Hartleys bad run of form continued on Saturday as they went down to another late goal at home.

After two comfortable wins over Knaphill this season the psychological advantage was with the home team. The game got off to a scrappy start but no one knew the turning point in the game would come so early, John Rimmer tangled with Knaphills Ricky Hodgsen just 12 minutes into the game and Hodgson was shown a straight red card for a violent conduct. This killed the flow of the game as Knaphill shut up shop.

Hartley were well on top and the midfield trio of Brunt, Bevins and Warwick were dictating the game and starting to make the extra man count. The deadlock was nearly broken on 25 minutes but a fine save from Shelly in the KH goal kept out Hamilton then Neville Roach had his volley from 10 yards instinctively saved by the legs of the keeper. Stamp and Spence also having decent chance to score. Hartley continued to press and were kept out again but this time it was the post from a Danny Bevins header. KH never really tested the home goal but the teams went in level at the break.

After the break Knaphill came into the game more and Hartley were not dominating as they did in the first half. Rimmer and Daniels, coming in for the suspended Theo looked comfortable at the back and limited KH to few chances, Baker and Parrington had half chances from distance but didn't have enough power to test Bledian. Hartleys best chances came from a Matt Brunt cross down the left was headed wide by Hamilton. and Scott Warwick's was one on one with the keeper but again Shelly in the KH goal kept his side in the game. On 85 minutes some slack defending by Hartley led to Baker being brought down right on the edge of the area. He then stepped up to drill the ball into the bottom corner of the net and secure the 3 points for the away side.

Another game where 3 points should have been in the bag but missed chances costing us.

Hartley Team

Fetzullahu, Stamp, Daniels, Rimmer, Kingston, Brunt(c), Warwick, Bevins, Spence, Roach, Hamilton(Small 75)

Crescent Rovers away next Saturday.

Team: Hunt, Kingston, Grundy, Roberts, Loffler, Fewtrell, Peters, Turnbull, Jessavala, Stapleton, Fisher

Subs: Reeves, Cousins

Goal Scorers: Fisher, Grundy

Days & results like this are why we all play football. Away to Chesham, with 10 players unavailable, only eleven fit squad members, management team having to select themselves having both not played in months, including two subs carrying injuries preventing them from playing any part & to top it all off ending the contest with 10 men, with Luke Fewtrell harshly being sent off late in the game.

These games usually go one of two ways, you lose heavily or against all odds you get the most unlikely of results & win. Deservedly we achieved the latter & due to the circumstances this was by far the most satisfying performance of the season.

More to follow.

After last Saturday's loss to rivals Staines Lammas, the team needed to get back to winning ways. Louie, who recently took over from Pete Gray, kept the same side that played so well the previous week.

It was a scrappy encounter, with both sides creating half chances during the first period without really testing the keeper. The best chance of the half fell to the ever reliable Neville Roach after he was sent clear by Danny Bevins, but he dragged his effort wide from 12 yards with only the keeper to beat.

Hartley started to get control of the game and looked like the team most likely to score, and were rewarded for their patience just before half time when, after some neat football down the right hand side, Nathan Stamp found Scott Warwick, who cut inside on to his left foot and hit an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner with the keeper rooted to the spot. Hartley looked comfortable and went on to dominate until the half time whistle.

Only one change for Hartley, with Spence coming on for the injured Hamilton.

South Park regrouped at half time and started brightly after the restart and, on 55 minutes, Hartley's midfield was stretched and a fine through ball found the SP number 9 who fired passed Bledian to level the game at 1-1.

It went from bad to worse for the Hartley when Nick Kingston was shown a straight red card for a two footed tackle. This led to a change, Simon Rushe replaced Matt Brunt. The game had opened up and both sides were creating chances, and on 76 minutes, Ray Spence took on the SP right back, skipped passed him to fire a low cross into the box which was turned into his own net by the SP centre half.

