Hawks winded by Tarpey

A happy trip to Hampshire has prompted me to end my winter break from this blog to report on a decent day out to the south coast which fairly represented the football I have seen so far from Maidenhead United in 2015 with a draw which ended with both teams feeling they may have taken all three points and therefore perhaps being the best result all told. 

Thus a sequence continued which began on New Years Day when a fantastic finish by DJ Campbell (now training with the Nottinghamshire branch of the Magpies) from a cross whipped in at pace from Adrian Clifton (whose driving influence in the midfield has been much missed since he has been sidelined with a knee injury) gave Maidenhead an early lead over tenants Hayes and Yeading. HAYU fought back to earn a point as did Bath City a few days later when they held onto a one goal deficit in the face of a first half onslaught from the Magpies before turning the tables after the break. 

A pulsating FA Trophy tie saw the number of goals scored doubled but still shared as super subs David Tarpey and Reece Tison-Lascaris turned a potential defeat into victory before 10 man Farnborough scored a last gasp equaliser. A potentially historic board meeting meant I didn't have to suffer the replay defeat but misery followed at the weekend with a comprehensive defeat at York Road at the hands of struggling Bishop's Stortford. 

The weather intervened to break up the relentless stream of matches at HQ interrupted by what was now becoming a very familiar result this time in fractious circumstances in a tetchy draw with St. Albans characterised by two ill disciplined dismissals which sadly led to the departure from the club of Tison-Lascaris.

A odd game at Basingstoke saw sloppy defending in the opening stages at the Camrose see United concede two goals to make the two well worked goals scored at the other end, as a third sealed the points for the home team, a 3-3 draw only being prevented by a string of good saves by the home keeper, his woodwork doing the job when he was beaten.

IIlness meant I didn't see the County Cup semi-final win over Chesham. No news yet on the final date or venue although I understand Amy Lane is the appropriate favourite to host the game against Bedfordshire based Aylesbury United, depending on the Generals play off fortunes. It appears a falling out with the Chairboys means the game won't be at Wycombe. Personally I would like the game to be played at Marlow in a repeat of the 1997 Isthmian Full Members Cup Final.

Three points were won for the first time in 2015 last weekend, in an exciting game against Chelmsford City where a superlative performance from Ashley Timms meant the Clarets were unable to turn their dominance into goals whilst his opposite number's inability to hold on to a couple of shots meant Maidenhead were able to pick the pocket of the visitors. 

I was gladly sitting in a warm pub in Cornwall when the Magpies were humbled 3-0 at York Road by Basingstoke in midweek, a result which left United in a thoroughly disappointing 17th position. Unlike previous seasons the quality of bottom markers Farnborough and Staines is such that the relegation places may well be set in stone with perhaps only homeless HAYU offering hope of an escape thus as Drax was quoted as saying in the Advertiser recently we may well continue plodding along to the end of the season  with a County Cup final to finish rather as used to happen at the start the century.

As long as Saturdays are like yesterday I'll settle for that after a decade of promotion and relegation fights as both teams contested a decent game on a sticky surface, the final score of 1-1 carrying on the 2015 trend of draws which hitherto had been at York Road.

An easy journey down to Westleigh Park, with the only distress coming when a solo Magpie came into view, saw me met by the sight of the new Pub, naturally called the Westleigh which has been developed out of the existing clubhouse. Sited next to a large housing estate and industrial estate this seems to be a sensible move to provide a steady stream of revenue for a club, ably managed off the pitch by ex Hampshire wicketkeeper Adrian Aymes, and on it by Lee Bradbury, with the Hawks for once making a sustained attempt at promotion after so many seasons flattering to deceive. They'd not been helped by a troublesome playing surface due to drainage problems which had commonly led to a fixture pile up. The purchase of a £25,000 pitch cover to ensure the FA Cup tie against Preston North End would be screened on TV in November, was continuing to pay dividends, yesterday's game going ahead against a background of postponements across the non league programme in the south of England.

Havant & Waterlooville must win the title of the biggest transformation since the Conference South started in 2004. All four sides have been redeveloped, along now with the new pub. Innovation has now even extended to an A6 sized programme which accurately fits the description of pocket sized.

