Mens 3s Up and Running

The game started at a frenetic pace as both sides looked to assert themselves on the game in what has been very close matches historically. With us playing a 5 man midfield we started to control possession and dominate the middle of the pitch.

James Moore-Bardell released fellow centre midfield partner Craig Boorman on the Southampton 25 and he beat a couple of defenders to drill the ball past the ‘keeper to give Yateley a deserved lead after 15 minutes. 10 minutes later we doubled our advantage, this time Boorman turned provider as David Woods deflected cleverly into the corner.

We were passing the ball nicely whilst giving little away at the back. Barry Middleton threw off his Hartley Wintney facade and was enjoying some tough battles with the Southampton forward line, and Mike Butcher was enjoying plenty of space to attack from right back.

In the 2nd half the pace of the game started to take its toll, and our controlled possession was swapped for quick counter attacks – with mixed success! The 1 man forward line was lacking support at times and misplaced passing become a little too frequent. Dan Bilton kept out anything being smacked his way though and Yateley we doing a good job of not allowing any penalty corners being conceded.

Midway through the 2nd half a great cross from Ali Hay was brilliantly turned in on the run by Phil Cundy (what they deserved of course), and now surely the game was won? To make it interesting Yateley decided to concede a scrappy goal with 10 minutes to go. However Southampton didn’t really look like getting another, and a crucial 3 points were secured

MOM: Dan Cundy for a brilliant performance at LB

DOD: Barry Middleton for the interesting headband and forgetting his main stick (he played better without it to be fair!)