Chiltern Athletic (28/09/2003)
2003 - 2004 Season, Hithercroft Youth



The weather began overcast with a very light shower and there were one or two more during the game but the sun made an appearance in the second half. The pitch, although fairly hard, had benefited from the recent rain. Although we had been given advance notice that the two Richards would not be available for today’s game neither Stevie nor Kyle put in an appearance and so the Hithercroft line-up was Simon, Kevin, Duane, Nicki, Shahid, Jamaine, Laurence, Ralph, Matt, Arron and Anthony with Dewayne and Chris as subs. Jonny ran the line for us and the referee was Mr Ray Solomon.

The game kicked off at 2.05pm and Hithercroft began well with many corners and throw-ins being won. On the 15th minute Arron sent a great cross into the goal area where Matt, with his back to goal, bicycle kicked the ball into the Chiltern net for the opening goal. Chiltern then settled in and came back into the game when their No. 4 came in from the left and lobbed the ball over Simon as he came forward. In spite of a Hithercroft defender’s attempt to prevent it the ball bounced into the net to level the score at 2.45pm. One minute later Chiltern took a corner from their left and, as Simon jumped for the ball he collided with an opposing player allowing the Chiltern No. 8 to strike the ball home to put the visitors 2-1 ahead. Within 60 seconds of the restart the No. 8 struck the ball from out on the right and, although Simon jumped up and got his hand to the ball he was unable to prevent its progress into the net. In the space of three minutes Chiltern had gone from 1-0 down to 3-1 ahead. Chris was then brought on to replace Shahid and the remainder of the first half was played out without further scoring from either side.

The second half began at 2.58pm with Anthony being replaced by Dewayne who was straight away in the thick of play. After 7 minutes he collected the ball on the right and slipped the ball past the Chiltern goalkeeper and it rolled gently into the back of the net to bring Hithercroft to just one goal behind. However, just one minute later Chiltern’s No. 14 put the ball past Simon to restore their 2-goal lead. Hithercroft then stepped-up their game and success came their way in the 19th minute of this half when Laurence took a long throw from the right which Chris headed over the keeper to close the gap to 3-4. Hithercroft then had more shots on goal from all angles but none met with success until the 7oth minute. Jamaine crossed the ball in from the right for Dewayne to hammer home, despite the Chiltern keeper managing to get his hand to the ball, and this levelled the score at 4-all. Hithercroft had taken encouragement from this and were rewarded in the 75th minute when Jamaine sent a long ball down the right for Arron to race down the wing to gather. He turned the ball inside to Dewayne, who moved the ball back to the right, and returned it to Arron to deliver another cross inside to Matt. Matt struck the ball low and hard into the left side of the goal and put Hithercroft into a 5-4 lead. Shortly after this the Chiltern No.8 had to leave the field with an ankle injury following a very hard tackle. The Chiltern goalkeeper was being kept busy as the Hithercroft forwards began to get more of their shots on-target. On the 91st minute, time being added for stoppages, Jamaine and Arron combined to take the ball down the right wing, Jamaine then crossed the ball inside for Arron to shoot the ball inside the left-hand post to give Hithercroft the final say in their 6-4 victory.

This had been a great comeback by Hithercroft and provided plenty of excitement for the spectators. Both sides had played good, clean football and there were no bookings for either side.


Hithercroft scorers:- Matt Seaton (2), Dewayne Dublin (2), Chris Paget and Arron Clarke.

Chesham scorers:- No. 8 (2), No. 4 and No.?