Match Report By RovingJoe | Tuesday 9th August 2011

Captain Martin Williams grabbed an injury-time equaliser to deny Guernsey FC from securing all three points
Williams struck two minutes into added time to salvage a point after a Guernsey defender handled the ball just outside the area.

Guernsey started brightly and kept the ball well, however had difficulty creating the final ball, and lacked creativity in midfield. Hartley also started well, not allowing Guernsey to gain their rhythm, with Kingston and Thorne working hard in midfield to regain and break up possession. Hartley started to regain more of the possession and began piling on the pressure.

Hartley broke the deadlock in the first half when Dean Peltohaka neatly finished in the top left hand corner of the impressive Guernsey keeper. This goal felt like a long time coming, after Ryan Stephens had come close on numerous occasions, including a terrific strike that forced a one handed save from the young keeper. Newcombe also ran onto a ball and sent a rocket, which agonisingly hit the bottom of the post from 30 yards.

Hartley controlled much of the first half, with Nathan Stamp often finding the feet of Dean Peltohaka who, with a deft touch, would set up the forward running Kingston and Stephens.

Guernsey did create chances themselves; however the ever improving Lee Allen was hardly troubled and took control of his area.

First Half 1-0

With an audience of just under 300, Guernsey came out in a changed kit, having spent the first half in Hartley's away strip due to difficulties at the airport.

The game turned on its head when Guernsey's pacey forward broke through on goal and fell to the ground. The ref believed Patterson had pulled the player down, and was shown the red card (we reserve judgement!).

The game began to turn against Hartley, with very few decisions going their way. Ollie Bridges was brought on to replace Dean Peltohaka, to partner up with Darrel Bloxham in the centre of defence. Not long after, Guernsey scored a scrappy goal; the strike was cruel on the hard-working Hartley side that had created the better chances but ultimately paid the price for some wasteful finishing.

Then with ten minutes to go, the well supported Guernsey side broke through on goal, Bloxham lunged to get the ball but ended up taking the player first. With everyone expecting a red card to come out, in view of the previous sending off being a lot softer, the Ref surprisingly waved a yellow card in the air. Guernsey's top scorer, Allen, fired the ball in the bottom right, much to the delight of the visiting island's supporters.

Brownlie replaced the hard-working Stephens, and worked hard up front to make it difficult for the Guernsey defenders. His hard work nearly paid off as a misplaced back-pass to the goalkeeper fell in his path, but a fantastic recovery tackle from the goalkeeper brushed it passed Brownlie and the onrushing Jack Coventry.

Lee Allen saved the day, throwing himself at two shots in quick succession; the ball appeared destined for the back of the net, but with a combination of great defending and Allen's acrobatics, Hartley managed to keep Guernsey from extending their lead. It wasn't going to be Hartley's night...or was it?!

A diagonal ball fired in from man of the match Nathan Stamp, hung up in the air, and from within the melee a hand popped up and struck the ball - and that hand belonged to a green shirt. The ref blew for a free kick. Williams placed the ball, took a few short steps back, and like an arrow planted the ball in the bottom left corner. The Hartley players went crazy, and the relief was demonstrated by their celebration. It was incredibly deserved.

Overall, Hartley looked to be the better side, having created the better chances in the first half.

Full Time 2-2

Squad: Allen, Stamp, Bloxham, Patterson, Newcombe, Coventry, Thorne, Kingston (Dillon), Williams, Peltohaka (Bridges), Stephens (Brownlie)

Hartley Wintney won their opening day of the season in the last minute of the match, as they left Short Lane with all 3 points.

Combined Counties League Div 1, 6th August 2011
Report by Roving Joe
In a very close contested match, Staines Lammas lost their opening game of the season in the 93rd minute, when a last minute mistake let Hartley Wintney leave with all 3 points.

Hartley Wintney looked comfortable from the outset, with Staines bypassing their own midfield by playing the long ball from the back, which landed like a homing missile on the head of league debutant Daryl Bloxham. The central midfield combination of Williams, Thorne and the hard-working Kingston proved to be incredibly successful, and with the young Jack Coventry providing natural width as he was granted with a free role.

