Mattishall 1 Hempnall 2
Hempnall travelled to Mattishall with Barnes, Solley, Connelly and Sloggitt all watching from the sidelines for various reasons. This gave Jon King his First team debut and Simon Cracknell was drafted in from the Reserves.
On a very good surface, Hempnall, despite playing against a very strong wind, were the first to the ball in the early stages and were soon ahead through Rob Browne.
Chances went begging as Hempnall continued to attack the Mattishall goal, and were disappointed not to convert any. The long kicks from the Mattishall keeper were causing a few problems for Hempnall as the ball was bypassing the midfield, and from one of these, Hempnall conceded a free kick right on the corner of the penalty area with the resulting free kick placed into the near corner - Hempnall had not lined up the wall well enough to to defend their goal.
The second half saw Hempnall do most of the attacking, but again, as in the first half, they just coud not get the ball in the net. Mattishall, to be fair to them, were working hard to get back into the game, but found the Hempnall defence in no mood to concede another goal.
Hempnall went into the lead when Paul Franklin was left unmarked to receive a perfect ball in from the right, and calmly placed the ball under the keeper.
Hempnall continued to miss chances for another fifteen minutes or so, and allowed Mattishall to work their way forward on a couple of occasions, and from one they almost snatched an equaliser.
With a few tiring legs, Hempnall were forced into changes, and they held out well to secure all three points.
One notable point from the game was the tremendous work rate of the Hempnall team who, without being unkind to Mattishall, should have won by a much larger margin, but credit to the Mattishall for on their performance. There is no way they deserve to be relegated.
Referee Colin Muir was again at his best and showed how easy it is to control a game.
Unfortunately, Sonny Sloggitt will be out for the remainder of the season after breaking his collar bone playing Sunday football. Manager Tim Clarke is now away for a time so there will be no "Clarkey's Corner" until he returns.
Hempnall Reserves 0 Mattishall Reserves 1
Hempnall Reserves recent run of good resulte came to abrupt end on Saturday, when they lost to the Mattishall Reserves by a solitary goal.
With players called into the First Team and some very young lads in the team, it was always going to be difficult.
Hopefully, in having two games this week Pagey and Sprongy need some of their players back.
Hempnall Veterans 1 Albion Mills 0
Hempnall Veterans completed a quick double over Albion Mills with another fine win. On a dry pitch and windy conditions the ball spent a lot of time bouning around and two very good defensively minded teams kept the scoreline down, until Adie Lee scored the winner from the penalty spot.
Hempnall were a little upset that Albion could not be bothered to stay behind to enjoy the hospitality laid on by the Three Horse Shoes Public House.
The team play their final game of the season on Sunday when they are at home to Wymondham College at 2pm.
Ray Youngman Hempnall FC