With Max Woodford recalled by Stevenage to sit on the subs bench at Exeter City, Ware turned to the under-18 side’s keeper Logan Timothy. It would be his second competitive match for the first team having played in the 4-3 win at Milton Keynes Irish in September. A lot was expected of the young man and it would be important for the home defence to play well in front of him.
Ware started brightly and were having the better of things until ten minutes in. Former Ware man Richard Ennin lofted a ball into the six yard box where Finley Aldridge and Jordan Edwards were outnumbering Josh Okotcha and blocking Timothy’s access to the ball. It was Aldridge who got to it first, turning the ball just inside the post for the lead.
This lifted Hadley who now appeared capable of adding to their score but Ware came back into contention and by the midpoint of the half were well worth their equaliser. Sami Moutawafiq, whose assured performance in midfield throughout the game showed why he has so quickly reached fifty appearances for Ware, dropped a corner into the Hadley six yard area.
This time Okotcha was the one putting pressure on Hadley defender Hermes Gbio at the far post, the ball coming off the number six and out to Josh Hutchinson who hit it first time into the net. It was his first goal for the club and not undeserved for a player who shows good touches and awareness.
The home side now held the advantage and looked capable of turned that into another goal. It wasn’t to be as Hadley kept them at bay, sometimes by the thinnest margin. Instead it was they who went back into the lead just before half time. Alvin Kyremeh headed Prince Kandolo’s pass across and beyond Timothy.
The expectation of a fighting come back was ended four minutes into the second half. Charles Taylor’s free kick from deep in the Hadley half seemed to slice through the home defence allowing Aldridge to run onto it. He hit it first time with a well taken shot that gave the exposed Timothy little chance of saving it.
This seemed to suck the life out of Ware’s game and they struggled to put anything together. As a result the introduction of Theo Ofori at the expense of Gabe Ward didn’t make the expected difference. Instead it needed a three man overhaul from the substitutes bench midway through the half to enliven Ware.
Of the three it was good to see Jack Taylor back in action. The prognosis of a lay off for several weeks has proved overly pessimistic though ninety minutes was presumably beyond him at this early stage of his recovery. Also coming on for his debut was Roman Chapps, another product of the club’s youth system and brother of Gabriel Chapps who himself came on later in the game though in his case it was appearance number 74. With Max Granville also coming on Ware’s performance looked more promising.
They had their reward with two minutes of normal time left. David Sota’s cross came off a defender under pressure from Gabriel Chapps. As the ball bounced in the penalty area it was Reece Beckles-Richards who saw the opportunity and hit it first time into the net.
This fostered genuine hopes of an equaliser but Hadley had other ideas and completed their fifth consecutive victory over the Blues. It may be of interest though possibly little help to note that Ware have used five different keepers in those games. One of those was outfield player Lewis Thomas who completed 130 minutes between the posts in two games after one keeper was injured and another sent off.
Line-ups and cards
Ware: Logan Timothy, Gabriel Ward (Theo Ofori 53mins), Josh Okotcha, Sami Moutawafiq, Jay Rolfe (Roman Chapps 68mins), Jack Grosvenor (C), Rechan Esprit (Jack Taylor 68mins), Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo (Max Granville 68mins), Reece Beckles-Richards, David Sota, Josh Hutchinson (Gabriel Chapps 78mins).
Yellow card: Theo Ofori 86mins.
Hadley: Charles Taylor, Prince Kandolo, Alvin Kyremeh, Romey Meoded (Jared Williams 75mins), Hedley Ogbebor, Herme Gbio, Tommy Roberts (Cheik Zidouemba 82mins), Jordan Edwards (Babu Ombok 60mins), Richard Ennin (Mwita Mgoyo 90mins), Finley Aldridge (Ike Okwusogu 79mins), Luke Aldano (C).
Yellow card: Hedley Ogbebor 45+1 mins
