Wealdstone 3 – 2 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Wealdstone
3 - 2
Hampton & Richmond Borough
An astonishing second half fight back saw Wealdstone come from two goals down to claim a massive victory over top of the table Hampton and Richmond Borough in another thrilling Monday night game at Grosvenor Vale.
After a disappointing first half which saw Stones go in 2-0 down at the break, there looked little hope of a comeback against a Hampton side that were undefeated in the league prior to this clash. But this is a Wealdstone side that have proven time and time again that they don’t know when they’re beaten, and second half goals from Alex Dyer, Sean Cronin and Richard Jolly saw Stones claim the unlikeliest of three points in their continuing quest for promotion.
The big talking point before kickoff was the reintroduction of Alan Massey to the match day squad who was named amongst the substitutes. With the popular defender having dual registered for Conference Premier side Braintree Town a couple of weeks previous, he was given permission by Town boss Alan Devonshire to play in this encounter due to the fact their game was postponed on Saturday, and Massey is cup tied for their FA Cup encounter with Tranmere Rovers.
The opening twenty minutes was a fairly placid affair with both sides struggling to get to grips with the greasy playing surface. The best chance for Stones came 10 minutes in when Tom Pett created space for himself down the left before drilling the ball across the box where unfortunately for him it was cleared just as Richard Jolly looked set to pull the trigger.
At the other end Lee Chappell was in the right place at the right time to block an effort from James Simmonds after he had been picked out by Charlie Moone.
The first effort on target for either side came on 24 minutes and it resulted in a goal for the visitors. Malvin Kamara swung over a cross from the right hand side which was flicked on by James Simmonds into the path of Joel Ledgister who made no mistake as he reacted first to head home from inside the six yard box.
Stones first real effort of the evening came 8 minutes later when Jolly laid the ball back to Pett on the edge of the box who hit a curling effort which Hampton’ keeper Rodney Chiweshe did exceptionally well to turn over the bar.
Pett was involved again two minutes later, lofting the ball to the far post where Peter Dean was able to head back across goal. The ball just evaded the onrushing Jolly and found its way to Wes Parker at the far post but the defender couldn’t get enough on it to turn it home.
The miss proved to be costly as 60 seconds later Hampton were 2-0 to the good. Scott McCubbin crucially lost possession on the left which allowed Simmonds to sprint down the left before picking out Tom Hickey in the middle who side footed home first time.
Stones tried hard to respond but they were struggling to create anything in the final third. Dean did have a chance three minutes before the break when he got on the end of a cross, but his volley lacked the power and direction to beat Chiweshe who gathered easily.
After what had been a highly disappointing half for the home side, the second half got off to the best possible start for them when they pulled a goal back just three minutes after the restart. Dyer picked up the ball out wide 25 yards from goal, where he lofted a ball into the far post which evaded a confused Chiweshe and found its way into the top corner.
The goal galvanised Wealdstone and the confidence flowed back to their play, and Chiweshe did well to turn away a 20 yard effort from Nathan Webb.
It proved to be just temporary respite for the Beavers though as Stones pulled level from the resultant corner. Dyer curled the ball into Sean Cronin who hit a superb volley first time from just inside the box which arrowed its way into the bottom corner, much to the delight of the vociferous home support.
After the equaliser it looked like either side could go on and snatch a winner.
Pett cut inside and curled an effort at goal which Chiweshe palmed away at full stretch before at the other end Charlie Moone curled a 20 yard free kick straight into the arms of Rikki Banks.
Stones were dealt a blow on 76 minutes as for a second game running they lost their skipper to injury, this time a painful looking ankle injury ending the night prematurely for Parker; Alan Massey coming on in his place.
After a frantic final ten minutes it was Wealdstone who eventually grabbed the winner, which on the evidence of their second half performance was well deserved. The hugely influential Dyer threaded a ball through which took a deflection off Alan Bray and landed at the feet of Jolly who did what he does best and buried the ball dramatically past Chiweshe to complete a memorable comeback for Stones.
A bad night for Hampton got even worse in injury time when they were reduced to ten men when Gary Holloway was handed a second yellow for an apparent elbow on Alex Dyer.
Wealdstone: Banks, McCubbin, Chappell, Parker (c) (Massey 76), Cronin, Dyer, Webb, O’Leary (Brooks 81), Dean (Baidoo 84), Jolly, Pett. Subs not used: Haxhia, Nicholas.
Man of the match: Sean Cronin
Steve Foster Match Pics HERE