Amersham Town (14/09/2003)
2003 - 2004 Season, Hithercroft Youth



This was our first league game of the season and we were only able to turn out eleven players. Anthony was unable to play because of a previous commitment, Nicki & Arron were unable to get to the pick-up point on time, Kyle’s registration card had not yet been received, Duane did not think that he was eligible to play following being sent off in the friendly last week and Chris went to watch banger racing. We were therefore unable to benefit from having subs available and, by the end of the game, had both Dewayne Dublin and Kevin Ife limping around the pitch with injuries. As there had been no rain for some weeks the ground was very hard and the weather was sunny and warm. Ricci ran the line for Hithercroft and the referee was Mr Paul O’Hare.

The game kicked off at 2.01pm and after just 3 minutes Amersham Town had taken the lead. They had sent a ball down the centre and as the player approached the goal, with Kevin in pursuit, Simon Mines came forward but the ball was lifted over his head and into the Hithercroft net. Play continued from end to end with many throw-ins, corners and free kicks being awarded to both sides, the latter mainly because of pushing in the players’ backs. Matt Seaton was booked for aiming a kick at an Amersham player’s heels and the player turned to retaliate leading to his being booked for retaliation. Both sides had scoring opportunities but their final shots were either off-target or easily blocked. Laurence Dunn also earned himself a booking following a ‘stamp’ tackle and subsequent ‘discussion’ with the referee. Amersham had more control of this half building up their attacks with good, accurate passing whereas Hithercroft had tended to play long balls with less effectiveness.

The second half commenced at 2.59pm and once again contained many corners and free kicks and Hithercroft began to have more scoring opportunities but were still off-target. After 13 minutes Amersham took the ball down the middle and Richard Vere chased back to tackle. As he did so the ball was played past Simon, the Hithercroft keeper, and although he scrambled back was unable to prevent the ball from rolling into the net putting the home team 2-0 ahead. Three minutes later Matt and Dewayne were working the ball down the left and, as Matt took a return pass he was brought down in the 18-yard box, the referee awarding a penalty kick to Hithercroft. Following the booking of an Amersham player for dissent Matt took the kick and placed the ball just inside the right post, sending the Amersham keeper the wrong way and bringing Hithercroft back into the game. On the 25th minute Jamaine Warner sent a long ball down the right wing for Richard McBarnett to collect and take forward. Shooting from some way out and at an angle Richard sent the ball past the advancing goalkeeper and into the net to level the score at 2-2. As the opposing players, supporters and the coach became increasingly rattled the referee was awarding more free-kicks to Hithercroft for infringements by the home team. Hithercroft had moved up a gear and in the 41st minute an Amersham player used his arm in an attempt to control the ball in the penalty area. Mr O’Hare awarded another penalty kick which caused a great deal of argument with the Amersham team and this culminated in one of their players being sent off. Once again Matt stepped up to take the kick and, despite the keeper diving the right way, he put the ball just inside the left post to give Hithercroft a 3-2 lead. Despite further attempts from both sides there was no change in the scoreline before the final whistle was blown.

Amersham had controlled the first half of the game but began to lose their cool in the second half when things began to go against them whereas Hithercroft’s game improved as their hard work began to pay off. Richard Vere had again put in a lot of effort in defence to hassle the Amersham strikers and literally used his head to clear many attacks on goal. As no other games had been played in our division we are now top of the division and hope to still be there at the end of the season.

Hithercroft scorers - Matt Seaton (2 penalties) and Richard Mc Barnett.