Langley 2 (1) Woodley United 5 (4)
In front of the biggest attendance of the season, Woodley gave the spectators a Halloween treat with five goals that took them top of the division.
United kicked off in driving rain and had first minute scare when they struggled to defend a ball into their half that allowed a shot from the edge of the penalty area fly across the goal area and Joe Hill’s right hand post.
Woodley responded with a move that Finley Meikle cross from the left to Harvey Harry who in turn played the ball to Adam Maadini of the right. Maadini passed low into the penalty area to Ornildo Shehu to strike the ball past Langley goalkeeper Carl Dennison and inside his right post.
The home side won two corners in quick succession as they sought to equalise but gradually it was the visitors who imposed themselves on the match, Jasper Stewart failed to make a clean connection with the ball when on the edge of the home penalty area and Zaid Hannachi headed wide from a corner kick.
Langley’s best effort during this spell was a free kick twenty yards from goal that Savion Shah put over the cross bar.
The visitors’ second goal came in the eighteenth minute when Harry pass allowed Collins through on goal and calmly slot the ball pass Dennison. This was quickly followed by a third. Hannachi’s free kick into the penalty area was turned away by Dennison for a corner, From the kick Archie Simpson at the far post rose to head the ball into the net with twenty four minutes played.
Three minutes later the dangerous Shah scored from a free kick from outside Woodley’s penalty area. Undeterred by the goal, United continued to press forward with Collins putting a free kick over the cross bar and Meike seeing his overhead kick from Maadini’s corner rebounding of the goal post and Dennison saving for a corner Meikle’s follow up shot.
A timely tacked by a Langley defender denied Hannachi a shot a goal but the fourth goal did come on the stroke of half time when Dennison conceded a penalty following a foul on Harry, which was converted by Shehu.
Four minutes later into the second half, Woodley failed to deal with a cross from their right hand side, which fell to the unmarked Shah to shot pass Hill. Undeterred, Shehu shot wide from a Collins pass and Meikle also saw a strike narrowly go wide of the goal post.
The final goal came in the sixty ninth minute. United defended a free kick into their penalty area and cleared the ball where Troy Williams out challenged a defender to set up a counterattack that resulted in Josh Corringham turning Shehu’s low cross into his own net.
The evening went from bad to worse for the home team when centre back Chevy Hart received a second caution in the seventy seventh minute for a foul on Williams as the forward was running towards the hosts’ penalty area.
With Langley reduced to ten players the game fizzled out with little goal scoring opportunities although the first minute of stoppage time saw Maadini blaze Meikle’s cross high over the woodwork
Hill, Hok, Meikle, Hannachi (Leahy), Maylen, Simpson, Maadini, Stewart (Parkes), Harry (Williams), Collins (Goodman) Shehu (Van Spall)