Staines never troubled commanding goalkeeper Lee Allen, who had very little to do all game. The well organised Staines side never looked liked scoring. However, what they lacked up front they certainly made up for in resilience and determination not to concede. Staines were incredibly difficult to break down, and a number of chances went narrowly wide. Jack Coventry and Dean Peltohaka each had an opportunity to put the visitors one up, however both were blocked by the impressive Staines keeper. The teams went in level on goals, but with Hartley certainly in the driving seat.

Half Time 0-0

In truth, Neville Roach's men should have been out of sight by the start of the second half but they could not make the most of their vastly superior possession. Hartley started as they finished, with a number of chances being created, but found it very difficult to find the final ball. With an incredibly strong bench, Hartley manager Neville Roach changed things around, bringing on Ben Dillon (for Dean Peltohaka) and Daniel Brownlie (for Jack Coventry) who was a threat down the right hand side. His changes brought almost instant dividends, with Hartley pouring forward following the substitutions. Brownlie's first touch was a whipped in ball for Dillon; frustratingly the ball flew agonisingly past the debutant striker.

Hartley held firm and continued to threaten to take the lead and suddenly looked like scoring. An impressive move down the right-hand side led to Ryan Stephens going through on goal, and once again the Staines keeper blocked with his legs. With time running out, Staines looked to be happy with the point and "shut up shop". Then, in the dying seconds of the game, a mistake coming from some hesitant Staines defending led to an opportunity as the home side were caught in possession just inside the box. Ryan Stephens landed the ball and was twice brought down in the box, but managed to stay on his feet and neatly finished with a goal from an incredibly tight angle.

The new back line looked impressive, with two equally gifted replacements available from the bench - last year's stalwart Ollie Bridges, and newly signed Luke Pearson. Along with the ever dependable Nathan Stamp, new signing, Andrew Newcombe looks a very rounded player.

The attitude of the players was fantastic, and the reaction when the goal was scored demonstrated the enthusiasm and effort that all the boys put in. A well deserved victory and an excellent start to the season. Also impressive was the quality of the players on the bench, with plenty of opportunities to change the dimensions of the team.

Squad: Allen, Newcombe, Bloxham, Patterson, Stamp, Thorne, Williams, Kingston, Coventry (Brownlie), Peltohaka (Dillon), Stephens.
Subs not used: Luke Pearson, Ollie Bridges

SQUAD : Aaron Carter - Marcus Watson - Alex Jupp - Kieron Fuller - Luke Pearson - James Jupp - Luke Fewtrell - Elliot Hobden - Josh Daniels - Ross Barnard - Ryan Warner.

SUB'S : Tom Slane - Rafa Barbosa - Lloyd Jones - Duncan Cleary - Paul Wade.

Our first game of the season and just as we all arrived at our ground we were met with a torrential down poor of rain which did not help with our pre- match warm up, Leighton got suck on the M25 and were running late so we had to a have a slightly late kick off which did not help us as we were all warmed up and ready to go, But sods law as we came out of the changing room the sun decided to come out and make it a very hot afternoon to play football in.

The game started at quite a good pace with both teams struggling to get control of the ball on what seemed to still be a very slippery surface after all the rain we had. At times we played some good football getting the ball into wide areas and looking quite dangerous in attack, I had 3 1st teamers playing to day Josh Daniels up front Luke Pearson centre back and Ryan Warner left wing they all played their part today and josh was very unlucky not to come away with a hit trick he had chances in both halfs but managed to get one of or goals. Unfortunately we came in at half time a goal down due to poor making from a corner. 

2nd half: We did not start very well and within 6 minutes we were 2 - 0 down, the midfield and defance were sitting to deep at times which did not help, after their 2nd goal we seemed to wake up and take the game to them Lloyd Jones came on at half time and this seemed to help the midfield to settle balls started to get played out wide to Luke and Ryan and more chances came our way and we managed to get our 1st goal well done Josh.

As often happens when searching for a way back into the came the opposition come up with another goal you can't explain. I made 2 more changes Duncan Cleary left back and Rafa Barbosa up front we upped the tempo again and it started to pay off we had them on the back foot and looked like scoring some good work from the midfield across the pitch paid off and Lloyd managed to get our 2nd goal but we just left it to late and ran out of time 2 - 3 final score, we just need to get some of the lads match fit. 

