Spectacular at The Spectrum

It was back to league action on Saturday after 2 postponments and it was a trip over the border to Surrey to face a Guildford City side coming off the back of 2 convincing home wins.

Tadley went into the game in a rich vain of form losing only 1 of their last 5, away at title contenders Raynes Park Vale.

The game started as all did this weeked. A 2 minutes silence was impeccably observed by all in attendance in memory of Her Majesty, Queen Elizibeth II.

You'd have been forgiven for thinking there could be a slow, sombre start to the game however this was not the case.

The hosts got us underway in the autumn sun and immediately looked to put a ball over the Tadley full backs. This ball was cut out and allowed Tadley to build from the back. With possesion, Tadley moved forward through the pitch and worked the ball out over to the left hand side. Pressure from the Guildford defence forced the ball to switch over to the right to Brody Peart, who cuts it back to Dean Stow who tucked the ball away for the opening goal of the game. After just 60 seconds on the clock, Tadley took the lead.

We didn't have to wait long until some further goalmouth action however. A low shot by in from Ben Wright was well parried by the goalkeeper, but only as far as club legend Brett Denham to put the rebound into the back of the net. This goal being his 248th for the club.

A dream start at the Guildford Spectrum for Tadders.

This 2 goal salvage by Tadley in the opening 5 minutes seemed to have woken up the hosts as they started to play and try to get themselves back into the match. A great ball in from the right was met by the head of the oncoming Sweeney striker, his chance was met equally as great by Tadley number 1 Craig Atkinson.

As the game started to become a much more even affair in terms of play and possesion, 17 year old Brody Peart picked up the ball wide on the left with only one thing on his mind. He drove aggressively at the Sweeney defence, beating 1 man, 2, then 3 with some excellent footwork. As the goal opened up he wrapped his foot around the ball to place it into the bottom left hand side of the net.

Tadley now 3-0 up inside 20 minutes and looked very good for their lead.

There was some disappointment on both the 31st & 32nd minute however as both Dean Stow (Hamstring) & Ben Wright (Groin) were forced off with injuries. The were replaced by Adam Alliston & Scott Kinge respectively.

For the remainder of the half Tadley looked in control of the game. Creating the better opportunities and making life difficult for their opponents to break the defensive line.

Half TIme - Guildford City 0-3 Tadley-Calleva

The hosts came out in the second half with much more aggression, tempo and desire, and on the 54 minute mark, a ball in from the left was met by oncoming Guildford midfielder Leon Dadey who put the ball past Atkinson and into the bottom corner. 1-3

From here the hosts looked to decrease the 2 goal lead that Tadley held. In doing so, the game became a bit scrappy in parts with a couple of breaks in play between the 60th & 70th minute. A knock to both the Guildford right back and our very own Ousman Darboe allowed Tadley to regroup and regain control of the game.

On the 74th minute a corner from the left found the head of substitution Scott Kinge who was narrowly denied by a fantastic save.

We didn't have to wait long until increasing our lead. Just 3 minutes later, on 77th minute, a ball into the box was misjudged by the Guildford centre half, it fell to Jamie Johnston and with the most delicate of shots with the outside of his right foot, curled the ball into the bottom corner. Tadley regained their 3 goal cushion.

No less than 60 seconds later, choas ensued. Guildford broke into the Tadley half, plaed the ball into the box and scored a tap in. As goalkeeper Atkinson tried to delay the restart by keeping hold of the ball, the Guildofrd goalscorer took offence and some words were exchanged between the 2. As he tried to get back to the half way line with the ball, he seemed to go over unopposed. To the referee however he saw this behaviour from both players as 'Violent Conduct' and thus both Atkinson & Guildfords forward received their marching orders.

The game seemed to fizzle out from here as both sides only created half chances and much of the posession was held in the middle of the park.

It was a fantastic win on the road for Tadley who picked up their 5th win in 6 games. Next up is the FA Vase 2nd Qualifying round away at Hellenic League Divison 1 side, Calne Town FC.