Hayes & Yeading 3-2 Hendon

Hendon failed to avenge their FA Cup exit against Hayes & Yeading United, in what was a game of two halves. The two teams went into halftime at level scores, and to be honest The Greens were unfortunate not to be about 3-0 up. However, no one could complain about the second half, as Hayes, synchronising much better with one another, and with a vocal crowd behind them, dominated the play.

The game started out very even, both teams defended high up the pitch and in numbers. Both made good use of the wings, Hendon back line getting caught off guard by the Hayes left wing interchange. On the other hand, Obina Ogbonna made good use of his pace and skill on the wing to work the Hayes defence. Hendon worked hard and managed to resist the Hayes pressure. With 18 minutes gone and perhaps against the run of play, Francis Amartey dispossessed Hayes’s Liam McDevitt. With just the goalkeeper to beat Amartey made no mistake, slotting the ball right into the bottom corner, 1-0.

This marked the beginning of a period of dominance from Hendon in the first half, with Hayes misplacing passes and Hendon pressing high. In the 29th minute a lapse in the Hayes defence from a corner, almost resulted in a second goal. The ball fell to Amartey who hit the post, and Lee Chappell couldn’t quite get there in time for the rebound. Two minutes later Amartey got free on the wing and sent a cross in to Ogbonna, who seemed to score, only for the referee to disallow it and book Ogbonna for his challenge on keeper Jack Smith. Two minutes after that Ogbonna got in again, only to see his shot smack off the crossbar.

Hendon defended Hayes’s attacks well, Hayes were forced into making speculative shots from outside the box. It took an absolute belter from Omar Rome in the 36th minute to level the scores. On the stroke of half time, Amartey broke through again, sending his shot through Smith’s legs but just wide of the near post.

Going in at half time, the greens could feel slightly aggrieved, they had been the better team in that first half and should have been at least two up before Rowe’s goal, and yet somehow they weren’t even ahead.

The second half was a completely different story, Hayes played with much more confidence and were much more in sync, the Hendon defence couldn’t cope. In the 48th minute the ball fell to Hassan Jalloh on the edge of the box who struck it past Grace, 2-1. From there the game descended, few chances were created by either team and there were a lot of fouls. The crowd urging the ref to send off every Hendon player who so much as made a tackle. The Greens never really found their feet and in the 76th minute were made to pay for it. A penalty which substitute striker Ogo Obi dispatched brilliantly, 3-1. Hendon pushed forward in the latter parts of the game, and in the 88th minute, Amartey struck again, running clear of his marker and blasting a shot past Smith, 3-2.

When the final whistle blew one would have had to have said that it was the right result, but Hendon had made a very good account of themselves and there are a lot of positivises to take, such as the fact that this was with a young and depleted Hendon side that were missing eight players.