Hempnall FC

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Hempnall Reserves made the long trip to Southwold this week, brimming with the confidence that comes from 4 consecutive wins, and hoping to keep that great run going.

The squad again looked strong, the only change to the starting 11 from the previous week being Clitheroe (unavailable), so in came Gav Whitting, back from First team duty, the only other change was a switch of full backs, Lee Emmett to the right and Ross Jones to the left. Jack Tarrant, JD and the returning Ian Garrod filled the places on the bench.

In damp, soft and very bumpy conditions, the game started with Hempnall very much on the back foot, a feature of previous weeks. We failed to get close to the Southwold midfield 3, giving them far too much time to play around us. When we did get possession back, it was given away far to easily as we struggled to come to terms with the pitch and ball itself, so light it resembled something like a beach ball. No excuses though, as we were very much second in that middle third of the field. But for good defending from the back line, and the occasional poor finishing from Southwold, we could have found ourselves comfortably behind. The forward line were feeding off scraps in truth, however, the little bit of joy we were getting was on the left from Lee Barrett, in running in behind the right back from balls over his head.

It was from this, that we somehow managed to take the lead. A cross field ball, again over the top of the Southwold back line, found its way to Barrett, who very coolly slotted home from 12 yards out. This was very much against the run of play, and we counted ourselves incredibly fortuitous to go into half time with a 0-1 lead.

Instructions at half time were all about significantly upping workrate by getting closer in midfield, retaining the ball much better and looking to get southwold turning, running back towards their own goal – if you can’t win pretty, at least win ugly !!!

The second half continued in the scrappy way the first ended from our point of view. Whilst we didn’t improve upon our ball retention, we did start to compete more. Dave Hyett was replaced shortly by Jack Tarrant, in an attempt to add fresher legs and a bit of bite to that middle ground. Much of the half was then played out in the centre area, with neither side gaining control for any period. We were, however, repelling any Southwold attack with relative ease now, although we created little ourselves. JD replaced Lee Emmett, who took a nasty knock to his ankle, and Kristian Jones dropped into midfield. It was hoped we could use JD’s pace as an outlet for us.

The game developed into a real battle, with a number of scuffles breaking out. As the game was reaching a close, a hopeful cross from our left., appeared to be heading comfortably to an open Southwold full back, only for he to attempt to head back towards his own keeper and into the net for an own goal. In truth it was harsh on Southwold, although very gratefully received by us as it gave us the breathing space we needed for those last 5 minutes. At this point a badly cramping Gav Whitting was replaced by Ian Garrod to continue his rehabilitation from a long injury layoff, as we saw out those final few minutes to record a 0-2 victory.

If we are being honest, a draw probably would have been a fair result, although the victory was due to our effort and commitment, and whilst not playing particularly well as a side, that is something the lads should be proud off. You cannot always play well, but on those days you can ask no more if a 100% effort is put in, and on Saturday, second half in particular, it was. What is pleasing is that in the last few weeks we are standing up to meet and match the physical challenges head on, something that perhaps was not present in our earlier matches.

Man of the Match this week was again a difficult one name, but you would have to look somewhere across the back line for him, as all put in good performances.

Another excellent 3 points, this time on the road, to take us to 5 wins in 5. With Beccles Caxton at home this week, we hope to continue that run as we go into December.