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Saturday 4th September 2010
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Matches played Saturday 15th November 2008
AFC Hull crack on with games on their all-weather pitch.
There has been a distinct dearth of football played in the Amateur League in the last 2-3 weeks due to incessant rain, and the subsequent waterlogged pitches, but AFC Hull are determined to make best use of the facilities which they use at the University, and prevent a season end backlog of fixtures which could impact on their very real title challenge in Division 1, and with this in mind, re-arranged a recently postponed fixture against the Duke of Wellington with an evening kick off, under the floodlights on their all weather 3G pitch.
The result was a new experience for the visitors, and for table toppers, AFC Hull, the result they sought, despite having five regulars missing from their line up.
AFC Hull’s youngsters began brightly, retaining possession, and forcing their opponents onto defence, and only a string of fine saves by Duke’s keeper Willy Shaw kept the score sheet blank, at least until the 16th minute when Mark Friston jinked through the defence and slipped the ball past him.
AFC Hull kept up the pressure on the Duke of Wellington goal, and only more last ditch saves by Shaw kept the score unchanged, but on 22 minutes the defence cracked again when Louis Clark moved forward to the edge of the box before sliding a inch perfect pass, along the floor, to midfielder Sean McFaul whose shot went in off the post, giving Hull a 2-0 lead.
The pressure from the AFC Hull youngsters did not lessen, and on the half hour a well placed cross by attacker Nathan Nicol was met with a spectacular flying header by Rio Buckley and the ball nestled in the net.
Within minutes, the architect of the goal, Nathan Nicol turned scorer when he burst through the Duke defence, and added to the score with a composed finish. Just two minutes later the same duo combined again, resulting in Buckley bagging his second goal of the night.
The second half saw a similar pattern to the first half with the home side dominating possession, but creating fewer chances. A quarter of an hour into the second half action, a quick break forward by midfielder Jason Watson, and a one-two on the edge of the box, left him in a one on one situation with the keeper, whom he beat with the assistance of the upright.
The final half hour produced limited chances, and the only remaining score was a consolation goal for Duke, after Jack McFaul was adjudged to have committed a foul on the edge of his box, and the resulting free kick by Matty Robinson, which keeper Craig Lindley did get a hand to, narrowly squeezed in the angle of the post.
After a disappointing cup defeat a week earlier, where Swiss Cottage felt that they had not done themselves justice, a return to winning ways was essential, and the side they hoped to put to the sword, was The Duke of Wellington.
Swiss took the lead after five minutes when a well placed drive by Shaun Scotthorne found the net but Duke of Wellington came back into the game and a brilliant solo run by Matty Robinson, who dribbled his way past four Swiss defenders before tucking the ball into the net, levelled the scores.
Both sides had good opportunities to take lead but it was Swiss who went into the break in the lead, thanks to a well taken effort by Shaun Scotthorne, from distance, which Duke keeper Karl Hopkinson fumbled, and the ball crossed the goal-line.
Immediately after the restart, both sides creased opportunities but as the game went on, Swiss took control with some neat attacking football down the flanks and on the hour Shaun Scotthorne completed his hat-trick when he converted a low cross from Craig Fitzpatrick.
The game was clearly beyond Duke when Ben Bassett finished a great run through their defence with a fourth goal, and Shaun Scotthorne then turned the screw when he increased his match tally to four goals, having latched onto a neat through ball from Clint Brant.
With just 10 minutes remaining, Swiss introduced substitute Ricky Russell, and with his first touch of the ball he completed the victory for Swiss.
After two weeks of inactivity, AFC Preston, in the Premier Division, looked very rusty against a young and fast Raine FC side, who took full advantage to take the lead, and although his shot was a very speculative effort, credit should be given to Raine striker Jordan Drinkall for a well taken goal.
Preston slowly came out of hibernation, and enjoyed greater possession, and carved out chance after chance, only to be thwarted by poor finishing or the superb goal keeping skills of Daniel Johnson, and as half time arrived, frustration was definitely creeping in to their play.
