Totteridge - Friendly (17/08/2003)
2003 - 2004 Season, Hithercroft Youth



For our first friendly of the new season we entertained Totteridge at our ground on a hot summer's afternoon. The ground was very hard and the grass was suffering from a lack of rain. Totteridge, who will be playing in the 3rd Division this season, arranged for one of their dads to referee the match and, because of the heat it was agreed that the match would be played over 4 quarters rather than 2 halves. The first and third quarters would be over 20 minutes duration and the second and final quarters would last 25 minutes each. Owing to the absence of five of the Hithercroft players (Duane, Richard, Ralph, Nicky and Chris) four Under 16s players were used (Peter and Paul Morgan, Tyrone Francis and Frankie). For the first quarter the Hithercroft keeper had not arrived and so a 14-year old lad (Alan) volunteered to take this position. It is believed that Totteridge augmented their team with a few extra players for this game.

The first quarter started at 2.12pm and it took just 3 minutes before the opening goal was scored. It came when Arron Clarke passed a couple of Totteridge players, crossed the ball to Dewayne Dublin who then hammered the ball into the net to put the home team 1-0 ahead. From the restart Arron again received the ball and tried a long shot from about 25 yards out but the ball went high over the crossbar. Thirteen minutes later Totteridge equalised courtesy of Jammal Cole who had received a cross into the centre and made no mistake with his shot. Two minutes later Totteridge went into the lead when Jammal came in from the left wing and his shot, once again, ended up in the Hithercroft net. Hithercroft's Dewayne then tried a long shot but Aaron Reid, the Totteridge keeper dived to save it.

The second quarter began with Simon Mines back in the Hithercroft goal and the Morgan twins coming on for the home team. There were many good shots from both sides but neither team conceded a goal.

At 3.11pm the second half (or 3rd quarter) began with Frankie coming on to replace Paul Morgan. Laurence Dunn also came on in spite of not being too well over the last couple of days. Richard McBarnett tried a long shot that just cleared the Totteridge crossbar. Then Laurence sent one of his long throw-ins to Matt Seaton who played the ball back to Arron. Arron was fouled and took the free kick from about 20 yards out but his shot hit the crossbar and was subsequently cleared. Jammal then brought the ball back towards the Hithercroft goal and passed to his No 9 team-mate but his shot was pushed wide by Simon for a corner which was then cleared. Kyle Brown took a throw-in for Hithercroft from the right and the ball was taken down the wing and centred to Richard but his shot was safely gathered by the Totteridge keeper. After 9 minutes of this quarter Totteridge further increased their lead to 3-1 when their No 7 hit the ball onto the right upright and it rebounded across the goal and ended up inside the left post. Laurence again sent a long throw to Matt who tried a header but was denied a goal by the visiting keeper. Hithercroft then brought Tyrone back on and within minutes it had paid off. Hithercroft played the ball down the centre to Dewayne who sent the ball out to the right for Tyrone to gather and he sent a superb shot just inside the right post to bring Hithercroft back to 3-2 at 3.24pm. However, a penalty was then awarded to Totteridge for a foul and Jammal stepped up to put Totteridge 4-2 up just before the whistle ending the 3rd quarter was blown.
The final quarter began at 3.37pm with two corners being awarded in quick succession to Totteridge from both sides of the field, the second culminated in a headed goal by the Totteridge No 15 just 3 minutes into this session. Laurence then was replaced by Arron and Frankie also came on as a replacement. Frankie was soon in the thick of it following a Hithercroft free kick that went down the middle and he popped up from nowhere with a shot that went over the bar. Totteridge then broke down the centre and their No 16 lobbed the ball over the opposing keeper but it was cleared by Kevin Ife before it could cross the line. A long ball was sent down to Dewayne and his shot was blocked by the Totteridge keeper but it came out to Matt, who had been following up and his shot went inside the left post despite an attempted clearance off the line by the No 6. This brought the scoreline to 5-3 at 3.45pm. Three minutes later Arron took the ball on a long run down the middle of the field, avoided a couple of tackles by defenders and turned across to the right. He then slotted the ball to the left of the keeper to reduce Totteridge's lead to just one goal. Tyrone sent the ball across goal but the No 3 back-healed the ball wide of the post, giving Hithercroft a corner from the left. Arron took the corner, sending it high into the area for Matt to head the ball down and for Frankie to tap the ball home and level the score at 3.48pm. Totteridge then won a corner on the left but Simon managed to push the incoming ball clear. Hithercroft then broke away again with Frankie sending the ball down the middle, Paul heading the ball on to Dewayne who hit the ball into the Totteridge net to put the home team back into the lead at 3.50pm. Hithercroft had really stepped up the pace, Dewayne's next shot being pushed wide for a corner, Frankie's shot going wide and Dewayne's next attempt being pushed over the crossbar by the keeper. Hithercroft then sent a long ball towards the Totteridge goal but Jason Guy raced back to play the ball safely back to his keeper. Arron then tried a shot from some way out but the ball went wide. Hithercroft were then awarded a free kick following a shirt-pulling incident but Dewayne's shot was too high. Tyrone then sent the ball from right to left across the Totteridge goalmouth but there was no Hithercroft player in a position to capitalise on it. Shahid Ahmad then sent the ball across from the left wing but Arron's shot went over the bar. Well into 'injury time' Totteridge took the ball down the middle and their No 6 came across to put the ball into the Hithercroft net to level the score at 6-all as the final whistle blew.

Hithercroft, despite having taken an early lead, had not played well during the first part of the game and Totteridge had most of the play. As the game went into the final quarter Hithercroft began to gel and were inspired by their third goal. They lifted their game and began to dominate, becoming the stronger side towards the end. Thanks are due to all the participating players on both sides for making the game so exciting to watch. Hithercroft would specially like to thank the lads from Pat Vaughey’s Under 16 team and Alan for playing an important part in our performance.


Hithercroft scorers:-
Dewayne (2), Tyrone, Matt, Arron, Frankie

Totteridge scorers:-
Jammal (3), No 6, No 7, No 15