Hempnall FC

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As the sun beamed intensely through clear skies Hempnall gathered for a game they knew could result in promotion if other results went favourably, even though there would be 4 games still left to play. This is testament to the efforts of the players & direction from the management team of Potter & D.Garrod.

The side was again shuffled to compensate for losses of personnel. D.Jones (Injury), R.Jones (Injury), C.Jones (1^st team), Potter (Wedding), Wenham (1^st team). In came Jack Tarrant – 1^st games since end of last summer! JD – 1^st game for reserves, and Cawsto – 1^st game since injury last October.

Hempnall started brightly, straight from the kick off carving open Caister with some neat passing but failing to capitalise as the ball looped behind for a goal kick with only 10 seconds on the clock.

The game continued in this fashion as Hempnall produced the sort of flowing, passing football they became known for earlier in the season. Nothing ‘Hollywood’ just neat, clever one-twos & interchanging runs from the midfield & attack making the game appear so simple whilst being effective.

Ian Garrod & Jack Tarrant were controlling the central midfield area well with a nice balance of defensive verve & attacking flair whilst the ‘front 4’ of Lee Barrett wide left, Gav Whitting & John King up top & Andy Clitheroe wide right were rolling the months back to the start of the season when they played this formation together to devastating effect with a nice balance of pace, skill, power, craft & vision.

However for all the dominance Hempnall were probably caught a little foolishly as we camped too many inside the Caister half & as the ball broke to the halfway line, Caister found themselves outnumbering the defence and broke quickly into a 1 on 1 situation as the player dribbled the ball from the halfway line to the edge of the area & thumped the ball into the top right corner giving Gareth Motteram no chance. 1- 0 Caister!

Hempnall are no strangers to going behind, & in fact are probably the most efficient team in the league at turning over deficits & winning. Even though this is a quality we’d rather not have the chance of developing, it stands as a testament to our character, & one of the reasons we’ve sat top of the pile for so long.

After the goal the game continued in the same fashion as Hempnall pressed.

Gareth Motteram launched a huge kick up the right channel, Whitting dashed across & rose to meet the ball flicking onto Clitheroe who drove down the right flank but was thwarted by an excellent Caister tackle, the ball spilt out to the onrushing Whitting who checked back onto his left foot & delivered right into the danger area, as Lee Barrett & the defender challenged the ball broke out to the edge of the box to Ian Garrod who drove in his effort, but as it seemed the shot would not deliver a goal Lee Barrett deflected the direction with his toes poking it into the bottom left corner. 1-1.

It wasn’t long before Hempnall took the lead & again it was top scorer Lee Barrett who was dipping his boots in the goal trough. Andy Clitheroe burst down the left & crossed, the defender failed to clear & the ball fell to Barrett who dispatched accordingly.

The match was comfortable with Hempnall dominating possession & displaying composure stroking it between the back line, switching play, stretching the pitch & hitting the flanks to good effect. Chances were coming thick & fast but it seemed many players wore the new Nike Toblerone boots! When half time came, it was a whistle Hempnall didn’t want to hear.

HALFTIME: 2-1 Hempnall

The second half began in the same way as the first half finished. Hempnall in control. The visitors heads seemed to drop & so did their work rate & the game seemed to be becoming what could be a stroll.

Hempnall however committed the cardinal sin! Reducing the ‘gallop’ to a ‘canter’ mirroring the opposition in the belief that it would still be enough.

So it was a bitter pill to swallow when Caister equalised with a little luck from a free kick. The ball was curled into the area from the left corner of the box & as the Caister player tried dummy through his legs it caught his heel & flicked past the despairing Motteram to level the score! 2-2.

Hempnall regained a sense of urgency, upped the tempo & pressed forward to regain the advantage but time & time again could not find either the finish, or the final ball. In fact Hempnall have not been this rampant in open play in a number of months & if we could’ve maintained our shots to goals ratio of recent matches we would have had a considerable tally by now.

With the clock ticking as we pushed into the last 15 minutes the flamboyant Ian Garrod put all them years of dribbling in & out of cones to work as he shimmied left then right then left again to maze his way past 3 players & into the box in a 1 on 1 situation, open his body up & coolly slot past the keeper into the bottom right corner. The ‘crowd’ were delirious & the mighty Hempnall were 3-2- up!

On came substitute Cawsto who returned from a long lay off replacing midfielder Tarrant as we pushed to increase the score and within 5 minutes up stepped the man John ‘got cramp’ King, the ball was played into the box in the air, Kingos first touch on an awkward ball sent it up into the air & as it came down he volleyed unchallenged into the bottom right corner in a finish that oozed composure (or tiredness). He then immediately collapsed into a heap on the ground shattered from his efforts on a sweltering day. Cue a Substitution & on came JD to replace goal scorer King.

JD was involved in some nice interlink play down the right & could’ve gone down under a clumsy challenge on the edge of the box, he stayed on his feet but was unable to pull the ball back across goal.

Great to see young JD taking the step up in his stride, definitely a player to watch in the future.

FINAL SCORE: HEMPNALL 4 – 2 CAISTER

Harleston were beaten at home by Martham which leaves Hempnall guaranteed a top 2 finish & promotion to Div 2. But I know the feeing of the lads is the job is not done, we need to push on, & that starts on Wednesday night against Harleston.