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& Bradstreet friendly (13/08/2006) 2006 - 2007 Season, Afc Hithercroft  This game was the first of three friendly matches before the league games get under way. The weather overnight and into the morning had been wet and windy but, although the wind remained, the rain stopped before the kick-off and stayed away until after the game. Hithercroft are now playing in an all-red kit for the coming season and Dun & Bradstreet played in a yellow and blue kit (the same as Hithercroft used 2 seasons ago). The referee was Mr Dennis Fryer and Pam Ife ran the line for Hithercroft. There were only 12 players available to Hithercroft and Peter Morgan was our sub. The game kicked off at 11.05am with a strong wind behind Hithercroft who were playing from right-to-left as viewed from the clubhouse. The home team began well with one shot on-goal and three consecutive corner kicks before the visitors got into the game. After 12 minutes D & B hit a shot that had the Hithercroft keeper, Matt Hedges, pushing the ball up into the air and then they hit the right-hand post with a subsequent shot. However, at 11.22am Hithercroft took the lead when Loz Dunn sent a long throw to Frank Smith whose shot was pushed clear as far as Dewayne Dublin, and Dewayne then struck the ball into the visitors’ net. After 33 minutes D & B made their first substitution, followed 7 minutes later by Hithercroft sending on Peter to replace Leon Browne. At 11.42am Hithercroft played a ball down the middle where Dewayne gathered it, turned and hit a shot just wide of the left-hand post. The D & B No.10 hit a shot at the lower right-hand corner of the net but Matt quickly got down to push the ball round the post to concede a corner kick. The ball came in high from the corner and Matt pushed the ball down and the defence just stood and watched the ball waiting for someone to clear it. When someone eventually tried to clear it the ball fell to the D & B No.9 who hit the ball into the net for a simple goal at 11.48am. At half-time the scores remained level at 1-1. The game resumed at 12 o’clock with Hithercroft now playing into the wind and the sun put in a brief appearance before disappearing again behind cloud. After 8 minutes of play Jermaine Warner came off and Leon went back on for Hithercroft but after another 8 minutes Jermaine returned replacing Dewayne. Thirty-one minutes into the half Hithercroft came close to retaking the lead when Paul Morgan sent the ball forward to Frank near the left-hand post and Frank headed the ball down but it bounced up into the keeper’s hands. At 12.37pm D & B sent in a high corner-kick from the left that the wind pushed towards the Hithercroft goal but Matt leaped up to push the ball round the far post. End-to-end play followed and the visitors had a great opportunity to score again when their No.6 went through the defence but hit a shot from fifteen yards over the crossbar at 12.42pm. Neither side managed to add any further goals to their tally before the final whistle. This had been a good close game which exposed a few shortcomings in both sides after their summer break. Dun & Bradstreet will be in Division 1 for this season (as FC D&B) and so the Hithercroft performance was encouraging. Hithercroft scorer: Dewayne Dublin (17m) Hithercroft M.o.M: Dougie Carswell Hithercroft team: Matt Hedges (GK), Jamaine Warner, David Blackman, Doug Carswell, Leon Browne, Paul Morgan, Loz Dunn, Frank Smith, Baz David, Tyrone Francis, Dewayne Dublin. Hithercroft sub: Peter Morgan |
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