Hayes & Yeading United were edged out by league leaders Salisbury City on a cold evening in Wiltshire, ending a run of three consecutive league wins.
Manager Nas Bashir sent his charges out in an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation, recalling Manny Williams and Mark Bentley, as well as finding a place up front for recent signing Alassane N’Diaye. They seemed well drilled in that formation as although much of their attacking came on the break, the home side were limited with the chances they were able to create.
In fact it was Daniel Wishart who conjured up the first shot on target. Pelé’s long pass to N’Diaye was flicked on by the tall target man and although he had an acute angle to work with, Wishart drilled a low shot goalwards which Salisbury keeper Will Puddy fielded well.
Salisbury’s best first half chances came from set pieces, but even then, they only had a James Clarke header looping onto the roof of the net under pressure from Tom Cadmore as a genuine opportunity on goal within the first half hour.
Meanwhile, Wishart was again on the end of a quick break and again he shot from a tight angle following N’Diaye’s accurate pass, this time forcing Puddy to turn the ball behind for a corner.
It all seemed comfortable for United until the 38th minute, when Calum Butcher made a tackle and the loose ball was seized upon by Dan Fitchett, who wriggled through a gap which opened up between Cadmore and Pelé, rounded the advancing Brandon Hall and rolled the ball into the empty net.
The first half went without any further significant goalmouth incident, although a foul on Sam Cox in an aerial challenge saw him land heavily and the United captain, who up to the point seemed to be running the midfield battle, was to play no further part in the game.
At half time, John Goddard replaced Cox and Bashir shuffled the formation once again. This made a more open game and for much of the second half, it remained fairly even. Both Dan Spence and Pelé were inches wide with curling shots just past the far post, Spence cutting inside after superb dribbling by Goddard, and Pelé, after a corner drifted over everyone’s head and he found himself in space at the back post (amid appeals for a penalty for a foul on Bentley in the middle).
The hosts responded and in the final quarter of the game, they stepped up the pace and gathered enough momentum to get to the final whistle without any other significant scares. Hall made up for a poorly thought out quick goal kick by making a very smart block to deny Theo Lewis, who had intercepted his pass. He then made an excellent diving save to deny Chris McPhee as his rising shot from Fitchett’s cut back looked destined for the top corner.
Wishart looked dangerous when he cut inside in similar fashion to the way he scored against Farnborough, but Christopher Giles was able to get enough of a block on the shot to divert it just off target.
With just a few minutes remaining, the game ended as a contest when Salisbury doubled their advantage. Hall chased out of goal to cut out a throughball and although he clearly got to the ball first, Fitchett fell over him and the referee awarded a penalty. Fitchett sent Hall the wrong way and Salisbury’s victory was confirmed.
Report by Nick Bell.
United Man of the Match: Pelé.
