WELWYN GC continued the win, lose, win lose, sequence of their pre-season programme, when they visited newly promoted Hanworth Villa for their sixth warm-up game of pre-season.
Up to date, WGC have won one and then lost one of the half-dozen games played so far and they followed up Monday evening’s impressive 1-0 victory at Redbridge, with this, their heaviest reverse so far.
Certainly Gavin Kelsey’s side seem to favour midweek. They have won all three of their midweek games at St Neots, Harpenden and Redbridge. But this was their third Saturday defeat, following on from losses at Penn & Tylers Green and Newport Pagnell.
Hosts Hanworth Villa will play in the Southern League Premier South in the coming season, having won an Isthmian League play-off last campaign.
They also play on an identical 3G surface to the one currently being laid at WGC’s Herns Way for the new season.
WGC went into the game without the unavailable trio of regular keeper Connor Sansom, skipper and central defender Jay Lovell and tricky winger Tyreece Robertson. They also opted to rest recent signing Luis Cantello, who had played every game to this point.
They did have winger Nick Ralfe, playing his first game in months, following a long spell with injury. He played 45 minutes.
But the understrength Citizens got off to a flying start, taking the lead in three minutes.
Skipper for the day Eddie Corbit whipped in a free-kick. The home keeper fumbled it, Kendall Gyamfi forced it across goal and central defender Keiron Gauthier, up for the set piece, tapped in from a couple of yards.
But the lead lasted just three minutes. Hanworth went down the other end, WGC keeper Bradley Monks and his defence were unable to cut out a ball across the face of goal and the home side’s Michael Harding tapped in the equaliser.
Harding went on to be the scourge of the visitors, as he netted four of the Hanworth five goals.
WGC had a golden chance to retake the lead, when Gyamfi shrugged off a home defender to race clean through, but hit a tame effort straight the keeper.
It was the home side who took the lead from the penalty spot, when Gauthier took down a home forward and Harding slotted in his second.
The Citizens were holding their own and scorned another good opening when Corbit split the home defence to put in Brandon Annous, but he too finished poorly, shooting past a post.
In stoppage time at the end of the half, Hanworth added a fortunate third, a Gauthier clearance rebound off a home forward’s back over the defender’s head and left home forward Gio McGregor a clean run through to beat Monks.
The keeper made a really smart save early in the second-half to keep the score down, but the reprieve was short-lived.
Harding and Hanworth added two more in the opening quarter and WGC looked at this stage like they could be facing a real drubbing.
But to their credit, as manager Kelsey rang the changes, they defended much better in the last half-hour and five minutes from time, were awarded a penalty themselves, when a trialist was brought down in the area.
Evaristo Mendes stepped up and rolled home an accurate penalty to give the scoreline a better look from a WGC viewpoint.
There were real plusses for manager Kelsey in that his most recent signings, 6ft 4ins central defender Frankie Impey, signed from Stevenage’s academy and new midfielder Ryan Hayes, who played second-half, as both had impressive games.
WGC; starting line-up: Monks, Ngete, Impey, Gauthier, Mosanya, Corbit, Nosike, Gordon, Annous, Gyamfi, Ralfe. Subs:- Hayes, Stacey, Mendes, Rookard & two trialists (all used).
