Some Hayes are Better than Others

After the heavy loss to Bromley, we travelled to Farnborough to remind our fellow league members that we're not down and out, we're still fighting for those promotion places. Morale wasn't completely shot as we'd had a relatively good run up until the loss.

Farnborough were sat in 2nd position in the table, so this match was destined to be tough, but the media had made us slight favourites which gave me hope.



We started off poorly, conceding in the 8th minute, so we now faced an uphill struggle to get back into the game! Half time came, and I did the only thing I could, query if the team even wanted to win the game!!!

With this, the team went out into the second half, with the question still ringing in their ears. The 67th minute arrived and we scored an equaliser. This was much better!! Until Farnborough decided that they wanted to move top of the table, scoring a 27 meter free kick to hand us our second successive defeat, moving us down to 10th in the table. However, a game or two in hand over some teams meant that we just had to start winning and stop this slump in form.

Tough match against Farnborough. Hope you can turn things around

A welcoming break from the league now, with a visit to Chelmsford for the FA Trophy Third Qualifying round. The board are expecting us to get to the next round, so a win here would be great, especially as the other cup competition was such a disappointment.

In addition to the upcoming match, our physio has announced that our best striker, Joe Ansinyah should be back from injury in 3 to 9 days!!

Things got off to a terrible start, conceding in the first minute!! However, the lads knew full well that we were the favourites and the strongest team, so they plowed on and grabbed an equaliser just before half time. We were dominating, and the team just needed to know to keep playing well and the result would come.

Tom Collins grabbed a second goal to give us the lead but just 8 minutes later we conceded again to make it 2-2. The lads plugged on and grabbed an 80th minute winner!!! Midfielder Matthew Marriott grabbing 3 assists on the day, showing why he is the best player in the squad. On to the fourth round we go!! Great win from the lads, sheer grit and determination!

So November is done and dusted. We've had some ups and downs but finished on a high, getting through to the first round of the FA Trophy.Two league wins, 2 league losses and a cup win aren't bad, especially if I remember that we're aiming for a top half finish.


So the league now looks as below. 10th in the league, but with a game in hand over some teams around us. This isn;t too bad considering we are approaching the half way point of the season. There is still a lot of work to do, and I really feel that some signings between now and the end of the January transfer window will help, but I also need to get rid of some of the dead wood!


We now approach December with a win in the bag. A few tough games coming up, especially Boreham Wood in the top section of the table, but games that are winnable!

Ummm ok, so I am fuming right now. My own mistake as well!!!

This save game has gone. Corrupted. No longer playable!!!!

I went to shut down my laptop as the game was saving. I realised my mistake so tried to open FM again and load the save game file. It had stopped the save, and made the file unplayable. So all this effort was for nothing! And I am livid, mostly at myself for being such an idiot!

So what do people think I should do? Do they want me to start again, still using Hayes and Yeading? If so, are there any things you would like to see done differently, or things that you'd like to see that I didn't show? Or maybe you like how it was already being done and you would like to see more of the same.

Please let me know

Unlucky mate! As for what you do next you need to decide as it needs to be motivating for you, are you going to feel motivate writing about the same team all over again?

Hi Dan. I'll definitely start again and I'll be Hayes and Yeading. It would be a shame to not give it another go. This time I'll be more careful when saving. What did you think of the general layout? I tried to find a forum about stories to see what people liked/disliked about differing stories, but I couldn't really find much.

*****IT'S A MIRACLE*****

OOOOO development here. Turns out that my laptop took a backup (not sure when or even why) but I am back to the FA Trophy game against Chelmsford at the end of November. Fingers crossed I can improve on my old run, but at least the full save game isn't gone!!!

After restoring the backup, we were back at the end of November with the FA Trophy game against Chelmsford. We were travelling after two successive defeats and needed a win to improve the morale and to achieve our aim of reaching the first round of the FA Trophy.

The game began with some great passing for the Hayes lads, and we took the lead after 25 minutes. At half time we had a 1-0 lead and we looked good for the win. The second half kicked off and we continued our dominance. However, in the 61st minute, we conceded and the game was back to level pegging. The lads continues pressing and, although not having the fair share of possession, managed to grab a winner in the 90th minute!! Jubilation was the mood on the journey home, ad we had progressed to the next round of the FA Trophy.

