Wingrave United (12/12/2004)
2004 - 2005 Season, Hithercroft Youth


The weather was overcast but dry with a very strong and cold wind and the pitch was damp but in good condition. Hithercroft had three subs available in Ralph Kheir, Dewayne Dublin and Jamaine Warner who were all given an outing during this game and Wingrave used their lone sub James Otter. Ian Duncan ran the line for Wingrave and, as this was a morning game Pat Vaughey ran the line for Hithercroft (it being a bit early for Kevin). The referee was Paul Lomas.

The game began at 10.37am and both sides were sharing possession and attacking moves as they settled in. Gareth Fear, the Wingrave keeper, was put under pressure when Hithercroft took the ball down the right and Baz David sent the ball across the goalmouth. Gareth had to back-pedal and rise up to pluck the ball from the air. The first goal came after 35 minutes when Hithercroft crossed the ball in from the left, Baz David went down as he had his first shot blocked but he swivelled round and hooked the rebounding ball into the net. Simon Mines, the Hithercroft keeper, was then called upon to defend his goal, diving to his right to block an on-target shot from Wingrave’s Tom Bailey following a free kick. In the 42nd minute Baz crossed the ball into the centre, Rhydian Grange passed it onto Tyrone Francis who then sent it out to Dan Birch on the left wing. Dan crossed the ball back in and Baz rose up to head it into the goal to extend the visitor’s lead. Three minutes later Baz scored his hat-trick when, after a move again involving Rhydian, Tyrone and Dan he set himself up for a successful shot just before Mr Lomas blew the half-time whistle.

The referee restarted the game at 11.32am with Hithercroft having brought on Ralph to replace Paul Morgan. This half began at a hectic pace with the visitors showing plenty of determination to fight for possession. At 11.46am Wingrave brought on their sub James Otter shortly before Rhydian Grange put a shot wide of the post from a Dan Birch corner. Ralph then had a great opportunity when he was sent clear through the middle but hit his shot straight at the advancing Wingrave keeper. At 11.52am Dewayne Dublin went on to replace Dan and six minutes later Jamaine Warner came on to take up position on the right wing, Brian Lewis making positional changes at the same time. Five minutes later Ben Steele sent a long high ball down the centre of the pitch, Dewayne raced through the defence to gather it and he chipped the ball over Gareth’s head to put the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net to give Hithercroft a 4-0 advantage. Hithercroft had a number of chances in the following minutes but were being dispossessed before getting close enough to attempt shots at goal. Wingrave broke away when Tom Madden received the ball in the centre and played it out to James Otter who’s resulting shot was pushed round the outside of the post by a diving Simon Mines. In the 89th minute Ralph took a corner from the right and the ball ended up in the Wingrave net when a defender failed to clear the ball and mis-directed it into his own goal, giving Hithercroft a 5-0 victory.

Wingrave had showed promise and put the visitors under pressure from time-to-time, especially in the first half, and are better than their current position in the table indicates. Hithercroft are beginning to show more sparkle and commitment, players making themselves available and putting good passes together but they need to let their team-mates know their availability by calling for the ball. Mark Sadler had played extremely well in his defensive role but was just ‘pipped’ by Baz David’s tireless work when it came to the nomination of Hithercroft’s Man-of-the-Match.


Hithercroft's team:-
Simon Mines, Peter Morgan, Gordon Preston, Mark Sadler, Richard Vere, Ben Steele, Dan Birch, Paul Morgan, Baz David, Rhydian Grange and Tyrone Francis with subs Ralph Kheir, Dewayne Dublin and Jamaine Warner.

Hithercroft's scorers:-
Baz David (35m, 42m and 45m), Dewayne Dublin (86m) and a Wingrave o.g (89m)

Hithercroft's M.o.M was Baz David.


Wingrave United’s team:-
Gareth Fear, Jonathan Curry, Jack Butterfield, Will Dawson, Chris Hunnings, Ed Owen, Ashley Durrington, Will Moore, Tom Bailey, Alan Pickering and Tom Madden with sub James Otter.


The following short report was submitted to the Bucks Free Press Midweek edition:-

Hithercroft Youth visited Wingrave United this week and, after a fairly even 30 minutes, struck with three goals from Baz David in the 35th, 42nd and 45th minutes. The first Baz sent in with a hooked shot when he was lying on the ground, the second was from a header and the final shot came after Baz had carefully teed the ball up in front of goal. The second half began at a hectic pace but it wasn’t until the 86th minute that the next goal came. Ben Steele sent a long high ball down the centre and Dewayne Dublin raced through to chip the ball over the advancing Wingrave keeper’s head into the top right hand corner of the goal. In the final minute Wingrave conceded an own-goal when a defender deflected the ball into the net when attempting to clear a Ralph Kheir corner and Hithercroft emerged 5-0 winners.