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Hayes' reserves travelled about two miles down the road to face Brook House in a Suburban Challenge Shield fixture on Wednesday evening, apparently walking into major disruption for the home Club as it appears the reserve manager had been dismissed the day before and the players were effectively "on strike", as was the tea lady I'm told?

The first team manager took charge of a team of trialists but despite the upheaval in the home camp they took the game to the Missioners in the early stages and were soon two ahead courtesy of two goals in a minute.

Despite going behind in dramatic fashion, we continued to play our normal game and were soon creating chances, Rhys Price saw a volley saved and Jon Dyer got on the end of a Shaun McAuley cross but his volley was weak and straight at the keeper.

Minutes later though we were back in the game, Price put top scorer Adam Cornell through on goal, the keeper managed to get a touch to his effort and Dyer arrived for a simple tap in at the far post. The home keeper then saved from McAuley while at the other end John Peacock was rounded by the striker, Darren Spinks did well to hold him up which gave the recovering Peacock chance to palm his shot away for a corner.

On the half hour parity was restored, McAuley playing a perfect throughball that saw Dyer beat the offside trap before beating the advancing keeper. A lull in proceedings then ensued and it was not until a minute before the break that we took the lead. McAuley again found space on the right and his cross was acrobatically met by Cornell who planted an overhead kick in off the far post.

Having had five goals in the first half I cannot believe anybody would have imagined that we would see even more in the second period!

McAuley almost fluked a fourth early on when his cross came back off the face of the bar but we only had to wait three minutes before Cornell notched his second. Price played a superb ball through the square back four and Adam fired confidently past the keeper from the edge of the area.

Dyer then fired wide when well placed and Cornell was inches away from another hat-trick when his shot on the turn came back off the base of the post to safety. The onslaught continued, Cornell set up Price but his shot on the turn was parried by the keeper and then it was five. Price sent McAuley away and he easily beat the keeper from 18 yards and indeed within a minute it could have been six but the keeper did well to push away a Damon Ming effort after he outpaced his marker.

Two minutes later the arrears were reduced when the home side pounced on a cut-back to beat Peacock from close range. All this did was fire up CD's side to score again and seven minutes later they duly did. A long free-kick was well held up by substitute Junior Thompson who beat a defender before squaring the ball to Damon Ming who beat the keeper with ease to make it 6-3.

Still they were not finished as both sides netted in the final seven minutes, Thompson set up Cornell and the striker turned his marker before firing his hat-trick goal through the keepers legs giving him 22 this season and in the dying minutes a burst through the middle by the home side saw Peacock beaten for the fourth time but victory was ours.

Report by Kevin Watts.