However, the lead didn't last very long as, with 10 minutes to go, SP got back on level terms. A low cross from the left hand side left Bledian stranded and it was the simplest of goals for the SP striker.

Hartley were hanging on but couldn't hold out as, with 5 minutes to go, the ball played in from the left was met again by the SP number 9 to poke the ball home. There wasn't long for Hartley to respond and the final whistle went with SP coming away with a 2-3 win.

2 losses in two games that could easily have been 2 wins. Next game Knaphill at home, who are on a good run so will be a tough game.

Hartley Team

Fetzullahu, Stamp, Theo, Rimmer, Kingston, Brunt(c)(Rushe 55), Warwick, Bevins, Small( Touray 76), Roach, Hamilton(Spence45)

Subs not used - Daniels, Francis

Goals

Warwick - 43
OG - 76

Cards

Yellow - N/A
Red - Nick Kingston

Team: Lovett, Cousins, Peters, Grundy, Pickering, Fewtrell, Shipman, Turnbull, Francis, Fisher, Stapleton

Subs: De Baros (Turnbull - 60), Sullivan (Francis - 60), Jessavala (Fewtrell - 65)

Goalscorers: Fisher.

A win against North Greenford would have seen us progress into the quarter final of the league cup. A couple of gilt edged misses late in the game, a stonewall penalty waved away, 2 goalkeeping errors & a deflected shot ensured that this wasn't to be. Although far from perfect it was a much improved performance from the weekend before.

The 1st half was fairly even without many chances being created. It certainly wasn't an end to end encounter but both teams seemed to take it in turn to have slightly the upper hand for periods of the opening 45 minutes. It was Hartley that took the lead midway through the half, a through ball from inside our own half was met by Man of the Match Tom Stapleton who surged forward outpacing the centre half, cutting into the box & when it seemed he was destined to score he opted to slide the ball across the 6 yard box for Phillip Fisher to side foot home, it was a great goal & one that we hoped would set the tone for the rest of the game.

Both teams continued to battle, with North Greenford looking impressive at times with their neat passing & all round movement. Approximately 10 minutes after taking the league the away side equalised & it was a dissapointing goal to concede. A speculative shot from outside the box somehow managed to creep under the body of Tommy Lovett.

The 2nd half was a much brighter affair, Hartley certainly created the greater chances, took the game to North Greenford & arguably deserved to come away with the win but somehow ended up losing.

Approaching the halfway mark of the 2nd period Phillip Fisher was crudely upended in the penalty area & to the astonishment of everyone in attendance the referee refused to point to the spot. The introduction of Andy Sullivan & Pedro de Baros on the hour mark certainly improved the quality of play & it was no coincedence that numerous chances were created during the latter part of the game.

Phillip Fisher somehow managed to shoot straight at the goalie from inside the 6 yard box with the goal at his mercy & was just unable to convert the rebound. A matter of minutes later Phillip found himself in almost an identical position, this time he expertly controlled the ball, wrong footed the goalkeeper & as he went to stroke the ball into the empty net he spectacularly slipped over.

Although Hartley were creating chances there was the small issue of conceding the 2nd goal. Tommy Lovett & his David James style moment of madness saw him run some 30 yards from goal in an attempt to sweep up a through ball & upon realising he wasn't quite going to make it he & his defence desperately retreated to try & prevent a straightforward goal for North Greenford, but ended up in a pile in the back of the net, unsuccessfully stopping the ball from crossing the line.

Again Hartley pushed forward creating further chances. But with the players pushing forward this left us slightly exposed & with North Greenford's last attempt of the game a deflected shot just beating Tommy Lovett at the near post.

With a little more luck/composure in front of goal & if you take away the errors the result would have been so much different. We travel to North Greenford in the league next Saturday in a bid to avenge our defeat & to get get some points on the board.

