Downley Albion - Friendly (12/09/2004)
2004 - 2005 Season, Hithercroft Youth



Our third friendly was at home against Downley Albion and, although the forecast was for wind and rain the game was played in dry weather with a slightly chilly breeze and occasional sunny spells. The grass had been cut since our last game and so the playing conditions were good. Pat Vaughey ran the line and David Blackman, Eugene and Gordon Preston were not present for this game.

The game kicked off at 11am and the opening goal went to Hithercroft, 29 minutes into the game when the ball came across from the right and Baz hit it home. One minute later it appeared that Hithercroft had scored their second when Dan Birch took the ball almost to the left corner flag and sent a shot across. Many spectators thought that the ball had gone into the goal but it had just cleared the crossbar, hit the far stanchion and rolled down the outside of the net. The next chance came when Baz took a corner on the right but mis-hit the ball along the ground to Richard Vere, who pushed it back to Baz to cross. Baz played it with too much strength, sending it well beyond the goal but Tyrone Francis played it back in where Dewayne Dublin headed the ball just over the crossbar. At 11.29 Tyrone took the ball down the right and crossed it into the goalmouth to Dewayne, who was unable to get in a first-time shot but he turned a couple of times before he gained full control and then hit a shot that ended up in the back of the net, having hit a Downley defender on the way. Hithercroft were now 2-0 ahead and beginning to gain most of the possession as the wind began to increase and the clouds obscured the sun. At 11.34 Tyrone had a problem with his foot and was replaced by Rhydian Grange, who was to have an excellent game. Two minutes later Dewayne collected the ball, started on a diagonal run towards the right corner flag and then hit a powerful shot which went just inside the left side of the net to put the home team 3-0 ahead. Later, when the ball went out of play Pat raised his flag but it slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground. (Was he losing his grip, I asked myself....). Hithercroft were awarded another corner on the left and, as the ball came across, two Hithercroft players went up for it, one heading the ball towards goal but the keeper cleared the ball from the line. Dewayne later hit another first-time shot but it was just too high.

For the second half Dan came off and Tyrone, who had recovered from his foot injury, returned and the game resumed at 11.52. After 2 minutes Dewayne was unlucky when his shot went just outside of the right-hand post. Downley’s No9 then broke away down the right but Simon Mines pushed his well-aimed shot over the crossbar. Just on the stroke of noon Hithercroft took the ball down the left, Baz crossed the ball into the middle and Paul Morgan put the ball into the visitor’s net to increase the lead to 4-0. Next followed two more corners from the left for Hithercroft, the first Paul hit wide and the second (which Paul hit home) was ruled off-side. A further succession of corners from the left also met without success for the home team, one of the shots being superbly saved by the Downley goalkeeper. Then Tyrone ran the ball down the left and unleashed a shot, the keeper pushed the ball out as far as Ben Steele, who then hit it back to score the fifth goal for Hithercroft at 12.07. Downley then went on the attack and Simon raced forward and went down to gather the ball from his opponent’s feet. Then, following a mistake in the Hithercroft defence, Downley again burst through only to be denied a goal when Simon dived to his right to push the ball outside of the post. At 12.15 Hithercroft scored their sixth goal when, following some scrappy shots at goal, the ball fell to Baz who made no mistake, scoring his second goal of the match. Three minutes later Dewayne went off and Dan came back on to replace him. Hithercroft continued to dominate the game, winning more corners and having numerous shots at goal (not all of them on-target) and when the final whistle was blown they had emerged as worthy winners by 6 goals to 0.

This brought to an end our series of 3 pre-season friendlies which resulted in 3 wins with 15 goals scored and 3 conceded. Next week, however, we meet our toughest opposition so far (Penn & Tylers Green) in an away match in the Berks and Bucks Cup.


Hithercroft team:-
Simon Mines, Dewayne Dublin, Tyrone Francis, Ben Steele, Richard Vere, Paul & Peter Morgan, Jamaine Warner, Dan Birch, Rhydian Grange, 'Baz' David and Alan McKie.