Money’s one and only away trip of pre-season took place at Lederle Lane in the beaming sun of a mid-July Saturday afternoon.
A fast start as after just 140 seconds, “Trialist B” who we now can confirm as Asad Ssemwogerere, slid a fantastic through ball between two defenders for “Trialist C” to tuck the ball home and give Moneys an early lead.
32 minutes in, Moneys had their second. Loz Cooper brought the ball down with his back to goal, played a pass that went almost directly behind him, for Asad to put Moneys two goals to the good.
Just a few minutes later, the Fleetlands keeper came rushing out of his goal to clear the ball, but all he ended up doing was deflecting it to Rudi Blankson, where he was left with an empty net to pass the ball into.
Coming up to half time and the referee deemed Ethan Gee to have dragged the Fleetlands attacker down in the box. The Fleetlands player cleverly tucked Gee’s arm under himself as he fell, bringing the Moneys defender down on top of him. The penalty was slotted away well by the Coptermen’s number 9, Ollie Page.
Still time for more action in first half added time, as a cross from Blankson was brought down by Asad and laid into the path of Loz Cooper, for him to calmly net Moneys fourth of the game.
Half time – Fleetlands 1-4 Moneyfields
At half time, James Franklyn and “Trialist B” gave way for Kaleem Haitham and “Trialist D”
Not long after, Money’s U18 midfield maestro Josh O’Reilly came on to replace Ethan Gee, which resulted in some tests of different shapes and some players changing positions.
The second half was a much tighter affair. No doubt that the already comfortable scoreline and the heat made it’s impact on the pace of the game. It is worth noting that Fleetlands were much more organised and composed in the second half, raining down on any bright opportunities Moneys created.
A quadruple sub on 70 minutes saw youngster Ethan Bell replace Callum Smart in goal, as well as “Trialist E”, another youth player in Ollie Nash and Adam Thompson, replacing Louis Gates, Tom Jeffes and Asad respectively.
The only other chance came with a penalty shout on 87 minutes when even the Fleetlands players stopped assuming the referee would point his finger. However, one can only assume the ref was looking at how long was left on his watch, as he seemed to be the only one not to catch the foul.
Credit to Fleetlands and good luck in their Wessex League Divison One 2025/26 campaign.
Full-Time: Fleetlands 1-4 Moneyfields
Moneys XI: Smart, Gates, Gee, Trialist A, Jeffes, Wan, Trialist B [Ssemwogerere], Cooper, Trialist C, Franklyn, Blankson
Subs (all used): Trialist D, Bell, Haitham, Trialist E, O’Reilly, Nash, Thompson