Team: Lovett, Turnbull, Peters, Kuodys, Grundy, Fewtrell, Cousins, Shipman, San Emeterio, Fisher, De Baros

Subs: Kingston (San Emeterio - 60), Francis (Cousins - 60)

Goalscorers: De Baros 

Hartley Wintney travelling a total of 150 miles on a Saturday for a league game must surely be a record. This doesn't excuse the woeful 1st half showing from the Hartley team. We were at sixes & sevens for the majority of the opening 45 minutes, chasing shadows with Newport Pagnell passing & dictating the play with ease. If it wasn't for poor finishing, last gasp blocks & a couple of smart saves the game would have been over as a contest within the first 20 minutes.

To little surprise, Newport took the lead midway through the 1st half. An unchallenged midfielder picked his pass into the right channel with the striker running onto the through ball & thumping home across the face of the goal into the far top corner from all of 18 yards. It was a great strike but no more than Newport deserved & for a few moments at least sparked Hartley into action.

Pedro de Baros with a couple of positive runs, managed to jink his way through to force a smart save from the previously untested home goal keeper. With possibly the only move of the half that included more than two completed passes Luke Fewtrell was set free on the right wing to whip in a cross that was headed with power but just wide of the target by Ramon San Emeterio.

The promising glimpses were nothing more than glimpses & Newport were soon again in control & it was with some relief when the ref blew up for half time.

The key characteristics that we normally associate with the reserve side had seriously been lacking & in no uncertain terms the players were reminded of this during the half time interval.

As we had hoped there was a clear improvement in the intensity of the 2nd half performance, although in all honesty the quality was still not to our usual standards the commitment & willingness to compete was closer to what we all would expect.

Almost immediately the tempo of the game had changed & Newport were finally forced to exit their comfort zone & were enganged in a game of football.

Chances were had & the Newport goalie was forced to make a couple of good saves. Just as we were looking like possibly getting back into the game Newport doubled their lead. On the hour a cross from the right somehow managed to bobble past a group of attacking & defending players & somewhat fortunately fell to the feet of the Newport forward on the penalty spot to slot home.

At 2-0 the introduction of Rieo Francis certainly livened things up on the left side of midfield & following some neat work on the left Pedro de Baros received the ball with his back to goal in the penalty area, he smartly turned & smashed home to make the score 2-1.

Although still not at our best we were back in the game & in the last moments only the post stopped Hartley from coming away with an unlikely share of the spoils. A through ball was met by Phillip Fisher some 35 yards from goal, he outpaced one defender, took it past another & from the edge of the area squeezed the ball past the onrushing goalie only to see the ball agonisingly hit the inside of the post & trickle along the goal line, only to then be cleared by the covering defender to safety.

The 2nd half performance clearly demonstrates that if you are having an off day but you still compete & work hard you can grind out a result. The 1st half showed that if you just turn up & let the other team dictate the play you will get beaten. The Suburban league is too strong to be able to just turn up & expect to win a game even though the team your playing may be below you in the league table.

Next week we're in the cup & a much improved performance is required as a win will see us through to the quarter finals with the possiblilty of being drawn against one of the big boys such as Woking or AFC Wimbledon.

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.

Report by Smudge

Firstly I must say how wrong I was about the standard of Officials in Div 1, maybe moaning on the CCL Forum works the trick. Mr WELLS, ROCKET RON, AND ASSOCIATE WERE ABSOLUTELY SUPERB TODAY. Only 2 bookings, and a superbly controlled game, I even bought the officials a drink after the game in appreciation.

Back to the match - a game of 2 halves. Farleigh had 4 gilt edge chances in the first half, but they were spurned, which later in the game they would regret. 0-0 half time. Hartley appeared in the 2nd half a much different outfit, fluid passing had Farleigh on the back foot, and the inevitable came in a funny way, an overhead kick was handballed by the tallest Farleigh defender who, for some inexplicable reason, had his hand above his head, a cast iron penalty, disputed by no one in the ground. This was duly dispatched by Jermaine Hamilton sending Richie Bull the wrong way.

