Wealdstone 3 – 1 Havant & Waterlooville
Wealdstone3 - 1
Havant & WaterloovilleAfter an enthralling title race last season, Wealdstone and Havant & Waterlooville competed in a similar vein with the exact same end result, the Stones on top.
Second half goals from Moses Emmanuel, Danny Parish and Charlee Hughes capped a strong performance for the Champions after Roarie Deacon’s opener.
The visiting Hawks began brightly, testing the Stones defence throughout the opening stages but Jerome Okimo’s backline held strong.
The first clear cut chance of the game fell to Wealdstone. After Moses Emmanuel peeled away for his marker on the left flank, the forward fired an effort just a whisker wide of the mark.
To find a way through it was always going to take something special from either side, and Havant did just that to claim the lead. An excellent passing move was capped off by Deacon after an excellent pass across the box from Tommy Wright.
The goal only bled confidence into the visiting Hawks, former Stone Billy Clifford forced a stunning save from recent signing Harvey Isted with a volley from the edge of the six-yard box.
The Stones hadn’t got rolling in the first half, but at the break they got the boost they needed with an electric start to the second half.
Just one minute after the break, Moses Emmanuel levelled with a header from the edge of the six-yard box, leaving Ross Worner stranded.
Following the goal, the game really burst into life with a red card for the visitors just ten minutes later in the 56th minute. After a 50/50 challenge, there were afters between the goalscorer Deacon and Connor Smith which saw the former receive his marching orders.
With the visitors down the ten, the game rather expectedly became rather one-dimensional and it didn’t take long for the Stones to take advantage. Danny Parish added Wealdstone’s second poking beyond Worner after he was sent through one-on-one.
Chances continued to fall for the Stones, with both Dennon Lewis and Emmanuel going close.
As the game reached its conclusion, Hughes found time to grab one for himself in the last minute. After pressing the Havant defence and winning the loose ball, the forward turned the ball home, and in turn secured victory for Dean Brennan’s Champions.
Wealdstone: Isted, Efete, Cawley (McLennan, 76), Parish (Wishart, 76), Trialist O, Okimo, Phillips, Smith (Charles, 62), Emmanuel (Trialist R, 76), Green, Lewis.
Adam Williams Match pics HERE