It's very easy to write a match report when you have absolutely hammered the opposition. Last year, I was very used to writing about the Sharks being defeated, but thinking about it, it has been a very long time since that has been the case. And hey, this match wasn't a defeat, although judging by their faces at the end, it felt like one.

Albury started very brightly, with fantastic intensity. Such was the intensity in the first half, that goal keeper Dexter Williams only touched the ball three times, and each of them with his feet. The press was excellent, the marking superb, and Albury absolutely dominated the game. Ivan Iduriaga started the game brightly, muscling through defenders and setting up a few nice attacks. Ben Gregory acted as the pivot in midfield, laying in Harvey Rush and Noah Davies on a few occasions. An early chance for Daniel McGraw saw him force the opposition goalkeeper into an absolutely outstanding save, clawing the ball away from the bottom corner, and Josh Smith moved excellently in the box to get onto the end of a cross by Noah Davies, just hitting the side netting.

Nevertheless, on a small St peters pitch, against a team that defender valiantly, Albury found themselves very congested. In order to free up a bit of space, we moved to a 4-4-2 formation, led by James Chandler and Daniel Stovald. James got into a good position almost immediately but couldn't quite direct his effort on goal. However, a long throw in by Gabe Fitzgerald created havoc in the box and was poked home by Daniel McGraw for 1-0.

The defence, as always, played immaculately. Monty Byrne and Harry Connelly were so solid tracking back, aided excellently on occasions by Noah Davies and Harvey Rush. Greg, Ali and Gabe held the middle so well, barely allowing Hartley Wintney to cross the half way line. And yet, despite the utter dominance, the Sharks went in at half time with only one goal to show for it.

Half Time
Sharks 1-0 Hartley Wintney

We reverted back to 4-2-3-1 at half time to bolster the defence while playing up the steep St Peter's slope. There have been matches where the slope has not made a blind bit of difference but today the half time switch was significant. Albury still dominated possession, however, Hartley Wintney were able to counter attack at pace, often punting long looking for a pacy striker or winger. Monty Byrne made a couple of crucial interceptions and Gabe Fitzgerald had to use all of his pace to prevent a goalscoring opportunity facing his own goal. Having barely had a touch in the first half, Dexter Williams was frequently called in to action, doing a brilliant job of sweeping up possession. Dexter's distribution this season has improved so much, and his accurate long range kicking was on show in the second half.

Unfortunately, whether it was tiredness, or complacency, or simply stress from only having a one goal cushion, the Sharks seemed to lose all sort of tactical intelligence in the attack. Rather than controlling the game with their passing and trusting their teammates with simple balls, the longer the half went on, the more they seemed to resort to long balls or dribbling into the opposition. The attacks were very blunt, and they barely had a shot on goal. Sensing they could steal something of a result, the Hartley Wintney intensity increased and the equaliser came when a their winger absolutely hammered a half volley into the top corner, creating a raucous celebration among the travelling parents. In fairness to them, it was a great finish and their plucky tenacity deserved it.

Albury began to turn up the intensity, but it was still far toe quiet and far too one dimensional. Although a few nice attacks led to corners, and one lad made a heroic block from a fierce Albury strike, Albury could not turn the possession into a goal- scoring chance. With one minute remaining, Daniel Stovald got into space a curled a beautiful left-footed strike towards the top corner, only for the goalkeeper to make another impressive save, ensuring the Sharks dropped their first points of the season.

Sharks 1-1 Hartley Wintney

Goal: Daniel M

Paul's MOTM: Gabe
Harry's MOTM: Daniel M

Coaches reflections:
1.I feel this has been coming. We have had a few matches where we haven't played well and have scraped a win. Interestingly, all of them have been on the slopey St. Peter's pitch. That is certainly not the only factor, but it is tricky to play football in those conditions and the boys do admirably to get such good results there.

2. The Sharks started so well, and it shows how crucial goals are because the simple fact that they were struggling to score caused the whole team to change how they were playing. We like to keep the ball on the floor and play quick, attacking football and this didn't happen in the second half. This is an issue of mentality over quality, and something we will need to work on with them at training.

3. What I found most bizarre was that a team that has been so successful this season was so quick to lose confidence and they seemed really flat today. Again, this is a mentality issue that we will need to work through with the players. We want the leadership to come from them, rather than the coaches.

4. Despite it being a disappointing result, we are always so proud of our boys. Regardless of the result, they always work so hard, and they sit pretty at the top of the table, where they deserve to be.