Hempnall FC

Comment on this article

By Andy Clitheroe…..

Hempnall travelled to Martham on the back of two good wins in a week, with victories over Newton Flotman, and a fantastic win away at Aylsham despite a much depleted squad, and were looking to maintain their winning run. We were aware before the game that Martham is a tricky place to get a result, with their very narrow pitch likely to stifle our passing game.

The squad that travelled was a strong one, with Kristian Jones and Kelvin Willimot dropping down from the first team to add extra strength, although we were still missing the influential Dom Jones through injury (although he did his bit from the sidelines).

The game started fairly evenly, with the lively Martham striker causing problems, although a solid start from centre backs Potter and Nichols meant he was restricted only to half chances. At the other end Jones and Willimot were causing problems of their own, Jones especially linking well with the midfield. Then Hempnall lost the services of right back Ross Jones with a hamstring problem, and was replaced by Lee Emmett.

The first real chance fell to Hempnall, when a cross from the left was only half cleared, allowing Lee Barrett time on the edge of the area to bring the ball down and shoot, unfortunately over this time. Despite this, Hempnall were beginning to get a foothold in the game, and we began to create more chances as Clitheroe and L Barrett began to find some space.

We went in to half time goalless, and the team talk encouraged us to try and hit the corners and get behind the full backs, as we were beginning to get some joy.

We started the half well and were immediately on the front foot, with a ball pumped up to the right wing where Kristian Jones won the flick, which allowed Clitheroe to get to the by-line and pull back for Lee Barrett who shot narrowly wide. It seemed as if a goal was inevitable, when Martham turned the game on its head by scoring against the run of play. A cross into the box was well taken by young goalkeeper Ryan Moss, only for an onrushing striker to collide with him, and knock the ball out of his hands, which was gratefully finished off by the Martham player despite Hempnall’s calls for a foul.

This sparked an even greater sense of urgency among the Hempnall players, and we hit back almost immediately, with Willimot running in behind the defence after a good flick on and finished with his trademark ‘dink’ over the goalkeepers head.

With 15 minutes to go, Hempnall then made two changes, with Gav Whiting replacing Kristian Jones, and Ian Garrod replacing Lee Emmet as we looked to line up in a more attacking formation.

Whiting’s impact was almost instantaneous, where another flick on saw him gallop in behind, and smash past the onrushing goalkeeper to make it 2-1 in our favour.

Hempnall were now totally in control as Martham tired, and made the game safe when some good pressurising forced a Martham defender to handle in his own box, allowing Marc Garrod to coolly slot the ball home from the spot.

This rounded off an excellent fight back from the lads, and showed the character and belief we have within the squad.

Man of the Match must go to Whiting for the impact he made from the bench, but there were also very solid performances from Nichols and Potter at the back, who dealt with a very good striker well.