Welwyn Garden City were left punch-drunk as Hadley romped to victory on Boxing Day.

It was the first game in charge for Marc Weatherstone and he will be left with many questions as the Bricks eased to a 4-0 success at the Urbaser Stadium.

Peter Rosemin, the impressive Finley Aldridge, Shehzad Griffiths-Anwar and Luke Alfano got the goals on a day to forget for the Citizens.

Like Hadley, this was Welwyn's first game in 20 days, the last being a 3-1 win over Kempston Rovers.

Weatherstone was in caretaker charge for that one with this clash being officially the first under his tenure.

And he made five changes, three of which were enforced after the departures of Joe Russell to Potters Bar Town, Cheyce Grant to Grays Athletic and Josh Hutchinson who has opted to leave the club.

In came new signings Sam Hatton and Bailey Stevenson along with Jack Vasey, Carlos Flood and Cyrus Babaie.

Ryan Doherty and Jed Brown-Johnson were the others to drop out.

The warm-up looked positive for the home side but they were ripped apart in the opening stages, resulting in a fourth-minute opener for Hadley.

Welwyn were calling for a foul but the decision to play on saw them give the ball away and then get cut open by a through ball.

Rosemin slipped it through Charlie Crowley's legs to delight the visiting fans.

They had another chance as Welwyn continued to lack any quality up front. Rosemin was this time stopped by Gavin Hinds-Cadette but Billy Hayes still got sight of goal.

He shot over the top.

The Citizens did start to gather the ball and keep it as the half progressed, and they got into some decent positions.

None of it produced anything worthwhile as crosses and corners failed to find their intended targets.

Babaie pulled a shot wide and a deep cross from Harvey Steel bamboozled keeper Luke Ward, although his attempts to gather the ball meant Stevenson was left unsighted until the last moment.

Welwyn had gone into the game with just four subs named and had used one in the first half when Phil Lowen replaced Flood, his recovery from injury not complete.

There were no changes at the break but a second arrived three minutes in, Hatton departing possibly with a slight foot injury and being replaced by Jordan Kinoshi.

The change was positive but despite an increase in the tempo from the hosts, they were still not creating anything.

The opposite was true at the other end though.

Aldridge had to chances in the space of 60 minutes.

The first saw him go round Crowley but shoot into the side netting as the angle narrowed.

The second was beaten away by the legs of the WGC skipper.

Rosemin had two chances as well but neither were as clear-cut.

The second was poked behind on the stretch while the first was a clearance by Crowley that hit him on the back but rolled wide of the target.

Welwyn had a brief spell where they pushed forward. A Kinoshi run deep into the penalty area was stopped at the last second while Max Jessop fired a Lewis Franklin cross. first time, over the top.

But it never looked like Welwyn would mount a comeback and Hadley added the gloss in the final 11 minutes.

A great move was finished with aplomb by Griffiths-Anwar before Alfano turned in a cross.

 

WGC: Crowley, Steel, Franklin, Vasey (Megicks 75), Hinds-Cadette, Hatton (Kinoshi 48), Dearman, Jessop, Stevenson, Flood (Lowen 24), Babaie.

Sub (not used): Hudson-Doncaster.

 

Hadley: Ward, Alfieri, Baird (Lopes de Matos 58), Griffiths-Anwar, Ndandani, Dua, Banfield (Davis 68), Hayes, Rosemin (Edwards 84), Aldridge, Alfano.

Subs (not used): Milton, Townsend.

Goals: Rosemin 4, Aldridge 45+2, Griffiths-Anwar 79, Alfano 82

 

HT: Welwyn Garden City 0 Hadley 2

Referee: Vladyslav Bakulin (Wembley)

Attendance: 138