In one of the most entertaining reserves matches seen at Court Place Farm, United ended their losing streak with an emphatic 5-2 win over a not very good Stevenage Borough side. The game had pretty much everything: a hat-trick from Billy Beechers, a dismissal for goalie Simon Cox, with Paul Wanless hilariously taking his place between the sticks, bookings for the Diaz brothers, a controversial goal for Stevenage, and some sparkling football thrown-in for good measure.

United opened the scoring after half-an-hour, with Beechers converting after some good work by Lucas Cominelli, who shone in the middle of the park. Almost immediately the Yellows doubled their lead, as Danny Morgan latched onto a Beechers pass and coolly lobbed Nick Liversidge. Michael Diaz then picked up a booking for a rash two-footed challenge. Five minutes before the break United extended their lead when Wanless headed home a Cominelli corner. Just before the break the visitors pulled a goal back through Matt Batt.

Fifty seconds into the second half the game took another turn when Cox handled the ball just outside the area, with referee R Vaughan showing the goalie a straight red card. A few minutes later Jermaine Hunter pulled another goal back for Stevenage, although he looked suspiciously offside as he beat the prostrate Wanless from two yards out. Meanwhile, Emiliano Diaz joined his younger brother in the referee’s notebook for an innocuous challenge.

Despite being reduced to ten men, and almost allowing the away side back into the match, United pulled themselves together and Wanless didn’t have a great deal to do, although he did make one fantastic reflex save. A brilliant defence-splitting pass from Cominelli set Beechers through for his second goal, and with ten minutes left Beechers completed his hat-trick after he reacted quickest following Liversidge parrying a long-range shot from Emiliano Diaz.

There was plenty of good news for the watching Ramon Diaz, Horacio Rodriguez, and potential new signing Juan Pablo Raponi. Jamie Brooks played for an hour, despite getting some rough treatment from the Stevenage boys. Terry Parker had an excellent game at left back, and Lee Molyneaux also shone, especially after Wanless went in goal. First-year scholar Andrew Gunn looked solid alongside Molyneaux, while Cominelli bossed the midfield, and looked the classiest player on the park. Beechers looks stronger and better with each game, while Emiliano Diaz didn’t look too far off the pace, although his younger brother looked like he might receive a yellow card every time he went in for a tackle. Danny Morgan, under strict orders from Ramon Diaz to produce a good performance, took his goal well, but was otherwise a bit anonymous. This was a good victory for a young reserves side, but they were helped by a largely poor Stevenage side, featuring Simon Weatherstone, who bore an uncanny resemblence to David Oldfield.