instead of just 45 minutes or a 20 minute spell in the game) and also that we managed to keep calm in possession of the ball and not always try to score inside 30 seconds of winning the ball back. We need to adopt the culture of resting when we are in possession (using the ball properly and moving our opponents around the pitch) and working hard when we don't have the ball. This is the way top side play now and is the fashionable way to play the game. It is also a style that will suit us as I believe we are the most technically able team in the league.

Guildford did score a second before half time - a well taken header from a corner - an area we have looked a little vulnerable from this season. It was a bullet header to be fair that nestled in the top corner.

Second half was very even - both sides had a few chances but overall I feel the fans witnessed an excellent game played in a good manner.

I would like to go on record and wish Guildford success this season. We have played them twice now and they have tried to play football on both occasions, in a good manner, keeping the ball on the ground. They should be the benchmark for all clubs this year and I hope they can go on to win the division. [Graham]

Squad: Dan Pearson, Ben Cave, Ben Brownen, Matt Partlow (c ), Paul Roche, Paris Hutt, Shaun Spence, ConorCaris, Mark Taylor, Gabriel Cockram, Aaron Richardson subs: Ross May, SebHuddy, Robert Deans, Austin Kelly, Jamie Paton