United 1
(Cooke pen 74′)
Hemel Hempstead 0
United secured a hard-fought over Hemel Hempstead at Plainmoor, as Cody Cooke’s penalty proved decisive.
In what was an end-to-end encounter, it was Cooke who provided the game’s pivotal moment, as his spot-kick sealed all three points for The Gulls in their last home match of
United boss Paul Wotton made just one change to the side that secured the 2-0 home win over Farnborough as Finn Tonks replaced Jordan Thomas at Right-back. New signing Dylan Morgan had to be content with a place on the substitutes bench, following his arrival from Yeovil Town yesterday
The first half may have been goalless, but it certainly wasn’t without incident, as both sides made and missed chances to break the deadlock, with Jordan Young having United’s two best chances, as he saw a 13th minute effort cleared off the goalline following a corner, before a 20 yarder fifteen minutes later saw the crossbar rattled.
Hemel weren’t without their own chances though, with the best one falling to Ricardo German just before the break, as he forced Torquay goalkeeper James Hamon into a neat save following a shot just inside the box.
The second half proved just as competitive, with the spirited visitors again giving as good as they got, with Dan Wishart and Brandon Barzey both striking the woodwork following the change of ends.
United, boosted by the introduction of Jack Wood and Morgan at half-time were looking more and more capable of finding the breakthrough at the other end though, however it was the introduction of another substitute – Matt Carson – that finally proved to be the key.
Carson’s close control proved too much for Barzey inside the 18-yard box, and with the referee well-placed, the award of a spot-kick seemed a relatively straightforward one.
Up stepped Cooke to banish the memories of his miss against Weston-super-Mare with a confident strike that sent the Hemel glovesman the wrong way to put is side – up.
Hemel thre everything at it in the bid for a late equaliser, however Wotton’s men were resilient enough to see the game out, and confirm their spot as Christmas Number 1 in the National League South charts.
Happy Christmas, Yellow Army!
UNITED: 1. James Hamon, 3. Jay Foulston (16. Ed Palmer, 78′), 4. Jordan Dyer, 5. Sam Dreyer, 8. Jordan Young (28. Jack Wood, HT), 10. Omar Mussa (14. Matt Carson, 67′), 17. Finn Tonks, 18. Oscar Threlkeld (c) (29. Dylan Morgan, HT), 19. Cody Cooke, 20. Dan Hayfield, 22. Will Jenkins Davies.
SUBS NOT USED: 2. Finley Craske.
Yellow Card: Young 34′
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD: 1.Bradley House, 2. Sam Adenola, 3. Dan Wishart, 4. Kyle O’Connor-Ajayi, 5. Mustapha Olagunju, 6. Chris Smith (17. Kyran Wiltshire, 64′), 7. Brandon Barzey, 8. Mathew Achuba (16. Daniel Roberts, 82′), 9. Ricardo German (12. Kai Omoko Brosnan, 71′), 10. Alfie Cerulli, 11. Joseph White.
SUBS NOT USED: 15. Jethro Hanson, 19. Oliver Hamstead.
Yellow Card: Brosnan 80′, Wiltshire 90+5′
Attendance: 3,731 (25 away)