Team: Hipple, Jessavala, Kuodys, Vallance, E,Richards, Loffler, Shipman, Peters, Pickering, D.Richards, Barnard.

Subs: San Emeterio (Loffler - 60), Forkan (Jessavala - 60), Roberts (Barnard - 75)

Goal Scorers: -

Hartley Wintney certainly worked hard & showed willing on a difficult surface, but from the off it was obvious that the team lacked the edge that saw them grind out a great result against Camberley on Saturday. Maybe that tough encounter took more out of the players than we realised, as the young Harefield side were just that yard ahead of Hartley throughout the game.

The 1st 20 minutes or so were pretty poor for both sides as the hard surface & poor control saw a catalogue of unforced errors & misplaced passes.

Harefield came closest to breaking the deadlock, advancing down the right wing with the resulting cross being narrowly headed over the bar by the centre forward. As the half progressed Hartley began to play the type of football suited to the pitch, playing more of a percentages game & getting the ball into areas behind the Harefield defence. During the 20 minutes prior to the half time interval chances came & went for Hartley Wintney with Dave Richards missing a handful of chances when in good positions to score, although unlucky on one occasion when driving the ball just over the Harefield cross bar from all of 20 yards. Barnard was left frustrated when poised to strike on goal just outside of the 6 yard box when the ball just wouldn't drop & was cleared to safety.

With the scores level at half time the key emphasis was on improving the quality slightly, continuing to play the more direct game as was the case late in the 1st half at the same time as keeping things solid at the back.

Just 10 minutes into the 2nd half Harefield took the lead, one direct ball lifted over the hartley defence resulted in the Harefield striker getting between the Hartley defence & goalie & slotting the ball home from the edge of the area. 0-1.

The game was fairly even but the frustration was increasing as Harefield were vulnerable in defence, but in the attacking 3rd Hartley lacked the quality & killer instinct to take advantage of the chances that came their way.

0-1 became 0-2 when Hartley failed to clear the ball from inside their own penalty area & with the 2nd attempt a soft penalty was awarded when the striker fell to the ground following a clumsy tackle just inside the 6 yard box.

At 2-0 substitutions were made to try & freshen things up & although Hartley weren't really at the races they still had chances to pull a goal back, the best coming during a goal mouth scramble with 3 attempts at goal being blocked on the line & in the 6 yard box.

Harefield continued to attack & had half chances to increase the lead, but to their credit Hartley kept going but just didn't have quite enough to get anything from the game.

We'll draw a line under that one & accept it as an off night. Chesham United up next, we won 2-1 there just a month or so ago. It would be nice to get our 1st double of the season & finish our home campaign off with a win.

Team: Hipple, Jessavala, Kuodys, Roberts, E.Richards, Loffler, San Emeterio, Shipman, Fewtrell, D.Richards, Stapleton.

Subs: Cousins (Loffler - 65)

Goal Scorer: Roberts (Penalty).

With a number of regular players missing & 2 more dropping out only an hour before the game, leaving us with one outfield substitute this was always going to be a challenge, especially considering the weather conditions. This was certainly confirmed when we saw ex Wales international Darren Barnard appear on the teamsheet for Camberley! Again, the Hartley side consisted of 4 of the current youth team & 2 further players aged 19 who each gave a fully committed performance to be proud of.

Camberley started the brighter of the two sides, they effectively kept posession & pegged Hartley back for the 1st 20 minutes, although they were largely limited to speculative long range efforts. Camberley continued to have the upper hand but Hartley continued to battle & briefly threatened when able to get the ball into the last 3rd of the pitch.

Mindy Kuodys marshalled the defence superbly as Hartley continued to frustrate Camberley, with the rest of the side sticking to their jobs & limiting Camberleys attacking options.

Camberley did manage to take the lead midway through the half from a corner. The kick was mis-hit along the ground into the penalty area, but the centre forward 12 yards from goal managed to swing his foot at the ball & somehow caught it perfectly, smashing the ball into the far bottom corner of the goal leaving Liam Hipple with no chance. 0-1.

The half continued to be a battle, with very few chances being created at either end.

The 2nd half was a much more even affair, with Hartley having more joy playing up the slope, keeping posession & beginning to create chances. The wide players came into the game giving better support to the front two who were working tirelessly.

Following a long ball into the Camberley penalty area & with the goalie hesitating Dave Richards had a fantastic opportunity to equalise, from just outside the 6 yard box he had a header that just needed to be lifted over the oncoming goalie but he just couldn't create enough power to do so.

Confidence was growing & for all the hard work alone Hartley deservedly got the equaliser they were looking for. Dave Richards expertly turned the defender on the far right side of the penalty area & was brought down with a clumsy challenge. Danny Roberts slotted the ball home from the spot to make it 1-1.

As expected Camberley upped the tempo & forced 2 or 3 great saves from Liam Hipple in the Hartley goal. Last ditch tackles were being made & Mindy Kuodys was continuing to control the defence. Camberley did almost take the lead when a speculative shot slipped through the legs of Hipple but to the relief of everyone he managed to smother the ball before it crossed the line. Camberley continued to press & for the last 5 to 10 minutes were throwing all but the kitchen sink at Hartley. Barnard was creeping further up the pitch looking to influence the game but Hartley just about held out to the final whilstle to the joy of the 11 exhausted players but to the frustration of 3rd placed Camberley.

The attitude was incredible from each & every player, for that alone Hartley deserved a point. That was a performance that summed up Hartley of old. We had our backs against the wall for large periods but every single player dug deep, battled & stuck up for eachother & ground out a great result. Well done.