Richie Bull then produced 3 great saves to keep Farleigh in the game, the best being a flying fingertip save to push over a Hamilton piledriver. Farleigh pushed for an equaliser but this was to be their undoing, as Anton Small broke free from the offside trap and fired a shot at the Farleigh goal that Bull somehow saved with an instant reaction save, but the onrushing Small converted.

Man of the Match by a country mile Richie Bull, superb handling and kicking throughout, and the best 'keeping performance I have seen so far in C.C.

Team: Lovett, Jones, Woods, Grundy, Kingston, San Emeterio, Cousins, Shipman, De Baros, Fisher, Lucking

Subs: Stapleton (Lucking - 65), Guirerro (Jones - 70)

Goal Scorers: Cousins, Fisher (Pen), Shipman

Penalties: Fisher, Stapleton, De Baros, San Emeterio

We were missing James Reeves, Aaron Jessavala, Luke Fewtrell & Dave Richards from last weeks starting line up against Hampton & Richmond, but having an ever changing line up is part & parcel of reserve team football & gave Lloyd Jones & Tom Stapleton from the youth team & Jason Kingston a chance to get some game time under their belts & the opportunity to show us what they can do.

We got off to a great start by passing the ball with composure & took the lead within the first 5 minutes, following a through ball from Pedro de Baros from deep inside our own half, Phillip Fisher ran onto the perfectly weighted pass, outpaced the Leverstock defence & crossed from the left, Luke Cousins broke into the box from midfield & side footed home from 10 yards.

The positive start & excellent posession of the ball dissapeared as quickly as we scored our 1st goal. A matter of minutes after taking the lead a long punt upfield was mis-judged by our centre half pairing & the lively Leverstock striker took advantage by running onto the ball & slotting home into the far corner of the goal from the right hand side of penalty box.

Things continued to go down hill, as the neat passing & competitive edge we pride ourselves on almost instantly vanished, with Leverstock taking full control of the game & looking dangerous with every attack. After half an hour the home side were awarded a penalty as Tom Lovett was harshly penalised for bringing the striker down as he ran in on goal. The spot kick was saved, only for Leverstock to react quicker & smash the rebound home to make it 2-1. Things went from bad to worse approaching half time as the lead was extended to make it 3-1.

A few constructive words were spoken at half time, with the team also being reminded what is expected of them & the way they are expected to play.

Although the quality was lacking in the 2nd half, possibly with the conditions playing a part in this, the commitment was back to the level we have shown over the past few games & attacking down the slope we looked dangerous,  putting ourselves firmly back in the game when Pedro de Baros was brought down in the penalty area. Phillip Fisher stepped up & tucked the penalty away to make it 3-2. Although we began to start taking control, Leverstock did look dangerous, with Chris Wood in particular keeping the lively strikeforce at bay.

With 5 minutes to go we got the equaliser that we deserved when Tom Shipman bundled home at the 2nd attempt inside the 6 yard box following a corner from the left.

A non-eventful extra time was followed by a penalty shoot out. Each of the Hartley penalties were dispatched with confidence, with Leverstock putting two penalties over the bar. We were left to celebrate progressing to the next round of the cup.

The 2nd half comeback was extremely pleasing. The overall performance highlighted that if you don't compete & win your personal battles you will struggle, thus being 3-1 down at half time. But, when we compete, work as a team, get the ball down & keep posession then we are capable of giving any team in the Suburban League a tough afternoon.

It's another long trip next Saturday, Newport Pagnell away. We will go all out to get 3 points to kick start our league campaign & begin our rise up the table.

As Shinner and I left the ground after this 3rd round tie in the Division 1 cup, we were fighting for the dubious honour of filing a report on the game. I lost.

This was a match we'll want to forget, and I hope no one tries to blame the conditions. And yet, if it were not for three wasted 2nd half chances, the result could quite easily have been 4-2 in our favour... if only because, at 2 up at half-time, Croydon seemed to struggle with the concept of simply seeing the game out.