Maidenhead took to the pitch in rather different shape to which they had started the year starting with goalkeeper Ashley Timms. In front of a defence of Van Der Hyde, Nisbet, Downer and Solomon, sat new signing David Hunt in a midfield holding role. Hunt's arrival had prompted a couple of admiring messages from sources at two of his former clubs in Oxford and Orient, with his home in the St. Marks area of the town perhaps enabling the Magpies to sign him from under the noses of Conference front runners Barnet with whom Hunt had been playing for on loan from the Us.

Hunt's presence at the base of midfield gave more freedom to Upward and Nicholls to go forward to complement wingers Green and Tarpey, and lone striker Strutton.

Havant took the early initiative, dominating the early stages, but a patient approach which saw the central defenders remain very deep throughout saw the absence of the high tempo which had seen Chelmsford threaten to blow Maidenhead away seven days previously. Thus Timms was not unduly troubled and increasingly Green and Tarpey began to utilise the space in front of the home defence. 

This ultimately led to the game's opening goal but Maidenhead had already showed they had a goal in them as early as the twelfth minute when Tarpey's corner was headed down by Strutton to Nisbet whose shot was cleared off the line by Warren Cummings. The attempt lifted the spirits of the Magpies behind the goal which were also helped by a bizarre rant by the goalkeeper following the corner as he screamed offside at the linesman oblivious to the fact that his teammate Cummings on the line made this an impossibility.

Tarpey gave notice he was going to continue his excellent scoring record, only being defeated by the sticky surface when well placed. He then cashed in nine minutes ahead of the interval when a trademark mazy run through the midfield by Green was finished by a beautifully weighted pass to Tarpey's whose shot delightfully nutmegged the goalkeeper en route to the back of the net. This was much to the delight of a local transvestite who was keen to lend his support to United.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first with Havant taking the upper hand. This time their pressure led to a goal as the hour mark approached when a cross to the far post was met unchallenged by the head of Daniel Blanchett to score. 

At this point I was expecting Havant to go for the jugular but they continued with their measured approach to the game, Maidenhead happily taking the opportunity to get on the front foot to create the chances to restore their lead. This came closest with fourteen minutes remaining when Upward unselfishly squared the ball to Tarpey on the penalty spot. The left winger took care to take the pace off the ball to avoid a reaction save by the keeper but as the ball bounced over the prone custodian he managed to get something on the ball and divert it over the crossbar.

The departure of Leon Solomon for a second yellow card then gave Havant fresh impetus with the entry onto the field of play of JJ Hooper leading me to fear he would continue his goalscoring run against United which started last season with Farnborough. That he didn't was down to an amazing one handed reaction save by Timms to save his back heeled volley in the 87th minute. Maidenhead then saw out the game for another draw founded on the security Hunt gave the team in front of the defence ensuring the quality of Tarpey's strike was worthy of point at least.

Super Hooper

In today's papers you will see pages of in depth analysis of Saturday's football. Primarily this will take the form of probing a welter of post match quotes, there'll be the odd chalk board and pop psychology on the mental state of some of the sport's more outlandish characters. All of this though is so much froth to a game whose appeal is it's simplicity, to whit scoring more goals than the other team. This crude reduction was reflected in cruel fashion at York Road yesterday where Havant & Waterlooville left with all three points thanks to the effectiveness of their finishing in contrast to the ineffectiveness of Maidenhead United in front of goal.
However with the Hawks starting the game on the back of a run of six wins in seven outings which had taken them to fourth place in the table, and scoring in the third minute, there was an immediate fear of a opposition goal deluge. The opening goal itself was well crafted, with a smart defence splitting pass from Bradley Bubb being collected on the edge of the penalty area by JJ Hooper who applied a fine finish to give Elvijs Putnins no chance of stopping his shot bound for the far corner. What was most impressive though was the Maidenhead response to conceding a goal, as they tore into their opponents and enjoyed their best spell of the game.
Soon after the restart, Adrian Clifton crossed into the penalty area to Reece Tison-Lascaris, only for the youngster's shot from close range to be blocked on the line by goalkeeper Ryan Young. The Magpies went onto pepper the penalty area with testing balls, Dave Tarpey and Ashley Nicholls both shooting wide.
This profligacy in front of goal was then shown up again by Hooper twenty five minutes into the first half. The striker picked up the ball in his own half, crossing the half way and running unchallenged towards the United goal before unleashing a shot from twenty five yards out which flew into the top corner. Hooper who only back in April had sealed what had been Maidenhead's bleakest defeat of last season, had essentially confirmed the destination of the points with this early brace of goals.
United continued to push for a goal in much the same vein as before and on the half hour mark Tashan Adeyinka received the ball in the clear inside the penalty area, but he was not able to beat Young who dived to his right to save one handed. Later in the half Leon Solomon cleared off the line from Josh Huggins and with the half time whistle came the end of any serious attempts on goal for the rest of the afternon.
In the second half, Havant were content to sit back and defend their lead, ably dealing with Maidenhead's attacking threat whilst Hooper and then substitute Shamir Mullings lurked up front to offer the promise of a third goal.
The final whistle signalled a defeat which became inevitable once Maidenhead were unable to take their chances, a fact all the more galling for the absence of a number of key players in defence and midfield. Ironically Havant, who have been perennial Conference South achievers, look like they might be able to sustain a promotion challenge this season having shipped in a contingent of players from Farnborough in the form of Hooper, Huggins, Bubb, Donnelly and Ciardini.

