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| Chinnor
Athletic (01/04/2007) 2006 - 2007 Season, Afc Hithercroft  This away game for Afc Hithercroft was their final league game of the season but Chinnor have three further games to play after this. The weather was dry with sunny spells interspersed with cloud and there was a bitter wind blowing. The grass had recently been cut and was a lot smoother than the Pedestal pitch of last week. The referee was Mr K. Doyle and Pam ran the line for Hithercroft. It was good to see that Alan McKie had taken time off from high-jump training to come and support his team-mates. The game kicked off promptly at 10.30am with Hithercroft having the strong wind behind them for the first half. They began well but were once again beset by a number of off-target shots. They did manage to put the ball into their opponents net in the first ten minutes but the ‘goal’ was disallowed because of an off-side flag. The opposing linesman was to ‘catch’ our players off-side time-and-time again during this match and many of his decisions were very questionable. However, on the 15-minute mark a high ball came in from a corner kick on the left and Kevin Howell buried the ball into the Chinnor net to give Hithercroft a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later Chinnor had an opportunity to level the score when their No.11 hit a 20-yard shot that went just wide of the left-hand post. In the 25th minute keeper, Neil Stretton, who had taken the field with a painful back, used the wind to send a long ball down the middle of the pitch and Frank Smith took it on, went round the Chinnor keeper and tapped the ball into the net to extend Hithercroft’s lead. Three minutes later a long range shot from Chinnor’s John Bailey (son of photographer, David - who’s he?) got past Neil to open the scoring for Chinnor. On 36 minutes Chinnor were awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box but Wayne Croxford’s shot was deflected out of play by one of his team-mates. In the 43rd minute Baz David, the Hithercroft captain, collected the ball in the middle of the pitch and rounded the keeper before striking the ball home to put the visitors 3-1 ahead. Shortly before half-time Baz’s name went into the referee’s book as Baz had kicked the ball away after the referee had again ruled him offside as he set up for a shot. Ten minutes into the second half Hithercroft made the first of their three substitutions, sending on Kevin Midgley to replace Craig Osborne. One minute later Frank burst through the Chinnor defence, pushed the ball out left to Baz and Baz drove the ball into the far right-hand side of the net, the goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball but being unable to prevent it’s progress into the goal. Within 60 seconds Baz had added another goal for his hat trick when he again ran through the defence and hit his shot to the left of the keeper. In the 68th minute John Baldock came on to replace Dan Allman for Hithercroft. Two minutes later Wayne Croxford took a corner kick from the left and the ball, aided by the strong wind, curved into the net to give Chinnor their second goal of the match. On 81 minutes Hithercroft made their final substitution, sending on Mike Baldock to replace Ashley Anderson who had been playing at the back during this game instead of his usual striker’s role. Five minutes later the ball went downfield beyond the Chinnor defence and Baz, Frank and John raced through. Baz, on the left, collected the ball and attempted to take it round the keeper who managed to gather the ball and prevent what should have been a certain goal. Shortly afterwards Baz sent in a high cross from the left, Kevin Howell took a diving header in front of the goalmouth but the ball passed about 20 feet over his head bringing a bit of humour into the game. The Chinnor No.12 received a booking for a bad tackle shortly before the referee signalled the end of the game, the score-line again being 5-2 to Hithercroft. Chinnor had been better behaved than they were the previous week and it was just the actions of their linesman that took the edge off the game. Hithercroft have now completed their league games for this season with 40 points and Chinnor need to win both of their games against Divn 3 champions, Greyhound, and also their game against Wycombe Marsh RBL to take the second spot with 41 points. Hithercroft scorers: Kevin Howell (15 mins), Frank Smith (25 mins), Baz David (43 mins, 56 mins, 57 mins) Hithercroft M.o.M: Baz David Hithercroft team: Neil Stretton (GK), Jamaine Warner, Kris Clark, Dan Allman, Dan Birch, Ashley Anderson, Craig Osborne, Kevin Howell, Baz David, Tyrone Francis, Frank Smith. Hithercroft substitutions: Kevin Midgley replaced Craig Osborne (55 mins) John Baldock replaced Dan Allman (68 mins) Mike Baldock replaced Ashley Anderson (81 mins) Chinnor Athletic scorers: John Bailey (28 mins), Wayne Croxford (70 mins) |
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