Next Game Tuesday Night Home V Franborough B - 7.30pm K.O         

SQUAD : Aaron Carter - Josh Holland - James Tennant - Kieron Fuller - Duncan Cleary - James Jupp - Luke Fewtrell - Rafa Barbosa - Tom Slane - Ryan Warner - Alex Charlick - Paul Wade - Mark Menear - Dave Morgan - Craig Mugford - Tom Stapleton

A Big Thank You to Fleetspurs Res for offering us a last minute friendly game which again was much needed, just one small problem was the state of the pitch an over used school playing field pitch which was also small with a very bad playing surface but it was a game that was needed by both teams.

Fleetspurs started the brighter of the two sides and we found ourselves 1 - 0 down in the first 10 minutes which seemed to wake us up and we started to play some good football on a very difficult surface the midfield started to link some good passess together James Jupp moved the ball well out to both wide players and we starting to create some goal scoring chances. We had a throwing on the right wing Josh Holland gave the ball to Luke Fewtrell who cut inside to play the ball to James Jupp who beat one player and hit his shot right into the left hand top corner of the goal 1 - 1 after 28 minutes, this again gave us a lift and we upped the tempo of the game chances came and went but still 1 -1 at half time.

The 2nd half was very scrappy at times with both sides trying to play the long ball on a very small pitch,I managed to change a few players around and tried them in different positions and again this seemed to help but Fleetspur were quite a strong physical  side and at times bullied us off the ball again chances came and went for both teams but I put on some more fresh legs and ordered my lads to play the ball on the ground and into feet the midfield upped their game and started to move the ball around with some slick passing and keeping posession of the ball our hard work paid off in the end with Rafa Barbosa slotting home the winner on the 78th minute. 

Our Season starts next Sat - Home V Leighton Town 3:00pm K.O      

SQUAD: Paul Wade - Josh Holland - Dan Dansie - Mark Menear - Duncan Cleary - Lloyd Jones - Rafa Barbosa - Tom Satapleton - Craig Fraser - Craig Mugford - Aaron Carter - Marcus Watson - James Tennant - Kieron Fuller - Phil Sutton - Rob Forkan - Tom Slane - Ryan Warner - Alex Charlick Luke Fewtrell.

Tuesday evening saw Hartley Res involved in yet another tough Pre-saeson encounter this time against a determined Winchester Castle side.

It was pleasing to have 20 players who wanted and needed a run out, but because of the number of players available it was a game of 2 halves we lost the 1st half 3 - 0 but won the 2nd half 1 - 0 

The lads again worked very hard for each other but the 1st half saw us hit the bar and the post and force 3 or 4 good saves from their keeper but again the ball would not go in to the net. Winchester upped the tempo and started to take charge of the game and put us on the back foot for  last 15 to 20 minutes of the 1st half we looked good going forward but they hit us on the break 3 time which helped them get their goals.

2nd Half fresh legs this was a much more of an even affair with Hartley having more joy playing the ball around them and keeping posession and managing to create more chances. The wide players came into the game giving better support to the front two who were working tirelessly, we did manage to score 2 goals but for some reason the ref disallowed them (still  not sure why) we kept pushing for that goal with lots of shots just missing the target but we got one in the end - Ryan Warner scored, We lost but it was a good test for us.

Next game Sat 13th Away V Fleetspurs Res - Playing at Frogmore Leisure Centre 2:00pm K.O

SQUAD - PAUL WADE - SHAUN TULLETT - ALE JUPP - KIERON FULLER - PHIL SUTTON - LLOYD JONES - LUKE FEWTRELL - CHRIS SWADLING - TOM STAPLETON - RAFA BARBOSA - TOM SLANE - MARK MENNEAR - AUSTIN KELLEY - AARON CARTER

Pre-season fixture Away V Corfe Mullen Utd Nr Poole in Dorset

Every player wanted to play in this one when I told them about it the fixture we were even going to stay over in near by Bournemouth for a lads night out, but i guess in reality this was not going to happen with young side that never has enough money to buy a beer let aloan pay for a overnight stay in a B&B. The journey down was very slow due to all the Holiday traffic but we got there in the end.

