Bedgrove Colts - Referee's Cup (14/10/2001)
2001 - 2002 Season, Hithercroft Under 15s



Once again Hithercroft could only produce ten players for this game which was against a 3rd Division side in the Referee’s Cup. David Blackman is unlikely to begin playing for us until next year and he may require a knee operation. Jason Guy, our captain, has had his knee swell up again after training and so could not play and both Jack Fuller and Duane White failed to appear. Our new coach, Norman McCorkell, had his first opportunity to see the boys in action and I again ran the line.

Our visitors opened the scoring after 12 minutes with a goal by Khalid Farah and then followed this up with a second goal after 24 minutes by Kieron McIver. Three minutes later Adeel Iqbal played a superb pass through to Dewayne Dublin who then turned in towards goal from the wing. The Bedgrove goalkeeper came forward but slipped and went down, allowing Dewayne to lift the ball over him to bring the score back to 1-2. One minute later Kevin Ife collected the ball on the right wing, took it downfield and turned in, hitting the ball from a difficult angle over the keeper’s head into the net to level the score. Bedgrove came back on the attack but were attempting shots from some way out and so gave Lee Hudson in goal little trouble. However, after 34 minutes, following a corner James Hughes, in a goal-mouth scramble, put the visitors back into the lead, leaving Hithercroft 2-3 down at half-time.

Seven minutes after the interval Shane Globe pulled Hithercroft back level with a great shot, again from an acute angle over the goalie’s head. Bedgrove then began to take control of the game but their next five shots, including a direct free kick, all went either over the bar or just wide of the posts. Their next attempt, however, brought them success when James Hughes, after 20 minutes of the half put the ball into the net past the diving Hithercroft keeper. Immediately after the restart Scott Chapman put the visitors further ahead and after 37 minutes Luke Goodin added another for Bedgrove. Immediately, Dewayne hit back with another goal to bring Hithercroft back to 4-6. Bedgrove then twice put the ball into the home team’s net but the referee declared them both off-side.

The game had been a very even, tightly contested game in the first half but Bedgrove Colts had a lot more of the play towards the end and ran out deserving winners. We wish them the best of luck in the rest of the tournament. Unfortunately this was Lee Hudson’s last game for us as he will be joining Penn & Tyler Green, a first Division side. He will be sorely missed and we wish him all the best at his new club. We will also miss his mother, Kim, who has helped us out so often at many of our games making teas and coffees and she has helped us on other occasions, such as our six-a-side tournaments. We will also miss his dad, Rocky, who has often run the line for us and produced many ‘encouraging’ remarks in his own colourful way when doing so.

The referee was Graham Payne.

The goal-scorers for Bedgrove Colts were Khalid Farah, Kieron McIver, James Hughes(2), Scott Chapman and Luke Goodin.

The goal-scorers for Hithercroft were Dewayne Dublin(2), Kevin Ife and Shane Globe.