Hughes praises United’s ‘important’ victory

A SIXTH win in 13 Southern Premier League South matches moved Paul Hughes’ Hayes and Yeading United up to 15th as they produced a slick 3-1 success against Wimborne.

With games in hand, things are looking promising for the club as they head into the busy December period and Hughes said: “That was an important win for us. It was only our second league game for over a month and a half so the three points were well received.

“There’s a feeling in the camp that our league season starts now. We had an awkward start in terms of Jack Smith being injured and having to chop and change a bit to get a settled squad. These things are a natural part of the process when you have to rebuild and get a philosophy across to a new group of players.

“We’re now seeing a more settled team on the pitch, but this team will have another few versions before the season is over and that’s just how it is when you’re involved in an industry that constantly changes. The most important thing is that the philosophy and style of play is a constant, so whoever steps into the team has a standard to abide by.”

United dominated the game and Elliot Buchanan opened the scoring on 35 minutes and Ogo Obi saw his penalty saved moments later. However,

on his home debut Aaron McCreadie put United 2-0 up on 49 minutes and Scott Donnelly extended the lead on 76 minutes with another penalty.

Hughes was pleased with the display and added: “The players performed well. We moved the ball quickly and we looked dangerous in most of our attacks. We’re difficult to play against given the numerous ways we can hurt you.

“The only downside was to concede in the last minute. We gave the ball away cheaply in our attack and they countered well and we ended up giving a free-kick away out wide, which they converted. A 3-0 scoreline sounds so much more convincing than a 3-1 scoreline, but the three points is the most important thing which I’m delighted with.

“We have a tricky away game against Hartley Wintney on Saturday and if we can pick up another win in that game then I think teams in the top half will start to look over their shoulders, because we will be joining that group of teams with our games in hand. If we can find ourselves in that pack come the end of December then who knows what can happen?”

On Tuesday December 10, United travel to Northwood in the Middlesex Charity Cup.