Team: Lovett, Turnbull, Peters, Daniels, Jessavala, Fewtrell, Bevins, Morris, Christian, Weeks, Brunt

Subs: Stapleton (Weeks - 55), Shipman (Morris - 60), Kingston (Christian - 70)

Goal Scorers: Bevins, Christian, Brunt (Pen), Stapleton

Playing in a local derby against an in form Sandhurst side was always going to be tough & this proved to be the case, especially in the early stages. Hartley struggled to keep up with the pace & quality of passing & were rather fortunate to take the lead approaching the half way stage of the 1st half. A corner from the right was only half cleared & from the edge of the area Danny Bevins smashed an unstoppable volley past the stranded Sandhurst goalie into the roof of the net.

The goal sparked Hartley into life & enjoyed the lions share of posession for next 10 minutes or so with the most notable chance coming from a great right wing cross from Luke Fewtrell, with Craig Christian coming in at the far post & just failing to head the ball past the fortunate oncoming goalie.    

Just as Hartley were beginning to take control, a lapse of concentration in the centre of the park & a moment of slack marking allowed Sandhurst to play the ball into the box & following a couple of neat passes a cross come shot was turned into his own net by Matt Turnbull (Mouse).    

Approaching half time Hartley almost took the lead as the Sandhurst goalie parried a shot from close range & he somehow managed to block the 2nd attempt which looked certain to hit the back of the net.    

The early stages of the 2nd half were always going to be crucial as the game was firmly in the balance. Almost as soon as the half started some good play resulted in Craig Christian rounding the goalie & from a wide angle managed to smash the ball in off the crossbar to give us a 2-1 lead.    

As the game progressed, Hartley looked dangerous & had a number of opportunities to increase the lead. Craig Christian blasted over from just a couple of yards when it was easier to score & a goal was dissallowed for offside soon after.    

The lead was increased to make it 3-1 from the penalty spot. Matt Brunt was tripped in the penalty area & stepped up to take the resulting spot kick & smashed the ball home.    

At 3-1 the scoreline suggested the remainder of the game would be comfortable, but in fact was anything but. A tame free kick from the right wing somehow managed to bobble across the 6 yard box & was forced home to bring the score to 3-2 & set up a nerve wracking 10 minute period where Sandhurst poured forward looking for the equaliser.    

Although under pressure, on the break Hartley looked dangerous & had a couple of chances to extend the lead.     Finally the game was ended as a contest, following some good work on the right wing, a cross into the 6 yard box was slotted home by youth team player Tom Stapleton.    

Overall this was a very pleasing performance, we dug deep, worked hard as a team & got the result we just about deserved over the 90 minutes. The 3 points has moved us up 4 or 5 places in the league & hopefully we can follow on from this with 3 points at home to Tring on Saturday.