Men's 1st Team Vs Hampton in Arden 3

Yardley 1stXI    1-3    Hampton 3rds

Goalscorer: Jahed Islam

Yardley's first home open league encounter ended in defeat to Hampton 3rds, with 1stXI debutant Jahed scoring a goal before the break, but it wasn't enough to take away any points from the game.

After last week’s result, spirits you'd imagine would be high, though it would be a tough but evenly matched contest. But with traffic and players arriving later than ideal, little warm up, these could've been some of the reasons for the loss.

Hampton got the game underway with good ball retention, switching play and introducing their youngsters early into the game, showing their intentions to run at our defence. Yardley did well to stop these attacks and get onto the front foot themselves but lacked the pass in the final third to make any attempt, a threat to Hampton. The visitors persisted and would be awarded a penalty flick, from which they took the lead. They would double the lead.

Yardley kept their heads up, great movement from Kyle on the right allowed Mat to pick him out well, Kyle crossing into the back post for Jahed to sweep in, to reduce the deficit.

Half-time and the talk was to pass more, put names on the ball, make runs and work as a unit. And this is what began to happen slowly. Junaid utilising Shawqi and Zach to offer some threat on the left flank which produced some threatening attacks. Yardley looked in search of an equaliser, Alex finding Tahir who played in Jeevan, a strong sweep saved by the keeper. Tahir would continue his efforts to search for his teammates, clearing the ball well to find Noor unmarked behind Hampton's defensive line, only for his 1 v1 to go agonisingly over the bar. Hampton were awarded another short corner from which they sealed all 3 points.

Next week Yardley 1stXI are away to Old Halesonians