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| Marlow
Donkey - League (25/11/2007) 2007 - 2008 Season, Afc Hithercroft  It was a cold and rather windy morning with occasional sunny spells between cloudy skies for this first meeting of these two clubs. The grass had been cut short on Friday and the pitch was in very good condition. The Marlow Donkey side turned out in an all-blue kit whilst Afc Hithercroft wore their usual red shirts and white shorts. Frank Smith was unavailable for this game because of work commitments and so Baz David took on the Hithercroft captaincy. Pam ran the line for the home team and the Mr G. White took charge of the game. The game kicked off at 10.28am with Hithercroft playing from left to right when viewed from the clubhouse. The first goal came after just 5 minutes when Kevin Howell passed the ball out wide to Tyrone Francis who struck a 35-yard curving shot that ended up in the top left-hand corner of the net, the leaping Marlow keeper being unable to reach it. Two minutes later Marlow brought the ball down the right-hand side, turned in and hit a shot that had Neil Stretton, the Hithercroft keeper, diving to push the ball round the right-hand post. After 11 minutes the referee stopped the game whilst a search was conducted to find a wedding ring that had been dropped by one of the Marlow players. After a short search the ring was found and so the game resumed. In the 24th minute Neil threw the ball out to Baz David and, as he took the ball towards the Marlow 18-yard box he was brought down by the No.5, whose name went into Mr White’s book. From the resulting free kick Kevin sent the ball over the Marlow crossbar. Three minutes later the Marlow No.5 sent in a high shot which Neil pushed over the Hithercroft crossbar. Hithercroft were stringing a number of accurate passes together but their shots at goal were not getting through the defence or past the Marlow keeper. In the 32nd minute Dan Allman played the ball forward to Baz, Baz took it down the left wing, turned inside stepping outside the keeper but hit the ball into the side netting. Four minutes before the interval Ryan Forbes crossed the ball into the box and Dan raced in and, stretching to reach the ball on the 6-yard line, hit it wide of the right-hand post. The second half began at 11.18am, neither side having made any changes during the break. Ten minutes into the half Dan took the ball down the middle, moved to the right and hit it across the goal into the far side of the net to put Hithercroft 2-0 ahead. Three minutes later Neil sent a goal clearance kick down the middle of the pitch, Baz ran on from the halfway line to collect it and chipped the ball over the Marlow keeper, who had come forward, and then headed the ball into the open net for Hithercroft’s third goal. Following an injury to the Marlow No.8 the player had to leave the field and so their linesman came on to replace him. In the 68th minute Hithercroft made their first substitution, sending on Dwayne Blake to replace Kevin. Five minutes later Hithercroft came close to adding a 4th goal when Baz sent the ball into the 18-yard box where Dwayne mis-hit a shot, sending the ball just outside the right-hand upright. Marlow then made another change, this time swapping one of their out-field players with the goalkeeper and in the 77th minute Hithercroft brought on Mike Baldock to replace Ryan. Two minutes later Hithercroft finally got their reward when Baz collected the ball, evaded a heavy tackle by an opponent and slotted the ball through the advancing keeper’s legs into the net. Hithercroft maintained their pressure on their opponents but were unable to add to their tally of goals and so, after three minutes of added time, they emerged as 4-0 winners. It had been extremely difficult to decide who should be awarded Hithercroft’s Man-of-the-match but, in spite of the superb goalkeeping by Neil Stretton, the award went to Dan Allman for his excellent work out on the pitch. Hithercroft scorers: Tyrone Francis (5m). Dan Allman (55m), Baz David (59m and 79m) Hithercroft’s M.o.m: Dan Allman Hithercroft team: Neil Stretton (GK), Kris Clark, Jason Guy, Mark Charman, Luke Revell, Baz David (Capt), Kevin Howell, Dan Allman, Ryan Forbes, Ashley Anderson, Tyrone Francis Hithercroft subs: Dwayne Blake replaced Kevin Howell (68m), Mike Baldock replaced Ryan Forbes (77m) Hithercroft unused subs: Kevin Midgley, John Baldock and Ken Johnson |
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