Hempnall FC

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Hempnall arrived for the 4pm kick off in time to watch the first half of the First team Vs Sprowston, and were on hand to witness the 15 minute ‘Goal Blitz’ which saw Hempnall secure the victory they needed to maintain their title charge – well done to all involved, and keep up the good work.

Once the first team reached half time, we then began to focus on our own game, with the aim of putting our disappointing defeat last week behind us. The squad welcomed back skipper Dom Jones (holiday), Ben Nichols (injury), and Matt Carteledge (Holiday), and had a slight reshuffle, with Kristian Jones returning to his more familiar position up front.

Hempnall started the game a little sluggishly, seemingly with a lack of urgency and a number of individual errors meant we spent more time defending than we would have liked. The message from Dave Garrod on the bench was that we needed to look after the ball better. As the half wore on we began to grow in confidence, and our football began to take shape.

Firstly a defensive error allowed Clitheroe to steal in behind the full back, and pull the ball back for Kristian Jones to smash high into the net for Hempnall’s first. Hempnall began to control the game, and were making things happen, with Dom Jones and Marc Garrod beginning to win the midfield battle, and our defence looking solid and well organised, despite Joint manager Potter’s absence.

Then, the unfortunate Dom Jones had to leave the field due to injury, and was replaced by Ian Garrod, looking to recapture the form he showed in the early season prior to his injury. Five minutes later Ross Jones delivered a fantastic left footed ball over the top of the full back for Clitheroe to run on to, and cross for Kingy to confidently slot home for 2-0. Hempnall finished the half strongly, and made it 3-0 soon after, with a melee in the penalty area, resulting in Kristian Jones reacting first to claim his second goal of the game, and Hempnall’s third.

The half time team talk revolved around us seemingly being to hard on ourselves, and that a 3-0 score line was a good position to be in, despite our slow start. Hempnall continued to push forward, and were rewarded when Lee Barrett released Kingy down the left wing, who delivered an excellent cross for Kristian Jones who seemed certain to complete his hat trick, only to find the keeper pull off an excellent save. The ball however, landed at the feet of Clitheroe, who tapped in for 4-0.

Substitutions were made, with Matt Carteledge replacing Lee Emmet, who had competed well throughout the game, and Gav Whiting, who was unlucky to find himself on the bench replacing Lee Barrett. Hempnall continued to push forward, and a number of chances were missed, when in truth we probably deserved more. Gav Whiting produced a moment of magic, weaving his way around several challenges before finally running out of space.

All in all, a good performance from Hempnall, without producing anything fantastic – man of the match was a three way tie between Kristian Jones who held the ball up well all afternoon, Matt Barrett who is in excellent form of late, and Ross Jones who didn’t miss a tackle or a header throughout the game (this is not usual).

Hempnall now look ahead to a tough schedule of games as our promotion push reaches the business end.