Belgrave FC (21/04/2002)
2001 - 2002 Season, Hithercroft Under 15s



The weather was very sunny with a cooling breeze for this, our last game of the season. The ground was dry and hard (as I was able to confirm in the second half) and both teams were only able to provide ten players each.

The game kicked off at 2.08pm and the first goal was probably the ‘Goal of the Season’ for Hithercroft. It came after 10 minutes when Jason Guy, standing about 24 yards out with his back to the Belgrave goal, hit a superb overhead bicycle kick which sent Daniel Crowhurst, the Belgrave keeper, back-pedalling in a vain attempt to stop the ball from dropping over his head and into the net. Seven minutes later Belgrave were awarded a penalty following a hand-ball incident and James Chapman hit the ball to Phil Lines’ left to equalise. The game was full of end-to-end play and a further 10 minutes elapsed before Daniel’s goalkick was collected by Duane White who then ran the ball back and hit the ball past the diving keeper to restore Hithercroft’s lead. One minute later Jason played a short corner to Riccardo Falconi who crossed the ball infield for Kevin Ife, making a run from the 18-yard line, to volley the ball into the net with his unfavoured left foot. A subsequent corner saw Duane receive the ball, turn and volley the ball toward goal, only to see it cleared from the goal-line by a defender. Belgrave then pulled a goal back when Lee Shears brought the ball down the right wing, hit the ball past Phil and then ran on to guide it home at 2.41pm. However, just one minute later Jason took the ball down the right, crossed it to Kevin who shot from an awkward angle and the ball ended up in the net as a defender, attempting to clear the ball at the goal-line deflected it home. At the break Hithercroft were 4-2 up but both teams were sharing possession and having shooting opportunities, the visitors having the edge on accuracy.

Two minutes into the second half Lee Shears played a hard shot to which Phil managed to get his hands, but the keeper was unable to stop it’s progress into the net. Six minutes later the ball was played upfield by Hithercroft to Shane Globe who volleyed the ball forward for Jason to gather and run at goal. Daniel came running out but Jason lifted the ball over him and it dropped into the net to put Hithercroft 5-3 ahead. Another 8 minutes elapsed before Jason headed the ball forward for Duane to run onto and he took it to the right as the goalie came rushing out. Duane then slipped the ball past him to increase the visitor’s lead. Shortly after this Duane had to leave the field with an injury to his left ankle and he was unable to resume, leaving Hithercroft to complete the game with 9 players. Belgrave then came back on the attack but Lee’s shot went high over the bar. It is at this point that I can vouch for the hardness of the ground when I ran to collect the ball and attempted to jump over a boundary rope. Unfortunately I am not the hurdler that I once was and caught my left leg in the rope, falling onto my right ankle which clicked as I went down onto it. I was concerned that I may have sustained a serious injury but this was presumably not the case as I was able to continue running the line but somewhat slower than I had been. At 3.27 Jason collected the ball in his own half, sprinted towards goal and lobbed Daniel, as he came forward, to score his hat-trick and Hithercroft’s 7th goal. Belgrave began more attacks and were rewarded when, within 3 minutes, Lee added another goal to his tally, this being his hat-trick. Two minutes later Jason again took the ball upfield, this time slipping the ball beneath the diving keeper to provide the final goal of the match, the final score being 8-4 to Hithercroft.

Daniel Crowhurst had pulled off some superb saves usually as a result of running forward to put the attacking players under pressure and spreading himself well as shots were made. It is a pity that Belgrave have had to play many of their matches with fewer players than their opponents (although this time they actually ended up with more players on the pitch than we had) as it imposes a lot of extra responsibility on those that are available and can tire a team, especially towards the end. This was an exciting game to watch and was a credit to both sides, a great way to finish the season.


Hithercroft scorers were Jason Guy(4), Kevin Ife (2) and Duane White (2).

Belgrave’s scorers were Lee Shears (3) and James Chapman (penalty)