Manager Garry Haylock had to shuffle his pack for United’s first ever visit to Princes Park to play Dartford. Suspension meant that skipper Adam Everitt had to miss the game, with Max Worsfold coming in on the left of midfield, and a chest infection meant that Josh Scott was replaced up front by leading scorer Ismael Ehui.

The first chance came for Dartford, when a through ball from Tom Bradbrook found skipper Elliot Bradbrook in space on the right. However, his shot was dragged past the post, with no danger to the United goal. The United goal was breached, however, in the 21st minute, when a deep cross from Ryan Hayes on the right was only partially cleared by Jim Fenlon. The ball was then scooped back across goal, where Tom Bradbrook headed in despite the defensive challenges.

At this point the curse of the injured Referee hit United for the third time this season, when referee Robert Mackay had to be replaced – Fortunately, another official was spectating (having been assistant referee in a League 1 match the night before), and the match was able to continue without too much delay.

It was not until the 37th minute that United mustered up a shot on goal – Mason Spence moved the ball inside to Max Worsfold, who after making space fired a right footed shot towards the Darts goal, only for it to be deflected behind for a corner. The corner was easily dealt with by the home ‘keeper, who quickly placed a great ball down the left wing for Danny Harris to chase. A neat one-two with Ryan Hayes left Harris clear, but a good save from Dan Lincoln only resulted in a Dartford corner.

As half time approached Hayes & Yeading came up against a resolute Dartford defence, with Elliot Benyon unlucky on two occasions having his shot blocked by Dartford defenders. 

The second half then followed a similar pattern as the first, with shots on goal being relatively few and far between, but a spell of five minutes did muster four attempts from Dartford, which were either saved or missed the target.

United’s best chance of the game came in the 66th minute, when substitute Cole Brown made space in the middle, and fed a lovely ball out to Max Worsfold on the left. An excellent cross only seemed to need a touch from the onrushing Elliot Benyon for a United equaliser, but this was not to be. It was only on analysing the video of the match that it can clearly be seen that there was a superb touch from the Dartford keeper Deren Ibrahim that pushed the ball away slightly, meaning that the approaching Benyon could not reach it.

United were now gaining momentum, and teenage substitute Cole Brown was in the centre of most of the action – In the 72nd minute, a shot from the edge of the box was deflected away, before a good long distance effort was pushed wide for a corner kick. Then came the counter attacking sucker punch. The ball was moved out to the impressive Ryan Hayes, whose reverse pass found substitute Andy Pugh in space. His cross was powerfully headed home by skipper Elliot Bradbrook to make the scoreline a more flattering 2-0.

On 88 minutes, United gave another debut to one of our successful Under 18s academy team, when Matt Sinclair joined fellow academy products Cole Brown and Colin Mugoya on the pitch. His first touch was so close to becoming a dream introduction, as a clearance deflected on to him, only for the ball to fall the wrong side of the post.

Overall, the display was not fitting of a 2-0 loss, but the future looks oh so bright, with three under 18s on the pitch at the end of the game. No doubt there will be some strengthening of the squad over the coming weeks, as well as the return of Adam Everitt and Josh Scott from suspension and injury respectively.

Report by Andy Corbett.

Photos by Ray Peploe.

United Man of the Match: Adam Bygrave.

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