Chalfont Saints Athletic - League Cup (21/09/2003)
2003 - 2004 Season, Hithercroft Youth



Our first League Cup game was played at our home ground against the 3rd Division team of Chalfont Saints Athletic. This week we had sufficient players available to allow us to have substitutes but Stevie was injured and unable to attend. We received Kyle’s registration card during the week and now have 17 players on our books. The weather was very warm and sunny throughout the game and the pitch was very hard. The referee, Mr N. Smith, inspected the pitch and pointed out that the cement around one of our goals was actually at surface level and that he could not allow the game to be played with such a hazard. It appears that the dry weather, together with pitch wear had caused the covering soil to be eroded but we managed to break up the top surface, cover it with compost and place pieces of turf over the areas affected but this lead to a delay to the scheduled kick-off time. For the start of the game Hithercroft fielded Simon, Richard Vere, Kyle, Nicki, Jamaine, Kevin, Duane, Laurence, Ralph, Richard McBarnett and Arron whilst Jonny ran the line for us.

The game eventually kicked off at 2.26pm and Hithercroft were soon on the attack with shots from Arron, Jamaine, Richard McBarnett and Ralph but none of these attempts were successful and Richard was being caught off-side on a few occasions. Chalfont were also taking runs downfield but their shots were also either off-target or being cleared by the Hithercroft defence. However, the stalemate was broken in the 18th minute when Kevin sent a long ball from defence down the middle of the field for Arron to collect and take forward before lifting it over the advancing keeper and into the net to put Hithercroft 1-0 ahead. Three minutes later Richard Vere hammered a goal kick down to Duane who sent the ball forward to the other Richard. He played the ball forward to Arron and his shot forced the keeper to jump up and push the ball over the crossbar. During this half (and most of the game) both sides were conceding free-kicks for various infringements such as off-sides and pushing. At 2.50pm Arron took the ball on the left and, from a very tight angle, played a superbly struck shot that ended up in the back of the Chalfont net to give Hithercroft a 2-0 lead. In a later incident the Chalfont No. 4 received a warning from the referee when he came in with a fierce late tackle on Simon who had gathered the ball safely in his arms. Hithercroft were outplaying their opponents and spending a lot of time in the Chalfont half but Simon was called upon on some occasions to come out from his goal-line to clear the ball. However, in the 35th minute Simon made a mistake when the Chalfont No. 11 tried a long shot that travelled low and Simon, as he went down to gather the ball, let it slip between his legs to bring the visitors back to 2-1. Hithercroft then resumed the attack with Jamaine’s shot going into the outside of the side netting and Duane’s shot going outside of the right-hand post. Mr Smith showed the yellow card to Nicki for taking a kick at one of our opponents and continued to award free-kicks to both sides. Neither side were able to increase their tally before the whistle blew to signal the end of the first half.

The second half began at 3.20pm with Chris and Dewayne coming on to replace Kevin and Richard McBarnett. After 4 minutes Arron had another goal-scoring opportunity when he lifted the ball over the goalkeeper but he was unable to reach it to guide it home before it passed harmlessly by the outside of the post. One minute later Arron again received the ball on the right, cut inside and this time chipped it over the keeper into the net to put Hithercroft 3-1 ahead. At 3.32pm Chalfont were awarded a free kick and their No. 23 sent a long shot at goal. Simon appeared to have had it covered but he failed to hold onto the ball and it dropped behind the goal-line to bring the visitors to just one goal in arrears. Two minutes later Ralph left the pitch with an injury and was replaced by Matt for the remainder of the game. Hithercroft continued to fire away at the Chalfont goal but were too often off-target. Arron then delivered a superb shot that saw the keeper diving to his right to push the ball clear. A promising move from Hithercroft occurred when the ball was played down the middle to Duane White who sent the ball out to Matt on the left wing: he pushed it on to Dewayne Dublin who, in turn, crossed the ball back to Duane White but his shot was completely mis-kicked and the ball went for a goal kick. At 3.53 pm Simon, the Hithercroft keeper, struck a long ball down the field, Chris headed the ball forward to Arron who turned in toward the goal and hammered the ball home, only to have the goal disallowed for off-side. Chalfont were awarded two corners but in both cases their No. 10 headed the ball outside of the right-hand post. In the 86th minute Laurence played the ball to Chris and he headed it forward to Arron. Arron made no mistake, putting the ball past the advancing keeper into the net to score his, and Hithercroft’s, fourth goal. There was no further scoring and so the game ended with a 4-2 victory to Hithercroft.

Hithercroft had been in charge for most of the game but there was a 20-minute period in the second half when Chalfont had come right back into the game and were causing problems for the home team. Hithercroft’s weakness appears to be in their finishing which, at times, was appalling with so many of their shots going astray. However, the game had been played in good spirit and for that we would like to thank the referee and all the players and officials on both sides. Our next League Cup game will be on 5th October against Amersham Town at their ground.


Hithercroft scorer - Arron Clarke (4)

Chalfont scorers: Nos. 11 and 23.