Page 18 - Yate Town FC v Metropolitan Police 26022

The weather was a little kinder to clubs in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier
Division South on Saturday, with six matches receiving the referee’s nod.
And we have new leaders as Farnborough’s lengthy tenure at the top of the table was
ended after their game against Dorchester Town was one of five postponements, allowing
Hayes & Yeading United to move two points in front of them after a 6-1 hammering of
Poole Town at the SKYex London Community Stadium. Paul Hughes’ hosts had a great start
when they took an early 5th-minute lead when Omar Rowe managed to beat Poole Mark
Childs at the second attempt after the keeper had blocked his initial effort. Then on 14
minutes, Francis Amartey was on the spot to make it 2-0 after Childs had parried Amos
Nasha’s shot. Poole managed to stem the tide and held Hayes & Yeading to that 2-0 lead at
the break. But on 64 minutes, the home side added a third when Rowe scored a tremendous
goal following a Kadell Daniel corner routine.
On 71 minutes, Poole reduced the deficit through Sean Wright, but six minutes later a Cole
Brown effort from the edge of the box made it 4-1. And a Nasha chip over Childs in the 87th
minute made it a nap hand for the home side, with Brown adding his own second with
another stunning effort a couple of minutes later to make the final score 6-1.
Metropolitan Police moved to within a point of Farnborough in third spot after recording
a 1-0 win at Imber Court against Tiverton Town. Jack Mazzone struck a Tiverton post as
early as the 5th minute and then the visitors hit the crossbar seven minutes later through
Dan Hayfield.
And to be fair to the lowly visitors, they had the better of the half which ended goalless.
However, just five minutes into the second half, the Met broke the deadlock when Liam
Ferdinand chipped Tivvy ‘keeper Lewis Williams. Both teams had chances after that, but the
Devonians will feel a little unfortunate not to have got something from the game.
Taunton Town are just a point further back in fourth after they beat Hendon 3-1 at The
Cygnet Health Care Stadium in front of 678. The only goal in the first half came after 32
minutes when Jay Foulston drilled a cross past visiting keeper Ethan Wady. And it took only
four minutes of the second half for the Peacocks to double their lead when Jacob Wannell
bundled the ball home from close range following a corner. But Lee Allinson`s visitors got
themselves back into the game with a Hamza Semakula 25-yard effort just past the hour-
mark. However, Taunton’s third arrived in spectacular fashion on 69 minutes when Ross
Stearn beat Chelsea’s on-loan keeper with a bicycle kick that went on off the underside of
the crossbar. Taunton held firm to make it 16 games unbeaten in all competitions and their
tenth straight league win.
Gosport Borough hold the final play-off spot but had to be content with a point from a 1-1
draw at Privett Park against a now ninth-placed Truro City. Despite the tricky conditions, a
crowd of 543 witnessed an entertaining encounter that saw the White Tiger take a 22nd-
minute lead when Tyler Harvey’s free-kick found the bottom corner. But the home side went
into the break all-square when they levelled in the 43rd minute with a header from Ryan
Woodford. Both teams had ‘goals’ disallowed for infringements in the second half and
Woodford missed a golden chance to score his second but somehow managed to clear the
bar from a yard out.
Kings Langley eased their relegation worries with a 1-0 win at bottom-markers Merthyr
Town, who looked doomed with just 13 points from 31 games. A crowd of 458 at the Met
Coaches Stadium saw a bit of a steal by Kings, whose Jamie Jellis scored the only goal in the
75th minute against the run of play when he controlled a cross from the right and fired
across the Martyrs’ keeper.
The only other game on the day saw Salisbury slump to a fourth game without a win at
the Ray Mac against mid-table Beaconsfield Town. Steve Claridge’s side have won just
once in their last twelve league game – a run that has seen them slide down the table to
16th. The Rams broke the deadlock five minutes after half-time through Nathan Minhas.
And just past the hour-mark, Beaconsfield’s top scorer made it 18 league goals for the
season to date with his second of the game. Devon Arnold was brought down in the box 11
minutes from time and dusted himself down to convert the resulting penalty, but the visitors
held firm for the points.