Chinnor Athletic - League (30/03/2008)
2007 - 2008 Season, Afc Hithercroft



After a week of rain the pitch was damp but in surprisingly good condition for this first meeting of the season between these two sides. The weather was dry and sunny with no wind, the referee being Mr. T. Bingle and Ken Johnson running the line for Hithercroft.

This last home game for Afc Hithercroft kicked off at 10.35am with the home team playing from right to left as viewed from the clubhouse. After 30 seconds Chinnor’s No.8 received the ball in the middle of the pitch about 20 yards from the Hithercroft goal-line, turned and hit a shot that had Neil Stretton diving to gather it. On the one minute mark the Chinnor No.7 took the ball down the left, turned inside and blasted the ball against the right-hand post. On 6 minutes Chinnor crossed the ball to the right and their No.17 drove the ball into the far side of the net to put the visitors 1-0 ahead. Three minutes later Hithercroft’s Baz David played the ball into the 6-yard box from out on the right and Tyrone Francis ran onto it but his shot was deflected out of play by the keeper. In the 13th minute Chinnor crossed the ball into the middle, Hithercroft failed to clear it, and the No.7 sent the ball just inside the left-hand post to increase Chinnor’s lead to 2-0. Seven minutes later Chinnor again crossed the ball in from the right and their No.8 collected it, turned and struck it into the Hithercroft goal to score their third. In the 29th minute Chinnor struck again, the ball once again being played into the middle and the No.7 hitting a shot from 20 yards into the net for a 4-0 lead. At this point Jason Guy, the usual Hithercroft centre-back who had arrived too late to be included in the starting line-up, came on to replace Jamal Blake, Dave Ebberson then moving up into mid-field. Hithercroft’s Frank Smith sent in a high corner kick but Kris Clark’s header was just wide of the post. On 43 minutes, following a trip on Baz, a free-kick was awarded near the left-hand corner of the Chinnor 18-yard box but Baz’s shot was then tipped over the crossbar. Chinnor made a substitution just before the half-time whistle, replacing their No.10 by No.3.

At 11.29am the second half got under way and, in the 51st minute, Chinnor made their second substitution, sending on No.9 to replace their No.2. Eight minutes later Hithercroft sent the ball down the middle, Baz took it on and hit a shot against the left-hand upright. On 66 minutes Hithercroft centred the ball and Dave Ebberson hit a 15-yard shot into the Chinnor net to put his side onto the score-board. Four minutes later the Chinnor No.9 had his name entered into the referee’s book for kicking the ball away when a free-kick had been awarded to Hithercroft. Baz sent the ball into the middle, Tyrone Francis headed it on and Ryan Forbes headed the ball into the net, only to be ruled off-side. On 77 minutes Hithercroft sent the ball forward to Baz who then struck it into the top of the opposition’s net to close the gap to 4-2. Two minutes later Tyrone sent the ball into the middle and Dan Allman hit the ball into the net but the Chinnor linesman indicated an off-side. After the referee had gone across to consult him the goal was eventually disallowed. However, in the 87th minute Hithercroft played the ball into the middle, Chinnor partially cleared the ball, but it fell to Dave who struck the ball into the net to reduce Hithercroft’s deficit to just one goal. Two minutes later Baz collected the ball on the left, turned inside and hit it into the back of the net to level the scores to 4-all just before the final whistle.

Hithercroft appeared not to have woken up after the clocks had gone forward by one hour on Saturday night and they also had a weakness in defence during the early stages, allowing the Chinnor strikers to build up a 4-0 lead in the first half-hour. However, they got their act together in the last half-hour and completely dominated the game from then on but losing out on the chance to get a winner as the 90 minutes expired. Although they had commendably come back from what had appeared to be an unassailable deficit this draw has probably put paid to any hopes of gaining promotion at the end of this season.


Hithercroft scorers: Dave Ebberson (66m, 87m), Baz David (77m, 89m)

Hithercroft’s M.o.m: Dave Ebberson

Hithercroft team: Neil Stretton (GK), Kris Clark, Luke Revell, Dave Ebberson, Mark Charman, Ryan Forbes, Jamal Blake, Baz David, Frank Smith (Capt), Dan Allman, Tyrone Francis
Hithercroft subs: Jason Guy replaced Jamal Blake (30m), Dan Birch replaced Kris Clark (68m)
Unused subs: Ken Johnson

Chinnor Athletic scorers: No.17 (6m), No.7 (13m, 29m), No.8 (20m)