We faced Hayes and Yeading FC, a team higher up in the football pyramid, in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday at home at King George’s Field.

Despite having a few absentees due to injury and suspension, we were still able to field a strong side to take on the challenge. A respectable crowd of 158 turned up, bolstered by a good away following from our visitors.

Why the word ‘strange’ in the title of this report? Simply because, had we taken our chances during the match, the scoreline might have been quite different from the eventual 3-1 victory for our opponents.

We started with the best chance in the 6th minute when it looked like striker, Kenny Antony would make the net ripple, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. In the 10th minute, we conceded our first goal when an innocuous ball into our penalty box wasn’t gathered correctly, leaving us 1-0 down. It soon became 2-0 after a neat piece of interplay on the edge of our penalty box resulted in the ball being slotted into the back of our net. Yet again, we had some excellent chances as the first half drew to a close and should have scored from at least one of them. Half-time: 2-0.

In the second half, our opponents extended their lead in the 63rd minute after a corner wasn’t cleared properly, leaving us with a ‘mountain to climb’. But once again, we produced some good chances and pulled a goal back in the 74th minute through Fabio Nunes. However, the match then fizzled out, ending 3-1, with Hayes and Yeading progressing to the next round.

We quickly turn our attention to more league action with an away match at Sandhurst Town next Tuesday, kicking off at 19:45. After that, we have a free Saturday before entertaining our landlords, Corinthian-Casuals, on Bank Holiday Monday with a confirmed 3pm kick-off by the league.