Hempnall FC

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Rarely has a week started & ended so well! I am not just talking about the 1^st team result but the club as a whole. We had a clean sweep of victories on Saturday on top of the good management news announced earlier in the week.

For the 1^st team’s part the new Management of Messrs Harvey, Forsdick & Shipley were all in attendance at Saturday's game as well as a watching contingent of Franklin, Barnes & Lydka, it was always going to be a good day one way or another!!

On the pitch Neil Renaut was absent but there was another massive shot in the arm as 5 players (Tom Halliwell, Lee Devlin, Marty Addison, Vaughan Stevenson & Ali Shearer) all returned. The dressing room was buoyant & you could feel the positive vibes from the moment of entrance.

We opened brightly with a penetration not seen in our armoury the week before. Vaughan Stevenson & Iain Mills were pairing up well, with the former in my opinion having his best game to date, showing a high work rate (yes it was Vaughan!).

But despite this opening we again fell behind for the 4^th time in 5 games. This time, a good turn on the edge of the penalty area & cracking shot from Harry Maddison flew past Cudden as the ‘big’ keeper slightly lost his footing.

But as of late, the boys dug in again, high work rate throughout the whole squad combined with a newly found confidence off the back of a 4 match unbeaten run was evident. Chances were created and from a Rob Browne corner skipper Ben Player rose highest to head in of the underside of the bar.

The work rate & confidence went up yet another notch & Rob Browne (who had been down in London, not sure if it was White Hart Lane) went on a 60 yard run which is best described as a ‘Gareth Bale’ leaving at least 4 players in his wake before putting in a superb cross which left an in rushing Tim Downs the simplest of headers to put us in front.

You would have got long odds on a ‘Player & Downs’ heading double !!

Further chances came & went at both ends, as both sides dominated in their opponents penalty area & Cuddy had to pull off a couple of good saves to preserve our lead.

The sceond half, I didn’t feel live up to the first as a contest but that was going to be a tall order what with the end to end stuff & 3 quality goals seen in the first.

We started to dominate & several good chances came, the best that I can remember to Browne, Stevenson & Shearer, but we couldn’t extend our lead to give us that little bit of insurance I felt our play merited.

This did lead to some anxious moments as Acle still looked dangerous on the break as we over extended ourselves at times looking for the killer goal.

However, we got ourselves over the finishing line reasonably safely to gain 3 more hard earned points at a tough venue.

The Dressing room finished loud & boisterous as the ‘choir boys’ took a dousing of cold water in the showers & we were even treated (if that’s the right word!!) to a twirl of the ‘windmill’! Now you know we are back!!

Votes again went to all players but JP obtained the man of the match award for another assured performance at the back.

As news filtered through that the Reserves & A team’s had also secured good wins, the numbers & characters in the bar made up from people on & off the pitch made for one of the best post match atmospheres I can remember.

It is really good to see the likes of Lydo, Barnsey, Franks, Andy Pointer etc. at the games, it gives everyone a lift.

Thanks to the chairman for his kind words before the game, I really appreciated the ‘vote of confidence’, anyone looking for a manager lol!!

Finally don’t forget the next social event on Saturday 27^th November when the live band ‘Scratch the Cat’, are the entertainment. It should be another good night.