WOODLEY UNITED stay in 16th after they were defeated away from home against AFC Aldermaston.
Following a bright start that saw Woodley force two corners in the opening two minutes and home keeper Henry Craven being required to dive on and smother the ball on his goal line despite shouts that the ball had first entered the net, the visitors fell behind to Aldermaston’s first attack of the game when a low pass allowed Helal Albaarini to run between Gary Smith and Jordan Goddard to slot past Andrew Walker.
Undeterred by the set back, United continued to play in a positive manner but looked vulnerable out of possession with Kamil Zielinski being allowed to weave his way past several players only to shoot wide in the 13th minute before extending the lead a minute later.
Albaarini again ran between Woodley defenders to receive the ball on Aldermaston’s left wing from where his cross was headed clear by Zach Tull only for Zielinski to bury the ball into the United net.
As the half proceeded, the home team’s work rate and desire to defend and attack in numbers saw much of the Woodley play become isolated and relying on individual bouts of skill, led by Monay Mills-Chandler being lively and dangerous in possession, without troubling the hosts’ goal.
The third goal came after 25 minutes when Gary Smith headed clear a long throw only for Bartosz Pastusak to get behind Goddard to volley past Walker from close range.
Rafa Brandao responded by shooting wide from Kaylum Barlow’s cross while Mills-Chandler also wide after an individual run but the visitors went into the break three down.
As with the first half, Woodley started brightly with Tahir Carmichael winning a corner while the same player fired a free kick over the cross bar and Craven comfortably gather a Zach Tull free kick all within seven minutes of the restart.
United continued to enjoy good pressure and possession but were made to pay for not scoring when Aldermaston scored a fourth with a rare second half attempt.
A cross field free kick in the 72nd minute saw the ball played into the United penalty area when the visiting defence were slow to react and allowed Albaarini to fire low inside Walker’s left hand post.
Mills-Chandler saw a freekick dealt with by Craven before getting his reward for his performance when he scored Woodley’s consolation six minutes from full time when heading past Craven from substitute Caleb Lucas’ cross.
Woodley United: Walker, Mitreski, Goddard, Carmichael, Smith G (Sykes), Tull, Mills-Chandler (Monteiro), Brandao, Carolan (Brown), Barlow (Lucas), Swell (Denny)
Goals: Helal Albaarini x2, Kamil Zielinski, Bartosz Pastusak, Monay Mills-Chandler
