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Dun & Bradstreet - Friendly (10/08/2008) 2008 - 2009 Season, Afc Hithercroft  The weather was sunny but cloudy for most of this game with an occasional shower. Hithercroft were again without goalkeeper Neil Stretton and so Michael Louise took on this role. In spite of having further absentees Hithercroft had 14 players available with coach, Brian Lewis, taking charge of the match and Pam Ife running the line in the first half. The pitch was dry but bumpy in places, the grass greening up but getting a bit long following a week of wet weather. The game began at 12.31pm in a crosswind and after 10 minutes a scoring opportunity fell to Hithercroft when Frank Smith played the ball through to Baz David. Baz attempted to chip the ball over the advancing keeper but the keeper managed to get his hands to it. Hithercroft were attacking their opponents’ goal for the majority of the first half but, in the 28th minute, D & B took the ball down the left and crossed it inside from where their No.7 hammered the ball just inside the left-hand post to put D & B into a 1-0 lead. On 31 minutes Hithercroft made two substitutions sending on Dan Birch and Michael Pearce to replace Dwayne Blake and Zeesham Ullah. One minute later Baz had a shot deflected just wide of the left-hand post and, from the resulting corner kick taken by Frank, John Harry missed with a header. Two minutes after this Kris Clark also headed the ball over the crossbar from a Hithercroft corner kick. On 38 minutes Baz slipped over as he collected the ball but quickly regained his feet to go down the right, avoided their No.4 and crossed the ball into the middle where John blasted the ball against the D & B keeper from about two yards out. The second half began at 1.26pm with Jamal Blake replacing Jahmel Sutton and Pat Vaughey taking over the linesman’s flag to Pam. Two minutes into the half Baz crossed the ball from the left and Jamal hit a shot wide of the left-hand upright. On 51 minutes Harry Young took a throw-in on the half-way line for Hithercroft, Baz sent the ball inside and Tyrone Francis, on the edge of the 18-yard box, struck the ball into the net to level the score as he was brought down. In the 66th minute Baz went down with an ankle injury and, after receiving treatment both on and off the field took no further part in the game, his place being taken by Jahmel Sutton. On 74 minutes Hithercroft put the ball into the D & B net but the ‘goal’ was disallowed following a push on the goalkeeper. At this point I took Baz to Wycombe Hospital where his ankle was x-rayed and damaged ligaments was the diagnosis. After dropping Baz home I returned to find that the game had ended in a 2-2 draw. D & B had gone 2-1 ahead following a poor backpass by a Hithercroft defender, allowing a D & B player to nip in and put the ball into the net. Dwayne Blake, who had come back onto the field as a substitute scored the equaliser about 15 minutes before the end of the match. Hithercroft scorers: Tyrone Francis (28m), Dwayne Blake (75m) Hithercroft team (starters): Michael Louise (GK), Mark Charman, Kris Clark, John Harry, Dwayne Blake, Zeesham Ullah, Jahmel Sutton, Tyrone Francis, Frank Smith (Capt), Harry Young, Baz David Hithercroft subs: Dan Birch, Michael Pearce, Jamal Blake |
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