Elmhurst (23/02/2003)
2002 - 2003 Season, Hithercroft Under 16s



Hithercroft were only able to provide nine players for this game as Phil Tabarer will be out of action for the remainder of the season through injury, Jack Fuller having a virus, Dewayne Dublin suffering from a knee injury and Andy Morgan deciding not to turn up. The weather was dry with some cloud and the pitch was in good condition. As Elmhurst have now changed their kit to the same as ours Hithercroft wore red shirts as Elmhurst do not have a second strip. The referee, who was to play a very significant part in this game, was Ezra O’Neill, a 16 year old who had gone to school with some of the Elmhurst players and he had been in charge of the recent Elmhurst v Risborough Colts game that had been abandoned with 15 minutes remaining.

The game kicked off at 2.17pm and started off fairly evenly with both sides sharing possession and territory. Phil Lines, who was back in goal for this game, pulled off a fine ‘blocking’ save as Elmhurst had their first shot on-target. Hithercroft’s Adeel Iqbal then tried a shot that went to the right of the keeper and rebounded from the goalpost. Had he not stopped running after playing his shot he may have reached the rebounding ball and had another scoring opportunity. After 9 minutes Elmhurst were awarded a throw-in and their No.14 collected the ball in the middle of the field, ran on and hit the ball into the net to put the home team 1-0 ahead. Two minutes later Elmhurst took the ball down the left-hand side of the pitch and crossed it over Phil’s head for their No.10 to side-foot it into the goal for Elmhurst’s second. One minute later Elmhurst’s No.10 took the ball down the right and, following Adeel’s reluctance to attempt to dispossess him, he ran into the centre and put the ball past Phil to give Elmhurst a 3-0 lead. Elmhurst had begun to dominate play but a number of their shots went high or wide. Hithercroft were awarded two corners in quick succession, the first being then hit behind goal and the second was headed past the right-hand post. Robin Graham then took the ball down the left wing and was brought down from behind, earning Hithercroft a free kick. Adeel took it and sent the ball into the 6-yard box for Shane Globe to score the visitor’s first goal of the match in the 25th minute. However, within sixty seconds Elmhurst had scored again when their No.10 took the ball down the right and shot the ball over Phil’s head to bring the score to 4-1. Elmhurst were constantly standing in offside positions when the ball was played and on 31 minutes the Hithercroft linesman flagged for off-side but the referee chose to ignore the flag and this resulted in another goal for Elmhurst. Hithercroft’s Luke Patton then took took the ball down the centre of the field and tried a shot which went wide. In the 34th minute Shane Globe was fouled in the Elmhurst penalty area and scored the resulting penalty to bring the score to 5-2. Two minutes later the Elmhurst No.12 crossed the ball from the right wing for their No.7 to fire the ball into the opponent’s net, giving Phil no chance of stopping it. The referee then booked an Elmhurst player for disputing an off-side flag and swearing at the Hithercroft linesman. Just one minute before the break Elmhurst’s No.6 scored another goal for the home team bringing the score to 7-2 at the interval.

The second half began at 3.05pm and after 3 minutes of play Elmhurst had scored again. Luke had blocked their first shot but the Elmhurst No.10 ran in on the right and slotted the ball into the net. Luke then had to leave the field for a few minutes to get treatment on a toe injury. Whilst he was off the Elmhurst No.7 was presented with an open goal but hit the ball high over the crossbar. After 15 minutes of play the Hithercroft linesman again flagged for off-side but the referee again chose to ignore this and the Elmhurst No.12 sent a high ball over Phil and into the visitor’s goal for a 9-2 lead. Uncharacteristically, the Hithercroft supporters began to criticise the referee for his ignoring the off-side infringements and the referee shouted from the middle of the pitch that if the criticism continued he would abandon the match. He further stated that he had done so a couple of weeks ago and was not afraid to do so again. Phil had been pulling off some fine saves throughout the game but he could do little about the next goal when the No.12 took the ball down the left wing and sent a superb high ball over Phil’s head and into the net after 19 minutes for the 10th Elmhurst goal. David Blackman then went on a diagonal run and took a shot from the left of the field which the Elmhurst keeper pushed wide for a corner. David took the corner and sent the ball across to Adeel who had a shot at goal but the keeper pulled off a fine save. With 10 minutes to go the Hithercroft linesman again flagged for a blatant off-side and, once again, the referee chose to ignore it. The Elmhurst player took the ball into the 18-yard box and was brought down by the Hithercroft keeper. As the referee showed Phil the yellow card Phil pointed out that the player had been off-side, the linesman still having his flag raised. The referee told Phil that if he persisted complaining about this he would send him off. The next minute he did so and this provoked an angry response from the supporters and players. Pam then decided to take the Hithercroft team from the pitch and the game was abandoned at 3.36pm with nine minutes of the game remaining and the score being 10-2 to Elmhurst.

This is the first time in Pam’s involvement with the club that she has felt it necessary to carry out this action. There were further incidents outside the clubhouse after the game that I shall not report on here. After the match I noticed that this referee appears on the Referee’s list for officiating the U11 to U14 age groups only.

Hithercroft scorers: Shane Globe (2)