Report – Wealdstone 1 – 0 Hungerford Town
Wealdstone
1 - 0
Hungerford TownWealdstone beat Hungerford 1-0 at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday.
A fine header from Connor Stevens in the first half was enough for the Stones to register their second win of 2019.
Wealdstone began the game brightly with multiple corners from Danny Green finding David Pratt in the early stages.
The away side then hit the post after eight minutes courtesy of Darren Foxley. Rhys Kavanagh’s shot was spilt by Stones ‘keeper Jonathan North into Foxley who smacked the post from inside the box.
The various early corners from the Stones paid off after 18 minutes when
Green’s corner from the right found Connor Stevens at the back post who headed in off the underside of the bar.
Green was causing a problem for Hungerford as he saw his effort on the edge of the box saved by Michael Luyambula.
Stones winger Jeffrey Monakana returned to the starting line-up and was causing the Hungerford defence plenty of problems in the right channel.
In the 36th minute, Monakana powered past James Rusby into the box and shot towards the near post before Luyambula saved.
Hungerford began getting into more of a rhythm towards the end of the half and began testing North more.
It was a long range attempt from Tom Anderson late in the half which sprung North into action as he dived down to palm away Anderson’s effort.
North’s work allowed the Stones to go into the break with a slender 1-0 lead.
Wealdstone have not gone into the interval with the lead at home since they beat Hampton & Richmond back in October.
It was a quiet start to the second half before Hungerford midfielder Alfy Whittingham latched onto Kavanagh’s pass to shoot on the edge of the box. Whittingham’s shot was on target and was well saved by North.
However, Green’s corners were still causing difficulties for Hungerford especially from corners finding Pratt, Stevens and Captain Jerome Okimo but none could find the target.
The second half lacked key chances from either side but Crawley Town loanee Tarryn Allarakhia was getting more involved creatively – he linked well with Green on multiple occasions.
Late on in the 77th minute Pratt turned his man and found a yard of space on the edge of the box to shoot which whiskered wide of the far post.
Six minutes later the visiotrs had a chance with a Foxley free kick on the edge of the box which was well saved by North to his left.
Wealdstone were able to hold out to grab their first home win since October and continue their unbeaten start to 2019.
The Stones move up to 11th in the table and are only four points behind the play-off places.
Report by Dec O’Reilly
Adam Williams pics HERE