Hempnall FC

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It seems to be typical of my experience of Hempnall FC, we are always at our best when our backs are to the wall. Having ridden the recent storms of change at the club the team travelled to the home of the champions Sheringham for one of the toughest fixtures on the calendar, and the scene of our heaviest defeat in recent times when we lost 6-1 last season.

Changes were again enforced as injuries and departures bit deep, the most significant the full debut of 17 year old Sam page who started up front with Kristian Jones.

Oh, and how he rewarded our faith in him when after 35 minutes of a fairly even game he turned Andy Gleave on the edge of the penalty area with a Bergkamp like deft flick, to pick the ball up on the other side and coolly slotted past Jackson in the home goal.

With both sides on the back of two defeats this opener proved to be a big factor in the fixture as our confidence visibly rose & the champions dropped.

A second goal followed 5 minutes later as a free flowing 6 man move driven by skipper Ben Player resulted in him delivering the perfect near post ball for Kristian Jones to gleefully tuck home.

The second half saw the expected push from Sheringham and the boys dug deep to resist the home teams surge. To a man the shoulders were to the wheel and Kelvin Willimott got his due reward for a good game as he cut in to penalty area and slotted home number 3 past the helpless Jackson.

This appeared to seal the game but as you would expect of a side who have obtained so much success in recent years they kept going and were rewarded with a goal to raise the pressure a little. Fortunately they couldn’t find a second and we drove home with 3 hard earned points and a deep feeling of satisfaction given last seasons result and the recent hiccups at the club.

The only black spot, a further injury as Tom Halliwell limped off with a tweaked groin to join the lengthy injury list. His replacement Andy Clitheroe performed well as did another debutant Marc Garrod who entered the fray late on and whose attitude typified the spirit on the day.

In a fantastic team effort with camaraderie a plenty, 3 guys shared the voted Man of the match award, with the dependable Harwin and Downs at the back showing what a good combination they are forming, and the new ‘boy’ Sam Page proving he has a bright future at the club. But for me it was the ‘Team work’ that was the outstanding aspect.

Thanks to Sheringham , JK & Dicko for their hospitality. Keep plugging guys you will get it right.