Top of the league and feeling great we travelled to our local rivals Fleet and Ewshot. Nerves were fizzing and with Yateley’s captain injured, he could only watch tantalizingly from the bench as the game began fast with close chances from both sides. Yateley bringing heat started of the better of the 2 teams with a couple of short corners and close misses to add further pressure to Fleet. A beautifully strung attack, with pace and skill allowed debutant Jake Smith the chance to carve his way past 3 defenders and slot the ball across the D to in-form striker Jake Morgan, fresh back from his holiday. Jake took a cheeky look to remember where to find the goal and without hesitation slotted the ball calmly into the net.

Fleet unhappy with this decided to fight back and take the game to us. A couple of chances flowed for Fleet and Yateley were put on the back foot feeling nervous. Sure enough the pressure was took much, allowing Fleet to win a short corner. With their impressive goals scored tally this year, it was no wonder Fleet converted a well taken short corner. Only 15minutes gone and star centre back, Tom Pask twinged his hamstring, rendering him unable to play on. His replacement…injured captain Phil Cundy having to fill the gap. A nervy first few moments followed for him as he had to switch on and focus on this tough and fast attacking side as well as being mindful not to further strain his injury and leave Yateley with 2 defenders unable to play.

The defence clearly missed Pask’s calm, collective and composed nature, allowing an unpredictable mix of panic and determination to decide how to defend the wave of attacks that Fleet then carved out. As Fleet pressed high, Yateley backed off and countered with pace and desire. Like a swarm of angry wasps searching for revenge, Yateley attacked with a buzz to their game, allowing both Jakes to show off their flair and ingenuity. Jake Morgan returning the favour from earlier to counterpart Jake Smith who slotted home to give Yateley an unexpected lead. Fleet weren’t done yet, this was going to be a battle, an end to end match full of goals! A real local derby feel pursued with some aggression and moments that are not wanted in any game. Fleet defender being yellow carded, and Yateley angered. The game continued at pace and Fleet capitalized from a defensive error, slamming the ball home to level the score.

Yateley going back to basics matched Fleet for the rest of the game. Many attacks followed from both sides but no one could score that all important 3rd goal. Finally, another short corner for Fleet, a great dive from Yateley keeper Tom Laskey but he could only deflect the ball past Phil Cundy on his left post. Tails up Fleet got new wind and pressed hard to make Yateley work harder to get a result. Yateley working really hard but it wasn’t to be.

Tiredness and a lack of composure in the final 10 minutes allowed Fleet the chances to finish the game off. Defenders diving in and some good skill from Fleet allowed them to carve out and score twice in 2 minutes. Now 5-2 down Yateley could only try getting some form of result. The red balloon of Yateley then popped with a fast attack down the line left the Fleet striker 1on1 with Tom Laskey who had to commit to the save, as he did, the Fleet striker dinked the ball past him at an audacious angle. 6-2 down and feeling hard done by, Yateley threw the dice one final time. The youngsters pushed fast and with the Jakes making a nuisance of themselves in the Fleet D, the ball popped back to James Woolner who bobbled the ball goal-wards only to see it squirm over the line. A fantastic and eventful derby game full of passion and goals. An unlucky defeat for Yateley who slide back to 2nd in the League. Mistakes that can be ironed out in training, Yateley will train harder and better than ever before in the hopes of keeping the pressure on at the top of the table.
Congratulations to Hedges who was man of the match for his fantastic performance.