23rd Nov 2011

Southern Youth League

Improved Performance Gives Under 18's Confidence

A spirited performance from Hartley Wintney was not enough to avoid a 3-2 defeat to Cove. The previous meeting ended in a 3-0 victory for Cove; however Hartley Wintney showed their intentions for tonight straight from the whistle. Straight from kick off, winger Billy McKay broke down the right hand side with ease and skipped into the penalty area, however his drilled cross was not met by any of his team mates.

They didn't have to wait long though for the goal they duly deserved for their efforts, even though it came from an unlikely source. Mark Taylor showed great determination to head the ball past keeper Tom Webb, but there was not enough pace for the ball to cross the line. Fortunately for Hartley Wintney, the attempted clearance from centre back James Kelly was sliced into his own net.

Cove looked unsettled and Hartley Wintney tried to exploit it. The pace of the two wingers and forwards for Hartley Wintney caused problems for the Cove defence, and their persistence paid with a well taken goal to double Hartley Wintney's lead. This time it was Gabriel Cockram who exploited the slow Cove defence by winning the ball back for Mark Taylor. Taylor then managed to tee the ball up for striker Austin Kelly to place a left footed shot into the top right hand corner, which left the keeper rooted to the spot.

Just a few minutes later, Cove got a lifeline with a simple goal which gave the Hartley Wintney keeper Daniel Pearson not much hope to prevent the goal. Reece Wilson just about dribbled past two defenders and delivered the ball into the six yard box where Matt Blackwell couldn't miss.

An equaliser soon followed, courtesy of the defence not being able to clear the ball from a corner ball. Hartley Wintney could not get the ball out of their feet and this created the chance for Kelly to redeem himself and he made no mistake striking the ball through a crowd of players.

Even with the setback of conceding two quick goals, Hartley Wintney still attacked in numbers and kept possession well for the last third of the first half. Patient play from the visitors frustrated Cove and the play eventually led to McKay to shoot in which he would have been disappointed with his attempt.

From the goal kick, Cove managed to get a third and it arguably was against the run of play. Cove created space in the middle and this led to a through ball setting up Matt Beales for a one on one opportunity. Luck was on his side for this opportunity as the ball hit the left hand post and rolled across the goal line which then crossed the line after hitting the opposite post.

The goal would have been a bitter blow for Harltey Wintney just before half time, but from the restart, Hartley Wintney looked a lot more assertive in defence and clearly saw that an equaliser was possible or even more. As the time elapsed, Cove knew that time was on their side and the pace of the game slowed down considerably. There were two notable chances for Hartley Wintney late on. Gabriel Cockram delivered a great cross to Mark Taylor, but his header was just wide even though he adjudged offside. The other fell to substitute Daniel Hastings who couldn't connect well enough with his shot to trouble the Cove keeper.

In the end Hartley Wintney's performance deserved at least a point, however if the team perform well as a team, a victory should soon be on the cards.

[Martyn Pearson]