Hartley Wintney U18 - 1
Fleet Spurs U18 - 2
Wed 11th Jan 2012
Southern Youth League - West Div

A good team performance from the lads on Wednesday night was watched by first team manager Neville Roach.

The game started brightly and Hartley Wintney was ahead after just 2 minutes - a mistake from the visiting keeper gifted Mark Taylor with a tap in. For the next 20 minutes we remained on top playing good football - a much better example of keeping possession.

However, with 30 minutes gone Hartley winger Gabriel Cockram was sent off after swearing at the referee. 2 minutes later our coach, Paul Dale, was sent to the stands after an altercation with the assistant referee - after the assistant missed an incident that occurred in front of the dug out as he was too busy talking to the away bench than watching the game.

Just before half time, a mistake from Michael Floyd, giving the ball away on the edge of the Hartley Wintney box, led to the Fleet sloting home an equaliser - which until then looked unlikely.

At half time and a slight reshuffle - going 3 at the back - Hartley came back strong, competing well and working hard. It was difficult to tell that they were a player short.

Fleet Spurs did get a winner with 15 minutes to go, the assistant referee adjudging the Fleet striker to be onside - when everyone else inside the ground were convinced he was well offside - and he was left to slot home from close range.

Watching first team manager, Nev Roach, was pleased with the performance and ear-marked several players who had a good game.

Squad: Dan Pearson, Matt Partlow ( c ), Sam White, Michael Floyd, Jamie Paton, Gabriel Cockram, Paris Hutt, Shaun Spence, Sam Meade, Mark Taylor, Aaron Richardson - Subs - Ben Butler, Paul Roche, Billy McKay, William Parris, Jonas Coronado

Southern Youth League West Division
Wed 21 Dec 2011
Hartley Wintney U18 0 v Guildford City U18 2

Our last game before Christmas was a well contested affair played in front of a good crowd. With all the live football on the large TV in the bar, there was also a great atmosphere in the clubhouse after the game.

We started a little slowly (something that is starting to annoy me a little, we seem to not take the warm up seriously and as a result get out of the blocks slowly) - I believe this is a maturity issue, with players not understanding the importance of the warm up and what their attitude needs to be when warming up - this is something I feel we will improve on and have the correct culture in place for next season.

The game itself was mostly evenly contested. Guildford took the lead early on after a mistake from our keeper Dan Pearson, allowing the ball to trickle through his legs. Minutes later Dan made amends for his earlier mistake, making a superb penalty save and demonstrating what a good goalkeeper he is.

Hartley clawed their way back into the game, competed better in midfield and started to create chances. What impressed me most is that we managed to play well for a longer period (70 minutes instead of just 45 minutes or a 20 minute spell in the game) and also that we managed to keep calm in possession of the ball and not always try to score inside 30 seconds of winning the ball back. We need to adopt the culture of resting when we are in possession (using the ball properly and moving our opponents around the pitch) and working hard when we don't have the ball. This is the way top side play now and is the fashionable way to play the game. It is also a style that will suit us as I believe we are the most technically able team in the league.

Guildford did score a second before half time - a well taken header from a corner - an area we have looked a little vulnerable from this season. It was a bullet header to be fair that nestled in the top corner.

Second half was very even - both sides had a few chances but overall I feel the fans witnessed an excellent game played in a good manner.

I would like to go on record and wish Guildford success this season. We have played them twice now and they have tried to play football on both occasions, in a good manner, keeping the ball on the ground. They should be the benchmark for all clubs this year and I hope they can go on to win the division. [Graham]

Squad: Dan Pearson, Ben Cave, Ben Brownen, Matt Partlow (c ), Paul Roche, Paris Hutt, Shaun Spence, ConorCaris, Mark Taylor, Gabriel Cockram, Aaron Richardson subs: Ross May, SebHuddy, Robert Deans, Austin Kelly, Jamie Paton

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]

Guildford City U18 5
Hartley Wintney U18 0
Wed 9th November 2011, Southern Youth League West Division

We turned up to play Guildford at the Spectrum with a slightly depleted team, due mainly to college Open Evening taking place at Farnborough Sixth Form - I probably had as many players attend this as were available for the game (still... shows we are a brainy bunch).

In fact, the game was actually in doubt and ended up being a late kick-off after the pitch markings had not been done by Guildford Borough Council. The officials of Guildford worked tirelessly to mark the lines to the satisfaction of the officials to ensure the game went ahead.

However, the lads did us proud and despite going behind to a soft goal after 2 minutes we played manfully for the remainder of the half, played some excellent football and had some great chances to score. I know we are lacking confidence and need some luck in front of goal - something which seems to evade teams who are on a bad run.

