Cookham Dean (03/04/2005)
2004 - 2005 Season, Hithercroft Youth



The weather was fine and sunny with a cooling breeze for this match at the Pedestal and the pitch was in very good condition. Hithercroft did not have any subs available and Cookham Dean only had one. The referee was Mr Paul O’Hare and Kevin Ife ran the line for Hithercroft. There was a one-minute silence before the game out of respect for Pope John Paul II who had died on Saturday.

The game got under way at 2.03pm with Cookham Dean playing into the sun during the first half. Soon after the kick-off Hithercroft’s Dan Birch hit an overhead kick back to Paul Morgan who pushed the ball past the advancing keeper where Dewayne Dublin hit the ball toward goal, only to see a Cookham defender get back and clear it before it crossed the line. The opening goal came in the 24th minute when Chris Simms sent the ball from a corner kick into the middle where Richard Bushell chipped a shot over Simon Mines, the Hithercroft keeper, who managed to get his fingers to the ball but was unable to prevent it dropping into his net. Five minutes later Hithercroft came close to equalising when Baz David passed the ball inside to Dewayne whose shot went just outside of the right-hand post. In the 39th minute following a foul on Baz in the 18-yard box Hithercroft were awarded a penalty, Baz putting his shot to the right of keeper Scott Wheeler to level the score. However, just two minutes later Cookham took the lead again when Paul Farnborough hit a 20-yard shot over Simon’s head. In the 44th minute the scores were levelled once again when Dewayne received the ball from Baz, turned and struck the ball into the Cookham net for Hithercroft’s second.

The game resumed at 2.54pm and after 8 minutes Hithercroft had taken the lead for the first time in the match when Simon sent a long clearance upfield to Dewayne who then played the ball up to Baz. He took the ball forward and, as Scott came forward, he pushed the ball to his right and ran on to tap it home. Ten minutes later, from a Trevor Hunter throw-in, the ball went over the Hithercroft keeper’s head and Tom Hing ran the ball into the net to put Cookham Dean back on level terms. At 3.16pm Cookham made a substitution sending on Joe Cook to replace Robert Dean. In the 73rd minute Hithercroft re-took the lead when Baz sent the ball from his corner kick high into the middle and Alan McKie rose to head the ball into the visitor’s net for a 4-3 lead. Just two minutes later Trevor Hunter threw the ball in to Phil Currie, he pushed the ball on to sub Joe Cook who struck a superb curving shot from about 25 yards out that ended up just inside the left-hand post, levelling the score at 4-4. Cookham regained the lead in the 79th minute when Trevor again sent a long throw-in into the 18-yard box and a Hithercroft defender, attempting to head the ball clear, sent it backwards into his own net. One minute later Hithercroft were unlucky not to get the equaliser. They were awarded a corner on the right and Dan sent in a high ball that Dewayne headed across the face of the goal to Alan who turned and hit a shot towards goal. Scott managed to punch the ball out as far as Dewayne whose shot was again blocked by the keeper. The ball fell to Paul Morgan who also tried a shot but, once again the shot was blocked before going out of play. Three minutes before the final whistle Phil Currie took the ball past three rather static Hithercroft defenders before hitting his 18-yard shot beyond the diving keeper to give Cookham Dean a 6-4 victory.

This had been a very exciting game and was closely fought out between the two sides. It was particularly pleasing on Hithercroft’s part to see Alan McKie score his first league goal for them, following excellent performances over the past few weeks.


Hithercroft scorers:-
Baz David (39 mins and 53 mins), Dewayne Dublin (44 mins) and Alan McKie (73 mins), Richard Vere (o.g. 79mins)

Hithercroft team:-
Simon Mines, Peter Morgan, David Blackman (capt), Jamaine Warner, Paul Morgan, Baz David, Dewayne Dublin, Mark Sadler, Alan McKie, Dan Birch and Richard Vere.

Cookham Dean scorers:-
Richard Bushell (24 mins), Paul Farnborough (41 mins), Tom Hing (63 mins), Joe Cook (75 mins), Phil Currie (88 mins).

Cookham Dean Team:-
Scott Wheeler, Dave Wheeler, Lee Astle, Michael Maroudis, Robert Dean, Trevor Hunter, Richard Bushell (capt), Phil Currie, Paul Farnborough, Chris Simms and Tom Hing.
The used sub was Joe Cook.


The following short report was sent to the Bucks Free Press ‘Midweek’:-

Hithercroft Youth and Cookham Dean were involved in a ten goal thriller with both sides having had their leads pulled back. In the 24th minute Cookham Dean opened the scoring when Chris Simms sent a corner kick into the middle and Richard Bushell chipped a shot over the Hithercroft keeper, who managed to get his fingers to the ball but was unable to prevent it from dropping into the net. Fifteen minutes later the score was levelled when Baz David put the ball to the right of the keeper from the penalty spot, having been brought down in the 18-yard box. However, two minutes later Paul Farnborough had put Cookham back into the lead with a 20-yard shot over the keeper’s head. The visitor’s lead only lasted for 3 minutes before Baz David pushed the ball forward to Dewayne Dublin, who turned and struck the ball into the net to level the score at 2-2. Eight minutes into the second half Hithercroft took the lead for the first time when the Hithercroft keeper, Simon Mines, hit a long clearance kick up to Dewayne Dublin who played it on to Baz David. He took the ball forward and, as Scott Wheeler came out of his goal, Baz David pushed the ball to his right and then tapped it home. Ten minutes later from a Trevor Hunter throw-in the ball went over Simon Mines’ head and Tom Hing ran the ball into the Hithercroft net to level the score at 3-3. In the 73rd minute Hithercroft re-took the lead when Baz David sent a corner kick high into the middle and Alan McKie headed the ball into the visitor’s net. Just 2 minutes later the score was levelled again when sub Joe Cook struck a superb shot from about 25 yards out and the ball curved just inside the left-hand post. Cookham went into the lead 4 minutes later, again from a Trevor Hunter throw-in, when a Hithercroft defender back-headed the ball into his own net. Three minutes before the final whistle Phil Currie took the ball past three Hithercroft defenders before hitting his shot home from 18-yards past the diving Simon Mines to give Cookham Dean a 6-4 victory.

Based on the above report the following was published in the Bucks Free Press 'Midweek' edition:-

Cookham Dean got the better of Hithercroft in a ten-goal thriller in Division Two, winning 6-4. Cookham Dean opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Chris Simms' corner was chipped over the Hithercroft keeper by Richard Bushell. Baz David then levelled from the penalty spot but, two minutes later, Paul Farnborough put Cookham back into the lead with a 20-yard shot over the keeper's head. Dewayne Dublin brought the scores level at the interval and, eight minutes into the second half, (Baz) David gave Hithercroft the lead for the first time in the match. Tom Hing's strike for Cookham Dean was then cancelled out by an Alan McKie (header) before Joe Cook made it 4-4 with a curling shot from 25 yards out. A Hithercroft own goal and a fine solo effort from Phil Currie wrapped up the points.