Ware 1 Hayes & Yeading United 3

Ware were always up against strong opponents in the first half but worked hard to keep them at bay. Hayes & Yeading were spreading the ball about well and always looking to involve their front line of whom the tall Hassan Jalloh caught the eye.

So it was backs to the wall for much of the opening period with the visitors creating a number of chances to open the scoring. They were denied however by some strong defensive work especially on the part of captain Gareth Madden and missed opportunities.

The most obvious of these came on the half hour mark when the ball was given away on the Ware right leaving the defence exposed to the resultant cross. Scott Donnelly was on the scene and when the ball fell to him he turned but shot just over the bar.

In the circumstances it was strange that Ware should have the only corner of the half early in the game but their best chance came in the minute or so before the break. Dave Cowley's cross was headed back into the six yard area by Louis Blake. Albert Adu was on hand but went down under the challenge of two defenders. However the referee waved away penalty appeals from the Ware team, the implication being that he saw nothing illegal in the coming together of the players.

By then Ware were a goal down. A 38th minute cross from the Hayes left had Anthony Page diving to gather. All he could do was parry the ball which fell loose and drifted across the face of the six yard area in one of those slow motion moments that have supporters willing their men to react more quickly. It was Lee Barney who did so burying the ball in the net from close range.

For a while the second half followed the same pattern as the first and ten minutes in Page was needed to save at full stretch from Scott Donnelly. But Ware were pulling themselves back into contention and by the midpoint, with three substitutions behind them, seemed to be having the better of things. Even so the visitor' defence was proving difficult to crack until twenty minutes to go.

Visiting keeper Jack Smith, formerly of Ware and remembered for the goal that never was, came out of his area to clear a ball only to see it spin off Priestly Farquharson and loop up in the air back towards the edge of the penalty area. Waiting there was Adu but, under pressure, he scuffed what was in any case a difficult shot into an empty goal and the chance of an equaliser was gone.

Eight minutes later the miss was thrown into some sort of relief, either irrelevant or crucial depending on your perspective. A ball into the edge of Ware's area found Dominique Njoya and Page at sixes and sevens each expecting the other to deal with it. In the end Page attempted to dribble the ball out of danger but was too easily robbed by Barney who scored his and his team's second.

This was enough to raise the visitors and diminish the home side and it was disappointing but not altogether surprising that United appeared to have finished off the game in the 89th minute. Duncan Colley found himself with enough time and space to lob Page for what most would have assumed was the final goal of the game.

Instead Alaa Oujdi's free kick in added time and from in front of the penalty area was just right to beat Smith's jump but dip and clip the underside of the bar for Ware's goal. Having made his debut as far back as March 2014 Oujdi didn't open his goal account until three years later and has now scored a further four this season.

There was still time for Oujdi to win a penalty when he was brought down four minutes beyond normal time. For a moment it looked as though Cowley might take the kick but Jordon Watson, making his first appearance off the bench after a seven week injury lay off, took on the task. However, the chance to make the score more appropriate to the game was blasted high and wide, the referee's final whistle putting Ware out of their misery shortly after.

Ware: Anthony Page, Charlie Yexley, Dominique Njoya, Jason Brown (Leigh Rose 57mins), Gareth Madden, Bradley Fraser, Alaa Oujdi, Louis Rose (Jack Daveney 57mins), Louis Blake (Jordon Watson 66mins), Albert Adu, Dave Cowley. Unused subs: Louis Bowen, Kardan Campbell.