Elmhurst FC (24/02/2002)
2001 - 2002 Season, Hithercroft Under 15s



The weather was very cold and rain fell throughout the game making the pitch very muddy. As Elmhurst arrived late the kick-off, due to be 12.30pm, was delayed by 15 minutes.

Elmhurst opened the scoring after 3 minutes when their No.17 played the ball through our keepers legs. Six minutes later Duane White took the ball on the wing and came infield, allowing Jason Guy to take the ball from him and angle the ball into the net to level the score. Jack Fuller had a shot which hit the Elmhurst crossbar and Duane White’s later attempt went wide. Elmhurst then launched an attack but their shot was hit wide of the post. Twenty five minutes into the game Elmhurst took a free kick down the middle of the field and their No.12 lobbed the ball over Phil Lines, the Hithercroft goalie, to put the visitors 2-1 ahead. The Elmhurst No17 was later booked for dissent. Just 4 minutes before the break three Elmhurst players surged through the Hithercroft defence on the left of the field and their No.7 lofted the ball over the advancing keeper to make the score at half-time 3-1 to Elmhurst.

Six minutes into the second half, from a Hithercroft throw-in, the ball went to Duane White who struck the ball hard towards goal and it took a slight deflection from a defender on its way into the net to bring the home team to just one goal in arrears. Within a minute Elmhurst struck back, their No.12 again lobbing Phil to put Elmhurst 4-2 up. Seven minutes later Elmhurst’s skilful No.10 took a shot from the right wing which hit the left hand post and rebounded to the feet of their No.16 who took the easy opportunity to slip the ball home. With 21 minutes of the second half gone Riccardo Falconi took a corner from the left and Hithercroft had a couple of shots blocked before Jason hammered the ball past the Elmhurst keeper to bring the score to 5-3. One minute later Elmhurst broke away again with the Hithercroft defence racing back toward goal. The No.12 hit the ball from the left wing into the right-hand side of the net past a defender who had managed to reach the goal-line. The Elmhurst goalkeeper was making some good saves, many of them achieved by jumping up to collect the high crosses from the heads of the Hithercroft attackers. Then after 24 minutes of the second half Elmhurst came down the centre of the pitch where their No.10 collected the ball and scored the final goal of the match. The result was 7-3 to Elmhurst who are the first team this season to achieve the double over Hithercroft.

Overall, Hithercroft had most of the possession but could not make the most of their opportunities whereas Elmhurst made the most of theirs. On the pitch Hithercroft refused to be intimidated and put in some very strong tackling of their own. Unfortunately, after the game the Elmhurst team responded to the ‘Three Cheers...’ call by booing their opponents and one of their players wrote his name on the inside walls of the clubhouse using muddy handprints. The referee, Steven Greenhill, will be submitting a report on these episodes. It is a pity that a team as skilful as Elmhurst behave in this way, upsetting the other teams that they play.


Hithercroft’s scorers were:- Jason Guy (2) and Duane White

Elmhurts’s scorers were No.12 (3), No.10, No.16, No.12 and No.7