Basingstoke (H)

[Red army]

Vital 3 points on the board.
Points over performances at this stage of the season? The game was severely lacking in quality. Final third of the pitch was very poor for both sides. Bad pass or final ball was lacking, which only yielded half chances for both teams.

Hayes created the first chance, Cole Brown bundling the ball through to Ayo Faniyan, his weak right footed effort easily saved by Simon Grant in the away goal. 2 more chances fell to the home side firstly, Ayo again his weak attempt gathered at the second attempt by Simon Grant. Secondly a deep cross from Cole Brown, the giant Falisu heading back to Amos Nasha, his diving header drifting agonisingly wide. Basingstoke always carried a threat, several chances but most lacked power and dealt with reasonably comfortably by Dillion Addai. Basingstoke free kick drifted to the back post but first time strike into the side netting. The only goal of the game came when the game was drifting towards half time, Max Hudson picked the ball up in the middle of the pitch, pass into Amos Nasha 20 yards from goal, his left foot control across his body, then turns hits it left footed skimming along the ground into the corner. I’m guessing the early strike caught the keeper off guard as the ball seemed to go in at an agonisingly slow pace. Ht 1-0

2nd half was much the same, Basingstoke having the better chance when a through ball beat Tariq and the striker skipped away just inside the area, his shot dragged across the keeper under pressure from the recovering Tariq, clipped the outside of the post. No real rhythm to the game, Basingstoke testing Dillion Addai at the near post but easily saved, and dealt with numerous crosses very well. Hayes chances were limited corner headed wide from Norman Wabo, some long shots high or wide most of the time. Injury time a shot whistling over from Basingstoke was about all of the action in the half. Ft 1-0

Thought the ref was ok first half, but the second was poor. Just the consistency of decisions they make is frustrating for both sides. Which leads to a flurry of yellow cards from the man in the middle.
Ayo Faniyan late red card for 2 bookings is again a lack of discipline I’m afraid. I know he feels he should get free kicks at times, but these referees are itching to send players off, second yellow is harsh, from behind the goal definitely looked like he won the ball in his tackle? He is the one player you feel can make something happen for us going forward, so a big loss when he serves his ban. First yellow, I’m guessing was for dissent which seems to be the normal for him.

Mom there’s a few, Cole Brown again was very good, Sami Odelusi back to his combative self in the last few games.
Vote goes to Amos Nasha, never lets us down when in the starting 11, a winning goal to top of a good nights work. His performances in the last 2 games, even more puzzling he wasn’t getting regular football under the Snake(MM)

Results hopefully go our way on Thursday, and we can pick up some points in a difficult trip to Gosport on Saturday.

U ayesssssssss

[Churchroadtilidie]

I agree that the game lacked quality but I thought it was a far more entertaining affair than the matches against Hendon and Dorchester. The 3-5-2 system suits our personnel much better than the diamond as it allows the wing backs to provide some much needed width that was sadly lacking on Saturday. Both Cole Brown and Max Hudson had very good games and offer an outlet when we have possession in the middle of the park.

I would also suggest that our plethora of central defensive players are best suited to a back three. The return of Marvel was welcome as he is probably our best centre half. Equally Tarik has been decent in the recent games after a long absence. Hopefully Jack Williams is not seriously injured although Paul Field is a more than able deputy.

The midfield three were effective considering that Amos has probably not played 90 minutes since Paul Hughes was in charge!!! His performance shows what an error it was for the previous manager to discard him so readily. Samni and Luke Gambin both played well with our skipper particularly good.

My only real concern was the fact that Ayo got himself sent off (missing Salisbury as a result) and Salifu did not look fantastic. I am not sure what has happened to Hagen but both Wabo and Bettamer contributed in the latter stages and will both play a part over the next four games.

Our defence has been pretty good over the last four games with only 2 goals conceded and we will need to be at our best if we are to get at least a point at Gosport on Saturday.

One minor gripe from me is that we should not be giving updates from Weymouth games over the tannoy. The former manager has made his bed but we should just move on and forget about him like he has with our club. By all means give the half time scores from the relevant Southern League fixtures as these actually affect which division we will be competing in next season.

[Halfway Old Geezer]

Red army sums up the Hayes’s performance in his first paragraph. Basingstoke came to win and Hayes looked second best for most of the game. Lacking any quality in the final third of the pitch is a real problem but a battling performance gave the fans something to cheer about

Yet again a Hayes player is sent off for two silly yellow cards. Ayo gets fouled and poor refereeing fails to do anything about it. Ayo starts complaining rightly and just would not shut up despite being warned to do so. Even after Sami took him aside and talked to him it appeared that Ayo did not take any notice and must have said something again to the ref who went over and booked him. The second yellow card came when Basingstoke were really pushing for the equaliser and Hayes were under intense pressure and a cool heads were needed. Unfortunately Ayo clattered into their player from behind and never got the ball, their player goes down noisily and the ref couldn’t wait to show the second yellow and then red. Red army again correctly sums up the ref who booked Hayes players and took no action against Basingstoke players. Hayes hung on to a hard won win. The ramifications are Hayes lose their most dangerous forward for an important game.

I thought Wabo was very lively where has he been and Bettamer has more influence when coming on as an impact sub. Once again Sami was immense along with MOM Amos Nasher who played the full 90 minutes. I have always said that Amos and Sami make Hayes a more solid team lets hope they stay fit for the run in.

Out of the bottom four now on goal difference with four tough games to go. The goal difference is worth an extra point and at least a couple of wins are needed now to see us safe. This is going to go down to wire lets hope Hayes can put together another run and secure safety and regroup for next season.