Hadley 3-1 AVDFC

Team: James Weatherill; Luke Nugent, Alex Mitchell, Kyle Lincoln, Terry Griffiths; Roy Byron, Alfi Touceda , Callum Shortt, Elton Anning; Ollie Lawford, Brian Haule

Subs: , Matty Chew, Davis Haule, Davide Pobbe, Ivan Otono, Joe Chott,

Good news for Dynamos ahead of kick off was that Alfi Touceda and Kyle Lincoln were both back for the match, however, the bad news was captain Dave Brown, Jack Hodgins, Chris Stapleton and Will Mullarkey were all unavailable. That coupled with Jake Baldwin getting a knock in the warm up meant Steve Bateman made 5 changes to the loss at Tring. Elton Anning was straight into the starting line up for his debut.

Hadley came out strong and in the first minute managed to squeeze a shot just inches past the far post. A couple of minutes later and James Weatherill made an acrobatic save to tip a deflected shot over for a corner. Hadley then had a great chance which their striker hit over the bar as James Weatherill came out to block. Dynamos first chance was on 8 minutes as Alfi Touceda collected a ball out from Kyle Lincoln and set Callum Shortt through, his shot went over the bar. Hadley were a strong team and “The Soul Man” up front for them was a real handful. 18 minutes in he had a decent effort narrowly miss the target but on 23 minutes, another attack saw James Weatherill come out but the attacker beat him to the ball and slotted into the empty net. 1-0 Hadley.

Just before the half hour mark, Dynamos created a half chance, Callum Shortt managed to find Ollie Lawford with some space but his shot was blocked by a defender. The resulting corner was swung in by Callum Shortt and Terry Griffiths met it with a thumping header going into the top corner, but the keeper got a hand and saved well. Hadley had a couple more chances in the first half but no efforts on target.

Half time: Hadley 1-0 DynamosSteve Bateman made 2 changes at half time. Matty Chew and Davis Haule both coming on in the middle, replacing Roy Byron and Brian Haule. Davis Haule was straight into the thick of the midfield action and the referee had a quiet word within 5 minutes of his introduction. 52 minutes and James Weatherill comes out again as Hadley go through, this time upending the attacker and the referee had no hesitation and gave a penalty. James Weatherill was equal to it as he saved well and grabbed the loose ball before Hadley could reach it. Superb save and kept Dynamos in the game.

Five minutes later and Elton Anning was fouled. Alfi Touceda took the free kick and Davis Haule rose the highest and headed inches wide of the post. 63 minutes and the final substitution for Dynamos. Davide Pobbe replacing debutant, Elton Anning. Within a couple of minutes Hadley got the deserved second goal with a low shot into the far corner beyond the dive of James Weatherill. 2-0 Hadley
67 minutes and the collapse had started…Hadley had a superb shot which beat James Weatherill, hit the bar and bounced in front of him but Hadley reacted quickest to tap in the goal. 3-0 Hadley.

Some great work from Ollie Lawford with 20 minutes to go saw him whip a cross in, but no Dynamos players were in the box. At the other end a last ditch tackle from Terry Griffiths stopped a certain 4th goal as Dynamos were being stretched. Kyle Lincoln was then called upon to make another clearance as Hadley kept searching for another goal. James Weatherill made another decent save on 77 minutes as well. The 84th minutes saw a ball out from Alex Mitchell flicked on nicely by Ollie Lawford into the path of Davide Pobbe, who raced clear and beat the keeper from a tight angle. Great goal!! 3-1 Hadley. The same combination almost got an unlikely 2nd goal but this time Davide Pobbes shot went inches over the bar.

The final action of the half saw Hadley attacking again but good defending by Luke Nugent saw him tackle and clear the ball upfield.
Final score: Hadley 3-1 Dynamos