We ended the half 3-0 down (conceding 2 goals in the final 5 minutes of the first half). However, a great team effort all round.

The second half was a similar story. We worked hard and played some good stuff initially, then we conceded a penalty - again one of those that although probably was a penalty, nobody would have argued if the referee hadn't given it, as the Guildford manager actually thought his player had dived.

The final score was Guildford 5 Hartley Wintney 0. I would say the scoreline didn't reflect the gulf between the two teams and I would like to credit Guildford for playing football in the right way, getting it down and passing (rather than just lumping it forward), and I have to say they are probably the best side we have played this season - making it an even better achievement for us.

Well done boys - continue with this progress and results will follow.

Squad - Dan Pearson, Jacob Wright, Ben Butler, Michael Floyd, Seb Huddy, Matt Partlow, Paris Hutt, Sam Meade, Gabriel Cockram, Billy McKay, Ross May
Subs: Ali Perry, James Vint, Austin Kelly.

Hartley Wintney U18 2 - 4 Farnham Town U18
26 Oct 2011, Southern Youth League West Division

Hartley Wintney gave a strong performance on Wednesday night but the score did not justify how close the game was. In cold conditions, Hartley Wintney began the brightest out of the two teams and had the first real notable chance. Central midfielder Paris Hutt's shot was just over the bar after a few minutes and a free kick from the left hand side caused some trouble for the Farnham defence.

However, a few minutes later Farnham caught the defence off guard and a shot beat keeper Daniel Pearson to the far right hand post to give Farnham the lead.

Hartley Wintney did fight back almost immediately after the set back of an early goal. The equaliser came from a well taken free kick by captain Michael Floyd which was from the edge of the penalty area.

The pace of the game then slowed down with both defences cancelling out the forwards. One of the main battles was down the right hand wing with Hartley Wintney's right winger Jonas Cornando, whose pace caused problems for Farnham's left back all game.

A goal just before and after half time gave Farnham a two goal lead but Hartley Wintney still created some good chances to give themselves a chance of being back in the game. Most noticeably a shot from Jonas Cornando just went over the bar, which would be his last contribution of the game as he unfortunately had to go off injured.

Farnham got themselves a fourth goal of the game just before the hour but yet again, Hartley Wintney found another goal. This time, a half volley from Rob Bradley took a deflection off a crowd of players and ended up in the net.

There would be no comeback in the latter stages of the game for Hartley Wintney though, who may believe that on another day they could have gained the three points.

SQUAD: Dan Pearson, Ben Cave, Robert Bradley, Michael Flloyd, Ben Butler, Dan Hastings, Paris Hutt, Ross May, Ben Brownen, Jonas Cornando, Mark Taylor, Subs: Rob Deans, Sam Meade, Matt Partlow.

[Martyn Pearson]

It's been a frenetic few weeks - away from football both myself and coach Sam have moved house, and Louie has been a busy bee with work. Despite all that, the youth team continue to make strides in the right direction.

We have seen off Ash Utd 2-0 and a determined Guildford 1-0, despite not being at our best on both occasions. It was nice to see a clean sheet backed up by another clean sheet. Neither game were easy and we have to learn to kill teams off, as we missed various chances in both games.

We had a return game against Godalming, who were the only team to beat us so far, but they repeated the feat 3-0 in a well under-par performance. We were bullied in both games against a physical team and failed to impose our style of football onto the game. We were better 2nd half, but it's been 3/4 games since we really played at our best. For young players consistancy is key - but very difficult to acheive.

On Wednesday we played Redhill at home in the League Cup. It was great to see a good crowd and I felt that we repayed the crowd with a highly entertaining game.

We went 1-0 up through Ross May, making his first appearence for us. Despite playing wide left - not his favourite position - he toiled well down the wing and scored from 10 yards after we kept the ball alive from a corner.

Redhill equalised after some sloppy play. We lost the ball in a really silly area and were caught too far up the pitch with a through ball that you would be dissapointed to concede at under 12 level.

However, we reorganised and regalvinised and went ahead again through man of the match Lloyd Jones. Lloyd is our captain and this season he has performed manfully, covering more blades of grass every week! His tap-in was his second of the season.

Once again though, we took our foot off the pedal and allowed Redhill to attack. We couldn't get out of our half or retain the ball for any length of time. Both sides had chances to level, or in our case see the tie off, but neither could do it. Until Redhill deservedly levelled as we were too deep and too cautious.

