This week saw the Yateley 1s play their first game at the red army fortress since April following a string of away games. Game week one saw Yateley take away a point from Havant 3s but faced a much sterner test from last year’s league runners up Bournemouth 2s. Upon arrival it was clear a long & intense warm up was required as the wind and rain showed no sign of letting up, however Yateley were in great spirit as the new (young!) look first eleven took to the pitch.

With the match underway it was clear Yateley had it all to do and would have to be at their best if they were to clinch victory. The first 20 minutes saw Yateley being pushed back deep and under a lot of pressure from a fast moving, free flowing Bournemouth side. Bournemouth’s movement off the ball saw them being able to free up players and create chances in the Yateley D. However the new look Yateley side (with only 5 of the players playing regularly for the 1s last season) had 2 new key factors which they hadn’t had in previous seasons and that was fitness and a team ethic of working hard for each both on and off of the ball.

Most of Yateley’s chances came primary through counter attacking the opposition with Craig Boorman & Chris Hogg (known as Piggy to most) being the main outlets due to their skill and shear pace (you can ask them who is the fastest). However Yateley struggled to get the ball in the D and create goal scoring chances which was largely due to the number of bodies Bournemouth dropped into defensive positions.

The rest of the first half followed the same pattern with Bournemouth creating more chances but were thwarted by our ever resilient defence and in particular Darren Cresswell for pulling off some impressive saves.

With the score at 0-0 at half time the Bournemouth team must have felt frustrated. The half time team talk from captain Darren Collins and vice-captain Daniel Joyce (Dougie to everyone) was all about being strong on the ball in key areas of the pitch, move the ball around with quick sharp passes and take the game to Bournemouth. During this time it must be mentioned that Joe Edwards (a very ill Joe Edwards) was clearly struggling to breath and dearly missed his Kleenex tissue box. With the talk over the red army was ready for another 35 minutes of hard graft and with a point to prove.

Unfortunately the start of the second half didn’t go to plan as Bournemouth moved the ball down the right wing, slipped the ball into the D and scored what felt like a very soft goal and were 1-0 up within 2 minutes of the second half.

Throughout the half chances were be created by both sides as Craig Boorman had a close range shot deflected wide by the goal keeper and at the other end Darren Collins sliding on the floor in the D to take the ball away from the attackers preventing any deflections.

Unfortunately it was Bournemouth in the end who managed to make one of their chances count as another fast flowing move saw them get into the D and scored what looked like a very scrappy goal, 2-0 to Bournemouth.

Even with another goal being conceded this Yateley team would not give up and the power house that is our centre midfield worked tirelessly to help the defensive and attacking lines. With around 15 minute remaining Yateley were seeing more of the ball and Bournemouth were starting to make errors. Finally Yateley had a real opportunity to get on the score sheet as the Bournemouth defender let the ball hit the back of his stick in the D which meant only one thing…. Short corner Yateley!

The talk at the top of the D was for Dougie Joyce to have a straight drag at goal and wait for potential rebounds. The injection by James Sealey was slick, the stop by Darren Collins perfect, the drag by Dougie Joyce clean but unfortunately the save by the goal was very good, still it was 2-0 to Bournemouth.

Throughout the game there had been a number of questionable decisions made by the umpires and in particular the direction they pointed their arms for free hits only to have made a mistake and suddenly point the other way. In one instance James Selaey managed to hit the opponent’s feet with the ball on numerous occasions but not according to the umpire. A rather upset James Sealey voiced his disagreement to the umpire (constructively is one word that could be used) and somehow managed to avoid a green card (more importantly a £10 fine) for his comments.

With the game coming to an end Yateley had another attack down the right wing which saw the ball bounce around in the D and somehow avoid everyone apart from Jake Smith who was standing at the back post all by himself. What went through his head no one knows, the ball was on his stick and all he had to do was roll the ball 20cms over the line. It was like a scene from Lord Of The Rings where Gollum just looks lovingly at the ring (or ball in Jake’s case) wanting that moment to last forever. However for what felt like eternity Jake finally pushed the ball into the goal and Yateley were in business and back in the game, 2-1!

The game was nearly over but Yateley continued to put pressure on Bournemouth and started to keep players high in an attempt to get the all-important second goal and equaliser. But it wasn’t to be as another Yateley attack broke down and a Bournemouth player collected the ball at the top of the D and slotted the ball into the goal.

The matched ended with the spoils and points going to Bournemouth as they triumphed 3-1.

The Yateley team having felt defeat for the first time this season were not deterred and the main focus was to get to training focus on areas we needed to improve and bounce back for the next match which will be away to newly promoted Petersfield.

Man of the match on the day was Craig Boorman for his tireless work rate both on and off of the ball.