Team: Hunt, Shipman, Kuodys, Daniels, E.Richards, Francis, Peters, Pickering, Brunt, Hamilton, Stapleton

Subs: Fisher (Stapleton - 60), Vallance (Pickering - 65), Jessavala (Francis - 70).

Goal Scorers: -

Report to Follow.

Team: Hipple, San Emeterio, Grundy, Kuodys, E. Richards, Francis, Shipman, De Baros, Fewtrell, Stapleton, Richards

Subs: Flanders (Fewtrell - 70), Loffler (Francis 75)

Goal Scorers: Shipman, Own Goal.

Sent Off: Richards, De Baros.

How often do you see it, 2-0 up & looking comfortable only to go & draw or lose the game. Well this was typically one of those days. Although we looked comfortable throughout the 1st 45 minutes & of course you would take a two goal lead at half time, we were slightly dissapointed as excellent chances were missed to realistically go in 4 goals to the good.

There was another debut for a youth team player, this time it was Elliot Richards who was nothing short of outstanding, he slotted in at left back & on 1st impressions is definitely one for the 1st team sometime in the not too distant future & that was the most pleasing aspect of the day. At one point we had 5 current youth team players on the pitch which is excellent, that for me is what reserve team football is all about & has got to be the way forward for this football club.

Tring were lively & the defence was well orchestrated by goalie come centre half Mindy Kuodys who is looking better with every game that passes. At times we played some good football, getting the ball into wide areas & always looking dangerous in attack. Chances came & went with Stapleton & Richards coming close. The deadlock was broken when a great ball was played over the top & into the left channel by Elliot Richards, Dave Richards ran onto the through ball & following a big step over crossed dangerously into the penalty area, Stapleton with great vision laid the ball into the path of Tom Shipman who smashed the ball into the bottom corner. 1-0.

Hartley kept pressing & following a cross into the box the Tring defender headed expertly into the top corner of his own goal. 2-0.

The 2nd half was always going to be a challenge. Tring started brightly & began to come back into the game with good posession, playing neat football. Stapleton excellently jinked his way into the penalty area & will be dissapointed not to make it 3-0 when one on one, credit to the goalie for saving well with his feet.

Tring pulled the game back to 2-1, early in the half in what was quite a bizarre situation. Steve Grundy brought the Tring centre forward down & a penalty was awarded. Sounds straightforward, but not when the linesman on the near side was 100% certain that the foul was committed outside of the penalty area, although this was the case he refused to inform the referee as in his own words "was not his job to do so as he was only the assistant referee" - laughable. The penalty was dispatched with confidence - 2-1.

The tide was clearly turning & things became even more difficult when Dave Richards was sent off for his 2nd yellow card, it was harsh but in the letter of the law delaying the goalie from kicking the ball out of his hands is a bookable offence, it is a shame that the ref didn't consistently keep to the letter of the law throughout. Difficult turned into near on impossible when we were reduced to 9 players, this time it was Pedro de Baros, who was sent off following his decision to question the linesman. Funny how on this occasion the linesman was able to flag the referee & get his attention leading to a red card but couldn't do exactly that for the penalty.

With 11 men I am confident we would have gone onto win the game, with 10 possibly, with 9 almost certainly not. This was because at this point Tring played the correct game keeping posession & taking their time to find openings. Unsurprisingly with only around 10 minutes to go it became  2-2 , posession was kept in the centre of the park & with the central midfielder not being shut down quick enough he picked his spot & smashed an unstoppable shot into the far top corner.

Although at one point it looked like a certain 3 points we were now realistically looking at coming away with none. This was confirmed when in the last couple of minutes the right sided Tring player was not shut down & cutting in from the right wing drove the ball into the far bottom corner from all of 20 yards. 2-3.

Dissapointed doesn't describe the outcome of this game. But when you have 2 players sent off you are not going to win games, that has happened in the last 2 games & simply isn't acceptable.

Although the result was hard to take, the performances of a number of the players was very pleasing, especially the youngsters in the side who continue to impress with the quality that they are showing when playing a very good standard of adult football.

Team: Hipple, Grundy, Kuodys, Reeves, Loffler, Jessavala, Pickering, Shipman, Kingston, Richards, Stapleton

Subs: De Baros (Reeves - HT), Fewtrell (Loffler - 65)

Sent Off: Grundy, Richards

Goalscorers: Richards - 2, Stapleton, Kuodys

Team: Hipple, San Emeterio, Grundy, Kuodys, Kingston, Francis, Cousins, Shipman, De Baros, Fisher, Stapleton

Subs: Loffler (Cousins - 30), Fewtrell (San Emeterio - 45)

Team: Hipple, San Emeterio, Grundy, Kuodys, Kingston, Jessavala, Peters, Cousins, Fewtrell, Sullivan, Stapleton.

Subs: Richards (Jessavala - 65), Grundy (San Emeterio - 70)

Goal Scorers: Stapleton, Kingston.

Team: White, Jessavala, Grundy, Reeves, Kingston, Fewtrell, Kuodys, Cousins, Loffler, Richards, Stapleton

Subs: San Emeterio (Richards - 60), Roberts (Jessavala - 60), Pickering (Loffler - 60)

Goal Scorer: Kuodys

Team: White, Jessavala, Grundy, Reeves, Kingston, Fewtrell, Peters, Cousins, Francis, Fisher, Stapleton

Subs: Kuodys (Reeves - 20), Richards (Francis - 65), San Emeterio (Fewtrell - 70)

Goal Scorers: Fisher, Stapleton

Team: Hunt, Kingston, Grundy, Reeves, Loffler, Jessavala, Peters, Turnbull, De Baros, Fisher, Stapleton

Subs: Francis, Fewtrell, Cousins