Hartley Wintney recorded their first win of 2023, thanks to a second half goal from substitute Anis Nuur.

Hartley held on for a very welcome three points, a remarkable double save from Marcin Brozozowski in added time sealing the 1-0 win.

 Defences dominated proceedings early on with neither side able to make inroads. On 36 minutes Akers and Reese Wylie for Hartley made progress down the right, although the pass inside to Josh Webb saw the Row skipper shoot wide from 20 yards.

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Yate Town maintained a good spell of pressure towards the end of the first half, with Brozozowski forced to make a number of saves from The Bluebells' Michael Baker. Despite the period of sustained pressure, the teams walked in at half time with the game goalless.

The Row started the second half well and remained in the ascendancy, holding the edge in a defence dominated match. On 66 minutes Hartley broke the deadlock with the best move of the match which involved two of their substitutes. 

Substitute Harry Cooksley and Tom Leggett combined well down the right with a precise pass from the former creating space for Leggett to cross. The cross ball found another substitute in Anis Nuur, who controlled well before firing into the corner of the net to make it 1-0 to Wintney

For the final ten minutes Yate pushed numbers forward and a series of corners and deliveries into the penalty area promised reward. On 88 minutes the Bluebells should have equalised, a scramble in front of the Hartley goal saw the ball fall to Baker, who saw his effort from 10 yards go high over the crossbar, possibly with a slight deflection.

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In the fourth minute of added time Hartley struggled to clear and in the resulting melee a close range shot looked goal bound until Brzozozowski dived to save. The ball found an inrushing Yate forward whose close range shot saw Brozozowski dive and stop the ball going into the net.

Wintney manager Rowan Vine said: "We're both very happy and relieved to get the win. We knew this would be a difficult match with both sides in need of the points. However, I felt we deserved the win, despite the late onslaught. We were in control of the game for 75 minutes."

He added: "All our matches from now on are important and this win gives us hope."