Risborough Rangers (16/11/2003)
2003 - 2004 Season, Hithercroft Youth



This was the first meeting between these two clubs and took part at the Risborough ground where the pitch was damp-to-soft and the weather was dry and cloudy with sunny spells. The referee was Mr Kevin Saunders and Des ran the line in Jonny’s absence. Once again Hithercroft were only able to field 9 players (more of that later) and actually started with 8 whilst Des returned to the Pedestal to pick up Jamaine, who had to be left behind on our original departure because of insufficient room in our 2 cars. Fortunately he was only absent for about the first 10 minutes.

The game had kicked off at about 10.30am with Hithercroft playing downhill on the slightly sloping pitch and having their backs to the sun. Rangers’ No 16 took a shot that had Simon, the Hithercroft keeper, diving to his right to pluck the ball from the air. Later Simon was involved in a collision when he took the ball from an opponent’s head but neither player was badly hurt and Simon was awarded the free kick. After about 29 minutes Rangers’ No 12 took the ball down his right wing and crossed the ball inside for Risborough to slot it past Simon to give the first goal to the home team. Four minutes later Risborough’s No 14 hit a superb shot from about 25 yards out on the left and, despite Simon’s valiant attempt to gather it as he dived left, the ball ended up inside the far post to give Risborough a 2-0 lead. Hithercroft were often venturing into their opponents’ 18-yard box but were unable to get any players free to take any scoring opportunities that arose. At 11.15 Risborough increased their lead by taking the ball down the right and crossing it into the middle; Simon had come forward and he went down to clear the ball but it then fell to the feet of another advancing player who was able to put the ball into the open net. Five minutes later Risborough took the ball down the left and centred the ball and their nearest player was unable to connect with it but, unfortunately for the visitors, the second player did and he sent it past the keeper for Risborough’s 4th. Again, Hithercroft surged upfield but were unable to reply with a goal and when the whistle blew to end the half were 4-0 down.

The second half started at 11.34am and Matt Seaton had dropped back into a more defensive role. Amazingly, the nine-player team dominated the second half when it would have been expected that they would have tired and been over-run by their fresher opponents. Risborough used some of their substitutes in this half but their efforts were dealt with by strong defensive work from Nicki, Richard and Matt. Hithercroft’s lone mid-field player saw one of his shots hit the top of the crossbar and had another shot parried by the Risborough keeper. This led to a goal-mouth scramble but the ball was eventually cleared by the defence. Richard pushed up and had a header go wide of the post. On another occasion Matt played a long ball into the 18-yard box, the Risborough keeper failing to securely gather it on the first attempt but he re-gained possession before Richard could get to it. Risborough were unlucky when they tried a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box; Simon dived to push it into the air from where it hit the post and rebounded out for Simon to pounce upon it. Matt earned himself a booking in the 34th minute of the half when he brought down a player after sending a backpass to Simon. Hithercroft again put pressure on the Rangers’ defence but could not get a clear shot at goal. They were unable to make full use of the numerous free kicks and corners that they were awarded and the second half remained goal-less.

Risborough had made the most of their advantage in the first half and took their opportunities but the game completely turned round in the second half and it makes me wonder what the outcome of this match would have been had Hithercroft been able to field a full side. Arron, Kyle and Ralph had, once again, said that they would turn up to play for us and they again let us down, leaving their team short-handed for the second consecutive game. As a result they have been ‘kicked-out’ of the club. Stevie and Kevin also failed to turn up and Ricci and our other recent signing could not attend a morning game because of work commitments. We expect to field a full team for our next game against Missenden, making use of our new players, two of whom are yet to be registered but they should be by next week. We would also like to thank Matt Robinson for coming to provide support for us.


The following appeared in the BFP ‘Midweek’ newspaper:-

‘....Meanwhile, Risborough Rangers beat an understrength Hithercroft 4-0 thanks to two goals from John Little, and one each from Dom Roarty and Ben Moore. Hithercroft could only field nine men because of the flu bug.’

We do not know where the shortage of players owing to the ‘flu bug’ came from.