I was doing a bit of journalism work for the Non-League paper and ended up covering Hayes and Yeading vs AFC Telford United at the weekend. A real six-pointer at the bottom of the Conference, and who should the captain of the home team be but our very own Jamie Hand, who came through our academy, making his first team debut in 2001 before leaving in 2006. It's seem Hand has had a tough career since leaving Watford, as he had 11 clubs in just four years, falling down as far as playing for Chelmsford City and Hemel Hempstead Town. Since signing for Hayes and Yeading in 2010, it seems he has settled down, though he has had a loan spell at the Sc*m this season. Hayes and Yeading seemed to have also picked up a couple of players who have fallen from grace, such as Yassin Moutaouakil (formerly of Charlton) and Pele (who moved to West Brom and Southampton for £1m each, he was playing in the Premier League up to less then three years ago) Hand was one of the better players in what was a pretty dreadful game, playing in the middle of the park. He seemed to play in a holding role, but when he did push forward he appeared fairly dangerous, dragging one shot wide from 20 yards after bursting through a couple of tackles. He is only 28 so I think he could maybe step up to a League 2 level, maybe for a team lower down the table, as he did seem like he had some ability both in tackling (he's quite strong) and in pushing forward to link up play. Despite the encouraging display, its quite obvious we made the right decision to release him, he's just not good enough for the second tier. Piero Mingoia also played in the last 10 minutes of the match having moved on loan to Hayes and Yeading United. He had a couple of really good touches when he got the ball, I'll reckon he will help the club stay up. With a crowd of just 307 for a relegation 6-pointer, Hayes and Yeading desperately need to remain in the Blue Square Bet Premier.
When he has at the filth he voiced the opinion that Scummers were better supporters than Watford....I wish nothing but bad luck on him, well apart for when they play the filth and I hope he and Piero get a couple of goals each.