Kabba Kabba Hey!

With both clubs somewhat disappointed to exit the FA Cup to Conference North opposition last week, Maidenhead United and Havant & Waterlooville sought to get their league season going again yesterday, with the Magpies having slumped after a good start whilst the Hawks without an away win this term.

That the Hawks prevailed was due to their superior team work with a dash of flair from Sahr Kabba. Maidenhead's injury woes continued with the withdrawal of Elvijs Putnins and thus with his replacement Matt Pegler making his debut and re-signing Alfie Dawson pairing up with Curtis Ujah in the centre of defence for the first time, Havant were quickly able to stamp their superiority on the game and bar a period in the first half always looked most likely to win.

Just when Maidenhead looked like they had survived the opening period, Kabba sprinted round full back Leon Solomon then cut inside to score with a ferocious shot. United struck back somewhat surprisingly soon after when a Danny Green shot was too hot to handle for Hawks man mountain goalkeeper Scott Bevan, Michael Malcolm dispatching the loose ball into the net for his first goal for the Magpies.

Malcolm almost doubled his tally approaching half time when he latched onto a lovely through ball from Reece Tison-Lascaris to hit the target from a tight angle only for Bevan to just get enough of a hand on the shot to turn the ball around the post.

Loan signing Lee Angol capped a disappointing debut up front when he was booked before the interval, an incident which proved to be his last involvement in the game as he was substituted for Harry Pritchard at the break. This move saw Danny Green move into the front line but the winger had hardly time to make an impact before Havant re-took the lead with a goal that summed up Maidenhead's afternoon.

The second half view from skirmish corner

The Magpies had struggled to retain the ball throughout the game and now this was to have disastrous consequences as Scott Jones dispossessed Bobby Behzadi on the half way line and hared off in pursuit of a goal, unselfishly squaring the ball to Kabba in the penalty area to score.

Havant then threatened to run riot with Perry Ryan putting the ball over with an open goal begging, and a Dennis Oli being tipped over the bar by Pegler. Just when United thought they had weathered the storm the death knell sounded when Havant were awarded a penalty which Steve Ramsey scored.

In the remaining time Pegler saved well to deny Kabba a hat trick and sub Jones a goal, whilst Bevan ensured there would be no way back for United pushing a Green shot round the post after a mazy run.

All in all another disappointing afternoon for the Magpies with the early season pep and verve all but lost as a result of personnel changes. At least there will be an extra chance for the new faces to gel with the squad to create a more fluid performance with Tuesday night's County Cup tie against Slough being pushed back to next weekend.

Two Pac Secures win at last

A member of the Havant Coaching Staff makes a start on the new stand

Top played bottom of the form table and as the cliche would have it the form book was upset, a change of tactics by Drax reversing the recent result in the corresponding game in Hampshire.

The decision to go with five men in defence was quite effective in snuffing out the attacking threat from the visitors for the larger part of the game, and even the early departure of Mark Nisbet with an injury simply led to substitute Tom Gilbey slotting in at the back.

Early on Havant had threatened with a Chris Arthur snapshot which Billy Lumley pushed over the bar but the stifling effect of the extra Magpie defender led to a cagey opening act of the game which gave me the opportunity to get a first recruit for my Anti Hampshire Alliance where a ground rule was agreed upon that the New Forest was excluded by virtue of being too nice.

