Maidenhead 0
United 4
(Cooke 54′, Lo-Everton 59′, Hayfield 82′, Finn 89′)
United strode to a comfortable win on Tuesday evening, as four second-half goals saw them defeat nine-men hosts Maidenhead.
A red card at the start of each half for Maidenhead pair Jordon Ragguette and George Abbott boosted United’s hopes of a positive result, and after remaining patient following a goalless first period, goals from Cody Cooke, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Dan Hayfield and Tegan Finn saw Jimmy Ball’s men chalk up their fourth-successive win at York Road.
Having ran out 3-2 winners against Folkestone last time out, Ball made four changes to the line-up, with Saturday subs Cooke and Callum Morton joined by new signings Oludare Olufunwa and Caleb Roberts in the starting eleven.
The match was just twelve minutes old when United were gifted the numerical advantage.
After letting the ball drift too far ahead of him, Ragguette’s reckless challenge on Roberts saw the referee with a call to make, and there was little surprise as the red card was brandished, leaving the host reduced to ten men.
It looked as though Deon Moore had given The Gulls the lead moments later, however, despite finishing Roberts’ delightful ball excellently, an official’s flag brought the celebrations to an abrupt end.
Predictably, United proceeded to boss proceedings thereafter.
Time and again Ball’s side ventured into the home 18-yard box, with debutant Roberts excellent in the Torquay engine room.
Another Moore goal was ruled out just before the change of ends to cause further frustration, before the second half brought about even more drama.
Just a minute after the restart, Abbott’s second yellow card saw the Magpies reduced to nine men, and that effectively ended the match as a contest, with the deadlock broken shortly after.
In the 54th minute, substitute Angelo Cappello’s pin-point cross from the left flank picked out Moore to head the ball into the path of Cooke, who promptly lashed the ball home from close range.
Five minutes later and it was 2-0, as Lo-Everton curled home from the edge of the box.
Cooke had the ball in the net again, only to see it ruled out again, but any disappointment was swiftly forgotten about, as United netted twice more.
Finn’s half-time introduction soon reaped its rewards, with his 82nd deflected delivery falling to the sliding Hayfield, with the fellow Gulls replacement celebrating game 101 in a yellow shirt with United’s third.
Then, a minute from time, Tegan got on the scoresheet himself, with his left-footed strike from the edge of the box finding the bottom corner of the net, as United ran out clear winners in Berkshire.
What a start to a so-far Super September!
MAIDENHEAD: 22. Jordi van Stappershoef, 3. Jordon Ragguette, 4. Christian N’Guessan, 6. George Abbott, 8. Josh Johnson, 9. Daniel Nkrumah, 11. Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, 15. Josh Umerah (10. Alfie Pendlebury, 72′), 16. Finley Welch (2. Owen Cochrane, 49′), 20. Remy Clerima, 30. Emmanuel Onariase (21. Joel Odeniran, 64′).
SUBS NOT USED: 12. Matt Robinson, 27. Connor Hall, 29. Jadyn Dundas, 31. Liam Vaughan.
Yellow Card: Clerima 4′, Abbott 45+1′
Yellow Card / Red Card: Abbott 46′
Red Card: Raguette 12′
UNITED: 1. Toby Savin, 2. Dom Bernard, 3. Tyler Hill (27. Matt Jay, 60′), 6. Munashe Sundire, 9. Cody Cooke, 10. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (11. Jacob Beaumont-Clark, 79′), 14. Deon Moore, 16. Jake Wannell, 21. Oludare Olufunwa, 24. Caleb Roberts (22. Tegan Finn, HT), 39. Callum Morton (17. Angelo Cappello, HT,20. Dan Hayfield, 73′).
SUBS NOT USED: 13. Zak Baker, 15. Kian Jenkins.
Yellow Card: Wannell 19′, Morton 42′, Olufunwa 51′, Moore 62′, Sundire 86′