We only travelled with 14 players in the end and 2 of them were keepers I had so many player letting me down with fibble excuses having to play cricket going out with the family for the day and one player said he was a best man at a wedding plus 2 players letting me down an hour before we left SO I WAS NOT HAPPY.

We played four 25 minute games which worked out quite well in the end and give me a good chance to see some of the players play in different positions. It was a very big pitch and there was a very strong cross wind that did not help our style of play but all the lads did work hard on the day and we did create a lot of chances but could not put the ball in the back of the net. Tired legs showed towards to end of the game and we went down to ten men after having a few injuries. but a very good work out just needed a few more players on the day. Tom Slane got our goal.

Next Game away V Winchester Castle - Tuesday 9th Aug 6:30pm K.O           

A very good 7 - 2 win against a good young Farnborough Reserve team, although it was not a good start for us by going 1 - 0 down in the first 10 minutes and then losing keeper Tom Lovett through a clash of heads with one of the Farnborough players.

It was a good workout for us and very pleasing to see how far we have come as a squad with our work-rate on and off the ball, which we did not do enough last year. It was also good to see our front boys getting into good habits by taking their goals well, with four goals from Jermaine Hamilton and three from Ryan Stephens.

The young Farnborough side gave us a good game - they worked very hard throughout the whole 90 minutes by keeping the ball and tried to make life difficult for us.

A good all round performance today which sets us up nicely for the start of the league campaign on Saturday against Staines Lammas.

Roachy

Another good test and workout for the players.

It was a case of mixed emotions because it was a game of two halves.
Fleet's first 11 were very strong and organized, but I felt we matched them well in the first half and played some good football, other than the error for their first goal. It was a very tidy finish from their number 9, and with Dean making it 2- 1 with a great finish. I thought we did quite well in the first half.

In the second half I made quite a few changes to give the whole squad some game time. But unfortunately it took us a long time to settle down and we started making a few mistakes and conceded some poor goals.

As a whole it was a good experience for the players in the two games against Fleet and Met Police, playing against strong opposition, and we have to learn from our mistakes by cutting out the little errors.

It will be another good test tomorrow night against a young Farnborough FC side.

Roachy

Apart from the result, I was pleased with the way we played against a very strong and organized Met Police team. Both teams played some good football, created some good chances and it was a good workout for both teams.

Even as a pre-season friendly, against Met Police it was always going to be a very hard team to play against, and a game which would give us all an idea on where we need to improve and work on as a whole. There were more positives than negatives in the game, which was pleasing.

The players are looking stronger and fitter in every game that we have played so far - there are a few things that we do need to work on, but that's what pre-season is all about.

There is another home game on Tuesday night against Fleet Town, so that gives the other members of the squad chance to get some minutes under their belts.

Roachy

SQUAD: 1.Allen.  2.Nathan Stamp  3.Turnbull  4.Pearson  5.Bridges  6.Thorne  7.Lee  8.Williams  9.Peltohaka  10.Brownlie  11.Coventry  12.Lovett  14.Newcombe  15.Paterson  16.Warner

Another good win and performance from the players last night with a 4-0 win over Fleet Spurs.

There were a few changes to the squad last night, giving us a chance to give other players more game time, and overall I and my staff were very happy with the way we played against a good Fleet Spurs side, by working hard as a team. It's very pleasing to see that we are getting fitter, stronger, and the new players are settled in very well.

The goals came from Nick Kingston, Jack Coventry and a brace from striker Josh Daniels.

It's likely to be a different story against Met Police on Saturday. They are a very strong side and it will be a great test for us. All the players are looking forward to the game, so we hope to put in another good performance. [Roachy]

SQUAD: 1.Lee Allen 2.Nathan Stamp 3.Andy Newcombe 4.Chris Paterson 5.Darryl Bloxham 6.Nick Kingston 7.Jack Coventry 8.Michael Lee 9.Josh Daniels 10.Ryan Warner 11.Dan Brownlie 12.Tom Lovett 13.Jon Rimmer 14.Luke Pearson 15.Matthew Turnbull