Reserves Win at Westwood

The Reserves were on their travels again on Saturday to face the Reserve side of the first team they beat in the cup last week, Westwood Wanderers.

The game started a bit cagey with an obvious game plan from Westwood having clearly been given some insight from the week before, it took a bit of time but the reserves found a way round it.

With 15 minutes on the clock Finley Gundry played a splitting pass from centre half to the overlapping fullback Tyrell Reid, he cut it back to Lors Nicholas who rounded one and then cut it back once more to Harrison West,the man who always seems to be in the right place at the minute, to slot it away. Roly poly into bow and arrow and it was 1-0.

The reserves began to get a bit more joy and 10 minutes later Tadley got a freekick 20 yards from goal on the left hand side of the box. Charlie Cunningham enforced his captains armband and said this is mine. He duly obliged and hit the ball with precision the other side of the wall past a helpless goalkeeper.

The third goal came from a piece of brilliance from Reid, feeding the ball into Liam Belcher and waiting for the overlap, he then knocked it past the Westwood left back and put his after burners on, the ball gets cut back and Ellis Theodore coolly slotted the ball home, 3-0 and the half time whistle wasn’t far after.

The second half started and the reserves couldn’t have got off to a better start, again brilliance from Reid down the right, finding Nicholas in the box who chopped past one defender, had a shot blocked, had another go which was blocked but on the spin the Westwood centre half got all twisted and ended up punching the ball into his own net, 4-0 but if not cleared off the line then it was a stonewall penalty.

Westwood did start to grow into the game though and after left back Jacob Rolfe went off injured they started to have some joy down the right side from easily their best player Ben Young.

A foul which was never a foul was given 30 yards from goal, Young looped it past a helpless Rhys Milton in goal who had been struggling with his ankle prior, he then had to go off forcing Dan Greenwood to go in the sticks. 4-1 with 25 minutes to play.

5 minutes later and a goal out of nothing for Westwood, a clipped ball from their centre back was lost in the sun by Henry Johnson, it hit his arm and went backwards right into the path of Westwoods striker who slotted home to make it 4-2.

Tadley Reserves then had a couple of chance squandered firstly from sub Charlie Fulton who was causing the Westwood left back some issues with his pace, then Nicholas who had started to get a bit more joy. Unfortunately though a quick counter attack from Westwood led to Young being released in behind again, smashed it across the goal and into the net, 4-3 with 10 minutes to go and the reserves had their backs to the wall.

Not long after that after some link up down the right again from the brilliant Reid and Fulton led to a cut back to Cunningham who could have killed the game but had his shot blocked. The reserves dug deep though and the final whistle came meaning 3 points on the board moving from 7th in the league up to 4th, still having 2 games in hand on those above them.

They now have a 2 week break and will be back in Hampshire Cup action on the 4th November vs Lymington Town Development.