I have to say it was a very poor game in the first half, with a strong wind blowing diagonally across the pitch, but what sustained football was played came mostly from the visitors. They went in 2 up thanks to two goals just before the break, both well worked and well executed. They didn't seem to mind the conditions as much as we seemed to - or was it that they just wanted it more than us. Sound harsh? Perhaps it is, but that's how it looked at times. They were more incisive all around the park and only really troubled when Razor had the ball and ran at them.

Croydon started the 2nd half well enough but, as the game went on, they seemed to get jumpy at seeing the winning post and opportunities came our way and were missed. Razor was booked for back-chat and nearly talked himself another red. Jermaine Hamilton was brought on, and the front three of Jermaine, Anton and Razor looked threatening but it wasn't until the last minute that Jermaine found the net, too late to affect the result.

We were poor tonight and still could have won, though it would have been harsh on Croydon. Jermaine did well when he came on. Brunty patrolled the back line well. My MOM would come from those two. Not too much else I can say that's positive. Let's move on and hope we play 400% better at the weekend, as that's probably what it'll need.

Team: Lovett, San Emeterio, Grundy, Reeves, De Baros, Fewtrell, Shipman, Cousins, Jessavala, Lucking, Richards.  

Subs: Fisher (Lucking - HT), Kingston (Richards - 70), Jones (Cousins - 80) 

Goal Scorers: Cousins, Jessavala 

It was great to give 16 year old Luke Fewtrell his debut in what was a very tough introduction into Suburban league football. He did very well out wide on the right, we have all been very impressed with him & I am sure it is only a matter of time before he is involved with the 1st team squad.

As expected, Hampton started with composure on the ball & looked sharp all over the pitch. Although they generally had the upper hand early in the game their efforts on goal were limited to long range efforts. Hartley took the lead against the run of play & with the number of bodies in the box it was hard to see who got the final touch on the ball following a cross from the right wing, but judging by the celebrations it was Luke Cousins who had put us infront.  

Following taking the lead we immediately expected to be put under pressure but this never materialised as hartley battled well & continued to frustrate the table toppers. Later in the 1st half Hampton did equalise following a free kick out wide on the left, the ball was played into the penalty area but was only headed half clear & fell to the Hampton player 20 yards from goal, with the defence not pushing out to shut the player down he was free to shoot & the ball was wickedly deflected into the bottom corner of the goal. 

To go in at half time on level terms certainly gave the players the confidence that they could get a positive result from the game.

Hampton took the lead midway through the 2nd half, again from a free kick in a wide area. With the Hampton attacker just getting infront of his marker to head home. It could have been easy to collapse & concede further goals after going behind but again the attitude throughout the Hartley team was impressive & each player dug deep & got exactly what they deserved with the equaliser in the last minute of normal time. Good work on the left by Jason Kingston & Pedro de Baros resulted in Aaron Jessavala side footing home from 6 yards out following a cross from the left. 

With injury time almost over a free kick was awarded to Hampton midway in our half, with a sea of bodies in the penalty area the referee missed James Reeves being pulled to the ground & the Hampton striker managed to head home to the huge frustration & dissapointment of all the Hartley players, who had deserved to take a share of the spoils. 

To equalise in the 90th minute & to then concede with almost the last kick of the game was a sickening blow. Although Hampton had the greater quality, for effort alone from every single Hartley player we certainly deserved a point. The celebrations from the visiting players & bench proved that they were hugely relieved & fortunate to come away with the three points.

The only negative to take from the game is that we conceded all 3 goals directly or indirectly from set pieces. Sometimes you can hold your hand up & accept conceding goals against a top side through an individual piece of skill or good passage of play, but to concede in the manner that we did is something that needs to be worked on.  

If we carry on with the commitment & desire that we showed on Saturday, add to that a bit of composure when in possession & a little more resilience defensively (especially from set pieces!) then we will certainly begin to move up the table.