Hempnall FC

Comment on this article

A 2-1 victory and 3 points obtained from bottom side Sprowston Athletic. I doubt will send any ripples around the league but a closer inspection of the relegation battlers record puts a slightly different slant on things.

Currently pointless on their journeys and only 2 goals scored shows that all their better days are reserved for Blue Boar Lane, a ground that had never witnessed a Hempnall victory in Mr Franklin and my management tenure.

Having watched them the week before and witnessed a fairly tame performance away at Spixworth, the contrast in determination at home was clearly evident. They were boosted by the return of Williams, Whitman and skipper Maxwell-Stewart who all contributed early on to ripping holes through our midfield playing some excellent 1 touch football that had our own midfield chasing shadows.

With Nichols, Halliwell and Lee Devlin still injured, an unchanged line up to that sent out against Beccles took to the field but none of the sharpness so prominent 2 weeks ago was to be seen.

With 20 minutes gone and play being virtually 1 way traffic towards our goal the inevitable happened and another good footballing move climaxed in Danny Whitman bursting through to slot his shot past the outrushing Cudden.

This did signal some sort of wake up call and skipper Player missed a good scoring opportunity when dragging a right footed shot wide , then forced a great save from the home keeper when driving a left footer towards the bottom corner.

But overall Sprowston continued to hold the upper hand and we were somewhat relieved to be only 1 down at half time.

Halftime in the dressing room is normally a constructive tactical building session but with no base of a performance to even comment on, the ‘conversation’ reverted to rather more ‘basic ‘ language around the players application and a time limit placed upon them to turn things round.

This appeared to have some impact with more effort shown but the control required to turn things round still didn’t materialise and the threatened change in personal ensued plus some tactical changes.

Almost immediately Greg Devlin started to get more involved in the middle of the park and twinkle toes Wenham cut a ‘swagger’ down the left. It was visible the tide was turning as some of the earlier steam appeared to be evaporating from the Sprowston engine room.

Skipper Player driving the troops on burst through to be up ended by the last man right on the edge of the box and much debate took place as to whether it was a penalty or should the ref have allowed play to go on as the ball actually ended up in the net any way.

However Mr Goldsmith decided a free kickand& no action was required on the ‘last man’ tackle.

With us all feeling the decision being a harsh one with no goal, no penalty and no action taken Greg Devlin stepped up to crash an unstoppable free kick into the top corner to banish these issues into mere after match talking points.

The tide was no longer turning but clearly now gushing our way as both mind and hearts (fitness) saw the goal of the 3 points clearly in vision.

A long ball to the far post was met by a typical Franklin header to steer it into the path of Ben Player to head home what turned out to be the winner.

On a day that was competitive but not dirty several cards were brandished, 2 of them in the direction of opposing skipper Maxi, who received his marching orders. Another talking point after the game as to whether it was justified or like some of own, they were accumulated as much to do with his reputation, as to his acts on the day.

But I suppose that’s what makes football what it is, it all about opinions.

We successfully ran down the clock to make our own little piece of history by taking 3 points at a ground that has bore little return in previous encounters. A result that was harsh on a home side that had controlled large slices of the game and never gave up.

For us, goal scorers Player and Devlin ended up having tidy performances with Carl Harwin again looking solid at the back. But if a top 4 finish is to be obtained then a better approach will be required from all in the forthcoming fixtures.