One saving grace of Maidenhead's losing run was their ability to create goal scoring opportunities and in the latter two thirds of the first half they came at regular intervals.The first saw Reece Tison-Lascaris latch onto a wonderful pass from Nisbet. The youngster's shot ricocheted off the post to David Pratt who put his follow up effort wide leading to much shaking of heads at the thought that once again it was going to be one of those days.

That it wasn't can be put down to the power of Richard Pacquette's head. Twice, in the 29th and 41st minutes, he nodded in super crosses from the right. The first was supplied by Leon Solomon with the second seeing Pratt making amends for his earlier miss by swinging over the second. In between Pacquette didn't make the best of three chances with his feet so the message seems clear for the rest of the season - put it on his head son!

The perfect first half was completed deep into injury time when March's player of the month Ollie Palmer blasted the ball over from close range and that was more or less that in terms of goalmouth action for the rest of the game.

After the break Havant threatened occasionally to no great effect whilst Maidenhead won the odd corner (Exhibit A above) so the final result was barely in doubt which meant United climbed out of the bottom three and now need to repeat the trick at least two more times to be sure of a place in the Conference South next season.

AN ALTOGETHER MORE SPLENDID KIND OF LIFE - 28th April 2012

23 Seasons watching Maidenhead United

Part 18a: 28th April 2012

Maidenhead United 4 (2) Eastleigh 3 (1)