November Roundup

All in all, November wasn't a horrendous month. 2 wins and 2 losses in the league, coupled with a win in the FA Trophy, meant that were still on target to reach the expectations set out by the board at the beginning of the season. We just needed to ensure that we could power through December, a month with many fixtures, some just 2 days apart (26th, 28th, 30th and 1st January).



Currently sat 10th place in the league, but only 5 points away from the play off positions. We are still very much in with a chance!

Good to see this back mate!

Hi Dan Cheers for the comment. I could be wrong but I think that when a game is saved, a backup is created just in case anything goes wrong with the save process. Luckily the backup file was still available. I may have lost a month or so of games, but better than having to restart the whole process again!

To kick off December, we had to travel to Boreham Wood, currently top of the league and unbeaten in 12 league games. This was going to be tough, and have the disadvantage of being away was never going to help with that. Still, teams can't win forever!!

We arrived in good spirits, fresh from our cup win away at Chelmsford. A largely unchanged team took to the field for a tough 90 minutes where questions would be asked of the defence.

The opening 15 minutes were all about Hayes and Yeading. Swift passing, quick attacking movements and a few shots at goal to test the opposition keeper who was keeping the game at 0-0. However, things soon turned around, and Boreham started to show just why they were at the top of the table. 28 minutes in and they were leading 2-0, showing a form of dominance that is rare in lower leagues.

Half time arrived with the score at 2-0 and the lads knew that they had to perform better in the second half. We started brightly again but lacked the end product. It just seemed like a day where scoring would not be on the cards for us. To make matters even worse, centre back Dean Inman got sent off for a second bookable offence in the 87th minute. The final whistle came, and we had lost 2-0. Not a bad result considering the opposition. Onwards to the next game, as dwelling on losses does nothing for anybody.

Another break from the league now as we prepare for the FA Trophy game, this time at home to Concorde Rangers. The last fixture between these two sides resulted in Concorde Rangers hammering home a 4-1 victory. The Hayes and Yeading boys were determined that this time, the result would be in their favour.

Joe Ansinyah has returned from injury and he was brought straight back into the starting line up, with the team having struggle to score much in his absence.

The game kicked off and Concorde Rangers were running the show. They were dictating the pace of the game, and they were having most of the chances, grabbing a goal shortly before the half time whistle. The team felt a little flat, but knew that they were only 1 goal away from a draw, forcing extra time. Still, there were 45 minutes to get through before that could happen.

The second half was terrible. I can only say that I wasn't expecting such a dominant performance. The stats say it all really.

After the disappointing cup exit to Concorde Rangers, it was time to return to the league with a home game against Chelmsford. Having beaten them previously in the FA Trophy, we were confident that another win could be had.

After a shocking first half, we were 3-0 down. The team had the lions share of possession and shots, but the defensive duties were lacking, resulting in Chelmsford scoring at every chance they got.

The second hald was marginally better, but nowhere near good enough. The final whistle sounded and we had succumbed to a 5-2 defeat at the hands of tone of the lowest clubs in the league. The players were told, under no uncertain terms, that I was not happy!

Our next game was at home to Weston-Super-Mare. We needed to turn our form around, as losing so heavily to Chelmsford was less than acceptable.



After a quick change of tactics in an attempt to not leak so many goals, we took to the field for the first half.

A great opening to the game resulted in us being 2-0 up after just 7 minutes. Could the change in tactic be making that much difference already? Whatever was happening, I was loving it and the team looked a lot more confident. We held onto to lead to half time, and the lads were told that this was a very pleasing performance indeed.

The second half was a lot slower in pace, with not much going on at either end. With nothing of note happening, the game ended and our first win in too long had arrived. A great performance from the lads and a lot to look forward to going forward!

Well, after that previous game our loanee Ashley Lodge got an injury ruling him out for around 6 months. Due to the length of time left to the end of the season, it wasn't really sensible to keep him on loan. Although his wages were only £40 a week, that could have been used elsewhere. And so, it's goodbye to Ashley Lodge, and a big thanks for his time at the club.