Hatrick Hero Punishes Portsmouth

Yateley Mens 3rd XI were pleasantly surprised by the news of a strengthened squad on the 10th January. 4 players from the regular 3rd XI squad returned back for business to play against a City of Portsmouth side, who had only won once away from home, back in early October.

Yateley began the match brightly, with many players showing they hadn’t let their fitness slip over the dreaded Christmas break. The first goal came as Paul Lewis made a great run down the left wing, weaving in and out of 3 players before sending a rocket cross towards the penalty spot. Both David Woods and Phil Cundy were lurking unmarked in the area, as David Woods nicely deflected the ball past the keeper at close range.

With confidence high and fresh legs on the bench, Yateley took clear charge of the match. Mark Laskey again with a beautiful run, eliminated 3 players with his pace, this time turned goal-scorer when he pirouetted around the last defender. With the goalkeeper sliding out, he dinked the loose ball past him and into the open goal. Some could say the move was Messi-esk!

With a 2 goal cushion in the first 20 minutes, Yateley began to relax. City of Portsmouth were allowed to take control of possession and piled on the pressure to the Yateley defence, having plenty of close chances. The breakthrough finally came when some sloppy defending left the City of Portsmouth’s centre forward alone at the back post for an easy tap in past the Yateley keeper.

The Yateley team with a new desire to keep ahead and a burning frustration from letting the opposition back into the game began another surge. Within minutes, the Yateley team had earned back their 3 goal cushion. A through ball from Steve Maskell was deflected in the air into the D, which allowed David Woods to drop his shoulder, swivel and smash the ball goal bound on the volley. An incredible strike, earning David Woods his second goal in the game and everyone wondering where he had discovered this new incredible goal-scoring prowess! The questioned still remained... would he miraculously get a hatrick? Going by his goal scoring record, surely not...
As half time drew closer, it became clear that all legs were tiring and passes from both teams started to lack the required pace. David Woods took full advantage of this and a nice weighted ball from centre midfield allowed him to run at the defenders. He beat the last defender with pace and with 2 lovely touches he completed his hatrick. The first touch taking the ball away from the keeper, the second stroking the ball home on the reverse, in a calm, cool and collective manner.

Halftime’s team talk focussed on passing the ball around to prevent Yateley getting tired and creating more spaces for each other. With this in mind, Yateley again started brightly, 4-1 up and cruising. That was until a counter attack from the half way line left the Yateley defence clambering back to catch the City of Portsmouth striker. He was alone in plenty of space, 1-on-1 with the keeper. Despite the Yateley keeper’s best efforts, City of Portsmouth had got back another goal.

It was now make or break for the Yateley 3rd XI, would they crumble like many previous seasons and allow City of Portsmouth a remarkable comeback? Or would they let the fire in their bellies allow them to keep attacking and ultimately take all 3 points?
A nice break down the wing from Philip Cundy allowed playmaker Mark Laskey the space to lurk unmarked centre midfield. With 2 defenders pressing him, Philip Cundy played a good pass to Mark Laskey, sending him on another winding run. When Mark reached the top of the D, he unleashed another rocket towards goal which took a deflection over the keeper, skimming his helmet and it dropped just short of the line. Both Mark Laskey and Craig Boorman were racing each other to put in the rebound, however it was Philip Cundy’s quicker reactions that saw him squeeze the ball over the line first. 5-2 and Yateley edged closer to those all-important 3 points.

It remained that way for a solid 15 minutes, as both sides battled end to end, having chances and no-one able to put the ball in the net. The possession became equal and legs began to once again get tired. Yateley then gave away a dubious short corner, claiming that the ball had never stuck a defender’s foot, but the umpire stood strong with his decision. A nice injection allowed a clean strike, but this was blocked by one of the Yateley runners. However, the ball deflected to a City of Portsmouth player to guide home for their third goal.

Yateley remained solid and played a passing game to run down the clock. A last ditch run from Philip Cundy put some pressure on the city of Portsmouth defence. He played the ball square to Ali Hay, who was free on the wing to blast the ball onto an oncoming defender’s foot. With the short corner, the injection was nicely weighted and stopped at the top of the D. Up stepped Dave ‘Super Strike’ Sumter to unleash a shot so hard that the defenders didn’t see it. The strike rocketed into the backboard and gave Yateley a well-earned 6-3 win and a massive 3 points, taking them to an impressive 3rd place in the league.

Writer – Phil Cundy