Attendance 495 Conference South

"The Rain it Rained". It hadn't stopped for 13 days in meteorological terms, but metaphorically the gloom had been gathering around York Road since the Magpies' last win on March 3rd. As the winless run gathered pace the slide to relegation seemed inevitable but a battling point last week at Dover followed by a midweek defeat for Hampton left the door open for a final day escape. A long awaited win was required against perennially tough opponents Eastleigh, as well as a defeat for Havant & Waterlooville who took on struggling Staines in Hampshire.
First of all though the weather had to be beaten, midweek pictures showing a flooded pitch gave an indication of the scale of the task facing the York Road ground staff, with the relentless rain requiring a magnificent effort to make the pitch playable. Their endeavour paid off ensuring referee Adam Bromley's long trip up from Plymouth was not in vain, and the man in black went on to have an excellent game. Thus doomsday scenarios of last day postponements and abandonments were put to one side, with a prescient reference to precedent of a 4-3 win over Braintree on a bog of a York Road pitch at the dawn of the millennium being the order of the day.
As the floodlights flickered into life the game kicked off, Maidenhead relying on the energy of Alex Wall as a lone striker in front of a packed midfield, handily set up to combat Eastleigh's 3-5-2 formation. There was no doubting Maidenhead's sense of purpose and commitment to victory in the opening half hour of the game. Attacking with pace and width at high tempo the Magpies backed up their eagerness to do all they could to survive with a cutting edge rarely seen of late. It can be no coincidence that this was spearheaded by Alex Wall and Reece Tison-Lascaris who between them missed eight games of the winless run through suspension.
Backed by great vocal support from the Bell Street End, between them the pair conjured up two goals in quick succession. Firstly in the seventeenth minute a piercing run into space on the right by Tison-Lascaris saw him square the ball to Wall in the penalty who struck a super finish to opening the scoring. Four minutes later Maidenhead won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Wall stepped up to deliver his trademark cannon ball into the defensive wall, the ball ricocheting out to Tison-Lascaris who applied a sweet volley to fire the ball into the back of the net. News soon followed that Staines had taken the lead at Havant, to ensure everything was going according to the survival script.
Prospects of this situation persisting seemed to improve when Eastleigh were forced to substitute both their goalkeeper and inspirational captain Tom Jordan, whilst Staines retook the lead after a Havant equaliser, the Hawks also passing up the opportunity to equalise for a second time when they missed a penalty. However as the first half drew to a close Maidenhead faded, Lee Peacock being given the time and space to pull a goal back with a fine shot. Still half time was reached with the Magpies in the lead and although Havant had eventually equalised, results thus far meant it was United who went into the break with their heads above the waterline in nineteenth place.
Maidenhead again took the initiative as the second half began, looking to catch out the Eastleigh defensive line with a ball over the top. With eleven minutes gone in the second half one of these efforts from Martel Powell bore fruit finding Tison-Lascaris. The youngster coolly rounded the goalkeeper and calmly slotted the ball goalward only for the agonisingly slow path of the ball see it hit the post, Wall blasting the rebound over.
Eastleigh then proved to make their third and most crucial substitution on the hour mark in Sam Wilson. Within five minutes the spectre of the 4-3 reverse against Farnborough on Easter Monday was fully resurrected as Eastleigh took the lead against a Maidenhead defence in total disarray. It was Wilson who hit the equaliser two minutes after entering the fray, Mitchell Nelson giving the Spitfires the lead three minutes later. This coincided with the news that Havant would now be pressing for a winner against a Staines team reduced to ten men by a dismissal, whilst with Hampton now winning 2-0 at Thurrock, it was the Beavers who were now safe whilst Maidenhead slipped to second bottom.
This time round though the Magpies were able to find their second wind, man of the match Tison-Lascaris equalising with his second and United's third goal in the 67th minute.
It was desperate stuff now at York Road with Maidenhead pouring forward at every opportunity relying on the tireless Bobby Behzadi to mop up the counter attacks. Regular substitutions injected fresh blood to the Magpie cause but the aptly named Spitfires fought every step of the way to hold off the Maidenhead blitz. Black and white chances continued to come and go, Wall had a shot blocked, Charlie Strutton hit the post then had a shot tipped wide for a corner, Powell found himself well placed in the penalty area but was dispossessed by a perfect challenge from two Eastleigh defenders, then with the clock ticking down and goalkeeper Billy Lumley joining in regularly up front, Behzadi found himself furthest forward only to see not one but two shots blocked by the keeper.
Fresh hope was given by four minutes of stoppage time and with three of these almost gone, Maidenhead finally added the final instalment of  a seven goal thriller when Paul Semakula (pictured top) made it 4-3 to cue the kind of joyous pitch invasion which you would only see at a non league ground these days. The youngsters from behind the goal were even joined by a temporarily disabled Magpie who miraculously leapt from his seat in the media centre straight onto the pitch.
As the stewards cleared the pitch like dinner ladies in the school playground, play resumed, the game dragging on to make up this latest stoppage. The final whistle soon came to signal the renewal of the Magpie fans acquaintance with the turf but as the celebrations with players went on, the realisation dawned that confirmation of the result at West Leigh Park was required to ensure safety.
Then the news arrived that as Maidenhead hit the back of the net in the 93rd minute so did Havant in the luckiest of circumstances.
With the referee poised to blow for full time at West Leigh Park, the Staines keeper scuffed his goal kick and the loose ball was gleefully picked up by a Havant player to score and secure the Hawks safety with virtually the last kick of the season.
Thus it became clear that the awesome melodrama that had evolved at York Road that afternoon was all in vain leaving everyone to slink dolefully off into the miserable evening.
So Maidenhead were notionally relegated in 20th position to the Southern League Premier Division. In reality the AGM Cup eventually confirmed a reprieve when Darlington folded to maintain the record of no club finishing 20th in the Conference South has ever ended up being relegated. Therefore Paul Semakula’s last gasp goal did end up being important as it felt as the time, as it ended up being the difference between a finish in third or the actually demoted second bottom place.
When the final whistle blew on March 3rd to signal a 2-0 win at champions elect Woking, the main objectives of the season of a decent cup run and a midtable security looked set to be met. That the end of the season played out rather differently can be attributed to three reasons, in ascending order, the inability to get the best out of maverick talents such as Anthony Thomas and Will Hendry, a lack of fitness, and an appalling disciplinary record. These problems had to be solved to avoid a third and surely fatal dicing with Conference South death.

With thanks to Mark Smith’s book One For Sorrow Two For Joy for the statistical content of this series.

To read more about this season visit www.mufcheritage.com

Havant a clue...

...when I'm going to see Maidenhead win a point or three.  Tuesday night's performance at York Road against Havant & Waterlooville was full of praiseworthy intent and hard work.  Once again the team played well enough to earn at least point only to fall to defeat to another late goal.

Aldershot youth team goalkeeper Jordan Clement made his debut.  Jordan joins a distinguished line of Maidenhead United players and officials who have shared a cricket pitch with me.  In his case playing for Sandhurst against Pinkneys Green.  Other cricketing Magpies include Steve Palfrey, Jim Parsons, Ray Margrave, Ken Balchin, Steve Croxford, Peter Griffin, Vernon Pratt, Jon Swan and Matt Sealy.