Isthmian South Central 15 Feb 2025
Hanworth Villa 2
- Abdullah Javaid (77’)
- Sam Merson (88’)
Westfield 0
Match Report
Since joining Hanworth Villa from Leicester City in December, winger Abdullah Javaid has often left defenders bamboozled with his skilful dribbles.
But while Javaid has struggled to translate his stellar performances into goals, the 20-year-old finally broke his goalscoring duck in a crucial 2-0 win over Westfield on Feb 15.
Javaid came off the bench to score a decisive 77th-minute winner in what had been an even contest, before Sam Merson added a late goal at Rectory Meadow.
Manager Simon Haughney said: “Abdullah is a fantastic talent and I’m delighted for him. We wanted him to be a killer in that final third, he does loads of skills but I wanted end product, that’s why he was dropped today.
“He’s been released from Leicester so that’s the type of levels the boy’s been at. The response was great when he came on and that’s what he has to learn if he wants to play higher.”
The win meant Villa bounced back from defeat at South Park (Reigate) and moved up to ninth, on 46 points after 27 matches played, trailing fifth-placed Hartley Wintney by eight points with a game in hand.
Haughney said: “I thought today was a very close, very scrappy game. It wasn’t an easy 2-0 game but it was a game I felt could have gone either way.
“When we’re missing so many weeks with games constantly getting called off, it’s been difficult. I thought we looked rusty again today for the first sixty minutes.
“Today, we were on the right end of it and other games we haven’t. So we take the three points and I’m delighted with it.”
Introduced as a late substitute against South Park, Sam Mead made his first start since returning from injury as Javaid dropped to the bench.
After a slow start in front of 110 spectators, Westfield threatened first in the 12th minute as Lui Edwards forced Mark Smith into a fine low stop.
Four minutes later, Villa were twice denied an opener by the woodwork.
From a long Smith punt up field, Josh Casey raced through on goal and nudged the ball past goalkeeper Lewis Gallifent, only to be denied by a stroke of bad luck.
Casey’s effort first struck the left post, before agonisingly rolling across the goal line to hit the right post and ricocheting away from goal.
Westfield could have capitalised on the missed opportunity just before the half hour mark, but Smith produced a superb double save to deny both Tom Dryer and Lui Edwards on the counter attack.
Villa had Smith to thank again after the interval, as our No. 1 pulled off another crucial save to keep the score level.
In the 49th minute, Westfield substitute Jack Beadle unleashed a left-footed strike destined for the bottom corner, but Smith stuck out a leg to lift the ball over the bar.
About Smith’s heroics, Haughney added: “For me, the man of the match is probably our goalkeeper. He makes three really good saves before we score and I thought his kicking on this pitch was really good.”
Entering the final 20 minutes, the game began to burst into life with end-to-end action as spaces started opening up with both sides pushing for a winner.
Substitute Finlay Macnab then became the second Villa player to strike the post in the 72nd minute.
Receiving the ball from Merson back to goal, Macnab swiveled around his marker and fired a powerful left-footed strike across the grass which struck the bottom edge of the post.
Macnab redeemed himself in the 77th minute, turning provider as Villa finally broke the deadlock.
After skilfully beating his marker, Macnab put in an inch-perfect ball across the penalty box which left Abdullah Javaid with the simplest of tap-ins; his first for the club.
It was a long awaited goal for Javaid, who has been one of Villa’s best players over the past weeks.
Javaid nearly doubled his tally three minutes later, but fired narrowly wide across goal. An opportunistic Merson then pounced on a botched clearance to put the result beyond doubt.
Spotting the goalkeeper off his line, Merson lobbed Gallifent with an expertly-crafted chip which nestled into the bottom corner.
While Villa are ninth, we are within a point of the three teams from sixth to eighth — Raynes Park Vale, Hayes & Yeading United, Moneyfields — with games in hand.
Haughney added: “We can’t worry about the other teams, we just got to try and win our next game again.
“We got Harrow Borough away on Saturday and that’s all I’m concerned about at the moment. We’ll work hard during the week for Saturday.”
