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& Jockey - Friendly (17/08/2008) 2008 - 2009 Season, Afc Hithercroft  On a sunny afternoon Afc Hithercroft met Division 1 side Horse & Jockey in the third friendly match of the season. The pitch had been cut and rollered the day before and so was in very good condition. With Baz David injured and a number of players that included goalkeeper Neil Stretton being unavailable it initially appeared that the home side would be short-handed but Dan Allman took on the goalkeeping job and new players Shakib Latif, Matt Turner, Denzil Johnson and Gary Blake made up the numbers. The visitors supplied the referee, Mr Ray Solomon, and the Hithercroft linesmen were Pam and Pat. The game began promptly at 12.30pm and it took just 6 minutes before the first goal was scored. Hithercroft’s Denzil Johnson, making his debut, gathered the ball on the right, turned inside at the 18-yard box, went round a number of players and then puit the ball past the keeper into the net for a good solo effort. However, on 10 minutes H & J sent the ball into the Hithercroft 18-yard box and their No.18 headed the ball into right-hand side of the net to level the score. Three minutes later Hithercroft went back into the lead when a long ball went down the middle and Denzil pounced to shoot the ball into the net. H & J hit back in the 16th minute when their No.18 again found the back of their opponent’s net to score a second equaliser. On 21 minutes, following a corner kick, H & J were awarded a penalty kick after one of their players had been pushed in the penalty area. The No.8 drove the ball to the right of the keeper but Dan went down to push it round the post. From a corner kick an H & J player hit a shot at the Hithercroft goal and Tyrone Francis appeared to have cleared the ball from the goal-line; however, the Hithercroft linesman indicated to the referee that Tyrone hit the ball after it had crossed the line and so H & J took the lead for the first time in the match. Tyrone, on 28 minutes, played the ball out to the right, Ryan Forbes sent it back into the middle and Denzil, despite being brought down, got up and hit the ball into the net to bring the score to 3-3. Zeesham Ullah then left to attend a wedding and Shakib Latif, also making his debut for the home team, went on as his replacement. In the 33rd minute H & J were awarded a free-kick and sent a high ball towards the goal. Dan rose up to gather it but the ball slipped from his hands allowing the No.5 to follow in and tap the ball into the net. Unfortunately I missed another goal from H & J whilst I was searching for a ‘lost’ ball in the adjacent field and, at the half-time whistle H & J were 5-3 ahead. For the restart at 1.24pm Hithercroft brought on Dan Birch, Jahmel Sutton and Gary Blake taking off Michael Louise, Jamal Blake and Michael Pearce. In the 53rd minute Denzil crossed the ball into the middle but Jahmel’s shot went straight to the keeper. Three minutes later Gary Blake ran in to slip the ball into the H & J net to reduce the Hithercroft deficit to just 1 goal but on 65 minutes, following a corner-kick, the visitors were again two goals up. On 70 minutes Hithercroft cleared the ball from an H & J corner-kick but the No.5 struck a good 25-yard shot into the net to put his team 7-4 ahead. Just 3 minutes later Hithercroft sent a long ball down the middle, Gary crossed it inside and Denzil hammered the ball home for Hithercroft’s 5th goal. On 80 minutes the visitors sent the ball downfield to their No.5 who struck the ball past Dan, as he came forward, to increase H & J’s lead to 8-5. Three minutes later Michael Louise returned to replace Matt Turner for Hithercroft but the score-line remained unchanged until the final whistle. Hithercroft scorers: Denzil Johnson (6m, 13m, 28m, 73m), Gary Blake (56m) Hithercroft M.o.M: Denzil Johnson Hithercroft team (starters): Dan Allman (GK), Jason Guy, Kris Clark, Jamal Blake, Zeesham Ullah, Matt Turner, Michael Louise, Ryan Forbes, Michael Pearce, Tyrone Francis, Denzil Johnson Hithercroft subs: Dan Birch, Shakib Latif, Jahmel Sutton, Gary Blake
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