After extra time it was still all square and the tie was decided by penalty kicks. Rhys Jennings saved the first Redhill kick, on his birthday, with an absolute worldy! We went on to win 4-2, with all our lads scoring. Well done boys!!! [Graham]

Team v Redhill: Rhys Jennings, Keiran Fuller, Ben Cornwell, Phil Sutton, Sam Read, Lloyd Jones (c), Corin Franklin, Ross May, Josh Bromley, George Rourke, Harry Rudge. Subs: Jacob Wright, Harry Mitchell, Will Phillips, Jake Tanner, Jack Collier.

Scorers: Rudge, Jones, Tanner, Phillips, Bromley

Why is it that the game I am not around for we win! Maybe that says it all, but I hope not! I've been told we played some great stuff, kept the ball well and showed over a 90 minute period - not just little snap shots - what we are capable of! On a personal note, I want to say well done to the boys. Your hard work just might be starting to come together... keep at it! You have set the standard!

I would also like to remind them all that we are a team, whether you are involved or not in games, come along and support us! You will get your chance. It's a long season and we will need all of you!

Team: Jennings, Sutton, Read, White, Dansie, Bromley, Tanner, Jones (c), Fewtrell, Third, Rudge
Subs: Nicolson, Cornwell, Collier, Franklin, Phillips.

After our disppointing performance against Godalming, I wanted to see a real performance from the lads. Overall I feel this was achieved. We showed lots of endeavour and worked really hard.

Both sides struggled to create anything in the final third. However, Reece Jennings (our keeper) was definately the busiest in the first half, without really having loads to do! In the second half we threatened a little more, showed some good stuff on the ball and definately controlled the game more - with more possession - but just lacked either the final pass, through-ball or finish! All in all, a much improved performance. I feel we started to show a little more confidence and we need to hold on to this and take it into the next game against Sandhurst.

Team:  Jennings, Wright, Nicolson, White, Cornwell, Jones (c), Tanner, Bromley, Collier, Fewtrell, Third
Subs: Read, Franklin, Rudge, Rourke

It has taken me four days to compose myself enough to write the match reports after this game. I am so proud of the character of my lads, the way they respond when things don't go their way, but at the same time I was so disappointed with the whole game, in particular our performance, that I left the ground full of rage!!

The first half was a real stalemate (not helped by the horrendous weather and a lenient referee), however there were relatively few chances on goal for either team.

The highlight of the first half saw Hartley take the lead through Shane Third. His header, from a well delivered Josh Bromley corner, was the only real moment of quality in the first half.

In the second half, Godalming started to control midfield a little more. The extra man in midfield and direct style meant that when we won the ball back we couldn't retain it for any length of time.

We conceded poorly from a set-piece and fell apart for a 15 minute period, goalkeeper and man of the match, Rhys Jennings, keeping us in the game. However, Godalming scored a second and again looked on top.

Then I saw real grit from the boys. We picked ourselves up, clawed our way back into the game and equalised, again through a great headed goal from Shane Third.

However, Godalming scored a winner with virtually the last kick of the match. Our defence backed off the on-running midfielder and a gap opened up for him to shoot from range.

In truth, it was an awful football match - Godalming did little to play football and did not pass the ball at all well!! We need to learn when and how to control football matches.

I have said many times that I have no problem losing matches as long as we do ourselves justice - however, we lost because we didn't play and we didn't do the basics well enough.

We must learn our lesson. [Graham]

Team: Jennings, Sutton, Cornwell, Nicolson, White, Collier, Jones (c), Tanner, Bromley, Third, Rudge

Subs: Craggs, Wright, Rourke, Read

Our first game of the season saw a new look youth team put on an excellent display of football. The first half saw many chances go begging for Hartley (with the woodwork hit 3 times) and I got the feeling it was going to be one of those nights.

Harry Rudge opened the scoring 2 minutes into the second half after an excellent through ball from m.o.m Jake Tanner. However, after the goal we lost our shape a little, showing our inexperience slightly as we resorted to be ruffled by a physical Cove team.

Both sides could have had a penalty in the second half, but the ref rulled both incidents to be outside of the box.

Cove equalised from a corner, which in fairness was about the only times they looked threatening throughout the match.

Hartley passed the ball well, had a good shape about them for the majority of the match and, from the disappointment in the dressing room after the game, I hope will use the experience they gained to learn to kill teams off and know when to dominate the football.

A big 'thank you' to everyone who turned up to support the lads, I thought it was a great atmosphere for many of the boys' first experience of youth team football.

Team: Jennings, Sutton, Cornwell, White, Nicolson, Jones (c), Tanner, Bromley, Collier, Rudge, Third.

Subs: Franklin, Phillips, Read, Craggs, Wright.

Scorer: Harry Rudge