Seiden benefits from Moneys’ late call off
Striker ‘cock-a-hoop’ after netting reserve double against Hayling
Dec Seiden and Tyler Moret were the beneficiaries of Moneyfields’ Wessex League Premier Division fixture with Amesbury being called off on Saturday morning.
The scheduled Dover Road clash was postponed due to the struggling Wiltshire side being unable to raise a team.
In a tweet, Amesbury second from bottom of the table with just five points from 20 matches - said they had ‘unprecedented’ levels of ‘injuries and illness’.
Moneyfields have played fewer league games than anyone else in the top flight. Though down in 13th place, they have at least four games in hand on all the clubs above them with the exception of Shaftesbury (who have played two more).
Moneys boss Glenn Turnbull said the unexpected afternoon off on Saturday was ‘annoying’ and ‘frustrating’ ahead of Tuesday’s home game with high-flying Horndean.
‘It would have been nice to get minutes into players before Tuesday,’ he said. ‘And without being disparaging to their (Amesbury’s) league position, we could have had a confidence boosting win and boosted our goal difference.’
As it was, the Moneys squad had a two-hour training session instead - apart from Seiden, who asked if he could play for the reserves at Hayling United in a Hampshire Premier League game.
He promptly struck twice as Lee Mould’s men won 3-2 on the island to move six points clear of Denmead, who were on Hampshire FA Trophy duty, at the top of the Senior Division table.
Moret, meanwhile, took part in the first team training session as he continues his recovery from a knee operation - rather than having to be content with just doing the warm-up against Amesbury.
‘Dec asked if he could go with the reserves,’ said Turnbull. ‘Barto (coach Paul Barton) was like ‘what if he got injured?’ but I said ‘well, if he scores some goals it will be a confidence booster for him.’
‘I pulled rank a bit and let him play, and sure enough he scored twice and came back bouncing into the clubhouse cock-a-hoop later on.’
Seiden has been a regular at Moneys this season, making 15 first team starts plus another four appearances off the bench, but he has only netted three times. Midfielder Danny Burroughs was also on target as Moneys opened up a 2-0 lead at Hayling.
Ex-Moneys striker George Gregory came off the home bench to level with a double strike, including a penalty, before Seiden’s winner.
Burroughs was always going to play for the reserves at Hayling, while Josh Mound was another first team squad player on show.
The defender, though, suffered an ankle injury due to a late tackle and is now a doubt for tomorrow’s mouthwatering Wessex League fixture against his former club.