Velocity Trophy - Ash Trees 0 United 1

[Swifty]

Defeat for Ashford, and a deserved win for Hayes & Yeading, but nothing to cry over.

 

This was probably seen as a good opportunity to give the fringe players some game time and rest some big guns for the more lucrative FA Cup tie on Sunday. That said, United looked very lively and eager and, if this was mostly their first eleven and / or they keep up this level over the season (and work a bit more on shooting practice), they'll be up there at the end.

 

At times the game was played at a minor contact, almost exhibition standard, yet we started very well and United keeper James Shaw made a couple of really good saves early on. United took a 10th minute lead when Hassan Jalloh was given enough space to slot a low shot past debutant keeper Sam Mason, covering for the suspended Tyler and injured Liam Allen and, for much of the rest of the half, United were in the ascendancy and limited us to few chances. Steve Loveridge kept the score at 0-1 with an excellent goalline clearance close to half time.

 

United kept pressing after the break and maybe should have scored three or four, but the majority of their shots went horribly wide or high. We got back in it and pressed hard for the last 20 minutes, showed good commitment and might have equalised but it wasn't enough in the end. Kofi looked strong and hard to knock off the ball, Dan made some very useful saves, and I thought Steve had a fine game. No-one had a bad match, maybe one or two lads might reflect and think they might have got into the game a tad more, but this was a useful exercise to give everyone a chance and see their early potential.