Jack’s the lad as United upset City
CLEAN SHEET RECORD FOR SMITH FOLLOWING PENALTY SAVE
IN-FORM Hayes & Yeading United secured a win in their first league match in a month as boss Paul Hughes declared, “the second half is one we need to remember”.
The 1-0 Southern Premier South win against Salisbury City saw Hayes haul themselves back to a mid-table position still with a number of games in hand over those around them.
Salisbury are pushing for a playoff spot and it was they who had the better of the first half, including a penalty that was saved by Jack Smith which helped him secure a clean sheet – his 23rd in a United shirt, making him the club’s all-time record holder in that department.
In the second half it was United who were the more dominant with the only goal coming after Ogo Obi was felled in the box and he stepped up to score the spot kick.
For manager Hughes it was pleasing. He said: “We came up against a very confident team. They hadn’t lost a game in their last 10 outings, having won seven and drawn three. We knew it would be a tough game for these reasons and their first half domination showed exactly why they are in such good form.
“Although they exerted a lot of pressure onto us, it was only the penalty that gave them their first real clear shot at goal from memory.
“I know Jack made a good stop previously but apart from that we were able to crowd them out at the right times and limit any shots directly at goal.
“We did this very well against
Oxford United [in the FA Cup] also, so it’s good to see we have that desire to defend our box at all costs. That’s a trait we’ll need if we want to continue to do well this season.
“Any penalty save is a great save in my book because you have to read your opponent and choose the right way to dive – Jack did that brilliantly and kept the score at 0-0 going into half-time.
“We knew we could play much better than we did first half and we felt we could get in behind them if we made the right runs.”
He added: “A slight tweak in formation and an instruction to pass forward earlier, and for our front men to run in behind as opposed to continually showing to feet was all we needed to do.
“It’s our home match, we should be the ones testing their resolve and their ability to defend.
“I think this is why we saw such a reversal in fortunes in the second half. We stopped giving the ball away in dangerous areas and we started putting them under pressure from crosses and more intelligent play in and around the box.
“It was pressure they eventually couldn’t handle and we got our chances and took our penalty.
“The second half display is something we need to remember. We cannot keep under-performing for large parts of the early exchanges in games. We have it in us to compete with the best teams in this league and also beat them. We should take confidence in this.”