TT REVIEW

Dom Roman – @DomRoman

Dom discusses the draw at Plainmoor

MISSED CHANCES

If you were to sum up the last two games in two words then ‘missed chances’ would be high on the list. This was another game where the Gulls created enough opportunities to win the game comfortably, but when push came to shove the team could not find the net and the Maidenhead keeper stood firm when they needed him most. That’s not to say it was a fantastic performance from United, far from it. Initially we had control of the game and we had the lead, but we didn’t find a second, and the 2nd half became stretched as the away team started to attack in greater numbers. There was too much chaos and uncertainty, and whilst by my reckoning we should have had a penalty, it felt like there was a lack of belief to get the job done when it mattered. In this league the margins are fine, and we have been transitioning between ‘champions material’ and ‘nearly men’ form far too often.

PENALTY DECISION

Louis Dennis had a mixed 90 minutes for United, there was frustrating periods of play where he dwelt too long on the ball, but there was also moments where he threatened to take the game away from Maidenhead, and one of those was that tricky slaloming run/give and go, that led to the team and the Yellow Army bellowing out for a penalty. Looking at the replay it appears to be a trip by the defender and going by the faces of team mates around him, they were fearing the worst. Up to that point the referee had let a lot of challenges go and wanted to play on as much as possible, so it didn’t surprise me when he frustratingly waved the protests away. We don’t know if the penalty would have A) been scored or B) ended up being the winning goal, but moments like that will be revisited in our minds if we fall short at the end of the season.

HAYFIELD SHINES

It wasn’t a game where many players stood out. Sonny Everton scored a lovely goal and provided many intricate touches to link up attacks, Sam Dreyer was generally solid, but it was Dan Hayfield who was my player of the match. Dan has struggled to win a regular place in Paul Wotton’s team, but he was excellent at Plainmoor this time around, winning headers and tackles, pushing forward with belief and energy, and also keeping the ball smartly and spreading play. Sometimes the midfielder gets bogged down in games and he would never proclaim to being the most skilful in possession, but in this form Dan should be one of the first names on the team-sheet.

WORTH HIS PLACE?

I’m not sure Paul Wotton knows what to do with our midfield line-up in recent weeks, and most specifically his former skipper Matt Worthington. Worthington was shuffled into the right back role this time around, and he did well enough, pushing forward more in the 1st half and helping to create some overlaps. In the 2nd half Maidenhead’s winger caused him some problems, and he looked less comfortable on the back foot. Overall I’m not convinced he’s a better option than Jordan Thomas at full back and I’m also not sure what midfield balance works best for United. He arrived as someone who could be a key man and add vital leadership to this United team, but it’s not working out that way just yet.

STILL UP FOR GRABS

I’m clearly biased, but when I look at this squad, I fully believe it’s good enough to win this league, unfortunately we’re not quite proving it. We’re not quite clinical enough and we don’t quite do enough in defence, with no clean sheets so far in 2026. Maidenhead was definitely ‘a not quite’ sort of day, as chances went begging, penalty claims were turned away and another shot from outside the area proved too much for James Hamon. I’d perhaps question some of the managerial decisions from Paul Wotton, but the team has to take responsibility in critical periods to win these type of games. We remain in a strong position, we can beat anyone on our day and in Dreyer, Young, Dennis and Everton we have some of the best players in the league, whilst we have squad players like Jay and Morgan who would walk into many NLS line-ups. This league is up for grabs again, it’s a second opportunity that we need to take.