Three Horseshoes - League (14/09/2008)
2008 - 2009 Season, Afc Hithercroft



After a week of wet weather Saturday was dry and sunny enabling Pam & Des to mark out the pitch after the grass had been cut late on Friday afternoon. It proved a tricky task as only fine traces of some of the lines were visible and some had completely disappeared and so needed measuring out again. Sunday dawned as a very sunny day with the sun proving to be quite warm but with a very gentle breeze to keep the temperature comfortable. Hithercroft were again suffering from a number of absentees but had two subs available whilst the visitors could only provide one spare player. The referee was Mr E. Faulkner and Pat Vaughey took the flag for the first half whilst Pam Ife took over for the second.

Kick-off was at 10.31am and Three Horseshoes began confidently with a number of shots at the Hithercroft goal, some being saved by Neil Stretton, the goalkeeper, and others being off-target. On 11 minutes Hithercroft played a long ball downfield and, as Jahmel Sutton closed in, Phil Lines came forward to clear the ball but it rebounded from Jahmel and rolled over the goal-line as Phil scrambled back in an unsuccessful attempt to stop it. Three minutes later, following a late tackle by Ryan Forbes, play was stopped whilst Mr Faulkner admonished Ryan, and at this point Frank Smith left the field for prolonged treatment to an old ankle injury that had been aggravated. After 15 minutes Neil hit a long clearance and Niko Catigoudis collected the ball on the left, brought it into the 18-yard box and hit an angled shot into the far side of the net to give Hithercroft a 2-0 lead. A poor goal-kick from Neil went straight to the Shoes’ No.16 allowing him to hit a shot that hit the right-hand post before going out of play. On 21 minutes Frank returned and almost added to his side’s scoreline when Denzil Johnson’s cross from the left found his head but Frank directed it just wide of the right-hand post. Three minutes later Neil again sent a long clearance kick downfield and Jahmel collected the bouncing ball and struck it on the turn but his shot went wide of the left-hand post. Niko took a throw-in near the Shoes’ left corner flag, received the ball back from Ryan and hit an acute-angled shot which went just over the crossbar. On 27 minutes, a cross from the right was met by the Shoes’ No.8 but his header hit the top of the Hithercroft crossbar as it passed over. Two minutes before the half-time whistle Denzil collected the ball on the left, centred it to Jahmel, received the return and struck it from the edge of the 18-yard box into the far right-hand corner of the net to give Hithercroft a 3-0 lead at the break.

At 11.23am the game resumed with Hithercroft having replaced Niko with Zeesham Ullah. Five minutes into the half the Shoes’ No.11, Simon Bennett, received a booking for an offence that many of us failed to see. One minute later Gary Lines took a long throw-in and Simon Bennett ran in from the far side to head the ball inside the left-hand post to put Shoes on the scoreboard. On 63 minutes Shoes hit two close-up shots but both were blocked by Neil. Five minutes later Denzil received the ball and hit a curving shot over the keeper and it passed just below the crossbar to put Hithercroft 4-1 up. However, within a minute of the restart Neil had to pick the ball out of the back of his net when Dean Kemp had run through and hit the ball home. On 71 minutes Jamal Blake came on to replace Ryan for Hithercroft. Two minutes later Frank let fly with a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box but Phil went down on it, taking the pace off the ball and deflecting it outside the right-hand post. On 75 minutes Gary Lines hit a 35-yard shot that curved to the right but Neil dived to push the ball wide of the right-hand post. Shoes sent a long ball down the middle in the 85th minute and Dean Kemp ran on to chip the ball over the Hithercroft keeper into the net to bring the score-line to 4-3. Shoes then made their single substitution of the game. On the 88 minute mark Denzil went on a run, jinking round defenders and the keeper to slot the ball just inside the right-hand post, completing a hattrick and giving Hithercroft a 5-3 win.

Hithercroft scorers: Jahmel Sutton (11m), Niko Catigoudis (15m), Denzil Johnson (43m, 68m, 88m)

Hithercroft M.o.m: Neil Stretton

Hithercroft team (starters): Neil Stretton (GK), Luke Revell, Kris Clark, Jason Guy, Michael Louise, Niko Catigoudis, Dan Allman, Ryan Forbes, Frank Smith, Denzil Johnson, Jahmel Sutton (capt)
Hithercroft subs: Zeesham Ullah replaced Niko (45m), Jamal Blake replaced Ryan (71m)

Three Horseshoes scorers: Simon Bennett (51m), Dean Kemp (69m, 85m)