Hartley reserves finished pre-season in fine form beating Hampshire league side Crusaders FC 5-1.

A great run & cross from Jack Coventry was converted by the returning Luke Cousins from just inside the 6 yard box to give us the lead. We played good football in patches during a competitive 1st half. Although looking comfortable throughout in defence, a brief lapse in concentration led to the equaliser. A long ball wasn't dealt with & the home striker took advantage & slotted home just before half time.

The 2nd half was a different story, with the many tough training sessions certainly paying dividends for the visitors, we picked up the pace & the superior fitness was clear to see. It enabled us to pull clear, scoring four & creating many other chances.

Luke Cousins scored his 2nd directly from a corner. Ritchie Cohen scored two almost identical goals, holding off & then turning his marker before firing home from the edge of the area. To round off the strong 2nd half performance Josh Springer expertly smashed his penalty into the top corner.

Team: Aaron Carter, Rob East, Mindy Kuodys, Lee Peters, Jack Coventry, Alex Pickering, Josh Springer, Aaron Jessavala, Rob Forkan, Luke Cousins, Tom Stapleton.

Subs: Ritchie Cohen, Dan Higgins, Elliot Richards, Stuart Alexander, Jason Kingston, Liam Kenning, Luke Fewtrell.

It's been a good (long!) pre-season & everyone is itching for the league campaign to start. The fitness is there & we certainly have a far stronger squad than last season. Camberley away is a tough start but one we a really looking forward to.

Cheers

Robbo.

Well done on the result.

That caught me out a bit Robbo - so I assume this game replaced the planned one against Winchester? And is the game against the RAF off? Cheers.

Hi,

Yes the Winchester game was called off late in the week & Crusaders stepped in, thanks to Jamie Fewtrell for sorting that out.

RAF game is cancelled due to the 1st team game tomorrow, so training only this week on Wednesday.

Thanks

Robbo.