The game continued in the same vein in the second half, with Preston having all the ball, and Raine largely unable to get out of their own half. Numerous chances were fluffed by Preston before the very fast forward line of Raine sprung the offside trap, and Steven Drinkall raced away to slot home the second goal of the game.
Preston continued to apply pressure and eventually were rewarded with a goal from John Cross who made no mistake with his finish.
Preston did succeed in putting the ball in the back of the net again, but the referee did not allow the ‘goal’ to stand, and a frustrated Preston side went away empty handed - despite enjoying a ‘chances created’ ratio which read somewhere in the region of 30-2 - but that merely underlines how important taking those chances, really is!
A quirk of the ERCFA cup draw and the league programme, saw Paull Wanderers and AFC Hull facing each other for the second week running – again on the 3G pitch – and again this was largely a game of two halves, as AFC Hull came out playing some good football, forcing Paull onto the back foot, scoring twice before the break, and maybe should have added three or four more!
Hull took the lead on 21 minutes when Tony Tummon slotted home after a precision pass from Mark Friston had split the visitor’s defence, but then had to wait until a minute before the break to add to the score, and deservedly did so when a quick break sent Tummon through on goal and he squared the ball to Sam Nicholson who scored with a wonderful first time shot.
Paull realised AFC Hull’s inability to take enough of their chances had left them an opportunity to creep back into the game, and after 10 minutes, a spell of good passing allowed veteran Terry Thompson to open Paull’s account, throwing the game open.
AFC Hull re-established a two-goal advantage after 62 minutes when a great passing movement, which was acknowledged by their opponents, created the opportunity for Tummon to knock the ball through to Friston who finished clinically from eight yards.
Paull refused to give in, and got a second goal when Darren Dennison played a ball from defence to Damian Bullingham, who hammered the ball into the net.
Again, it was game on, but AFC Hull stuck to their principles and passed the ball well and within two minutes added a further goal, centre back Callum Harrison having charged forward, sent a perfect lofted pass over Friston’s shoulder, which fell to his feet, and Friston lashed home his second goal of the game. AFC Hull could well have added a fifth goal, but a bullet of a shot hit the cross bar and was hammered clear from the goal line.
Paull still pressed forward and Thompson missed a sitter before Bullingham got his second goal after 78 minutes rekindling Paull’s hopes of some reward from the game.
Bullingham should have completed his hat-trick but missed a simple opportunity, firing way over the bar, and with that miss, Paull knew that it was not going to be their day, but table toppers AFC Hull were not unhappy to hear the final whistle – again!
Running three teams can cause problems, particularly for the third team who invariably feel the brunt caused by unavailability and work commitments, and AFC West Hull C’s game was put in doubt as an added problem of traffic build up delayed player’s arrivals.
The patience of the home team, The Courts, and the referee eventually saw the game get underway, with West Hull fielding a full complement of players, although the balance of the team was affected, with defenders in the line-up outnumbering midfielders and forwards. Initially West Hull looked comfortable and they should have been two goals up inside ten minutes as Ian Dowd and Callum Drury went close.
After 20 minutes The Courts took the lead when Chris Joplin scored, amid the controversy of an offside claim, but he played to the whistle and lobbed the ball beyond the onrushing keeper, Darren Purchon.
This incident fired up the West Hull side and they applied wave after wave of attacks but had no one to finish the moves, and the half finished with the single goal dividing the teams.
The second half saw a much better game, as both teams piled on the pressure but after numerous saves by Purchon, the home side finally took a 2 - 0 lead with a piece of brilliant play by Joplin who rounded the keeper and slotted the ball away coolly.
Resolute defending from West Hull’s man of the match Drury and Louis Hoy kept the score unchanged ,but the inevitable third goal did materialise, as Joplin completed his hat-trick.
West Hull changed tactics with 30 minutes to go, and were almost rewarded when Kris Edge and Pete Wolstenholme went close. With time running out, West’s Mark Cooper made some space for a pile driver from 25 yards, but the goal was mere consolation and was too little too late, and the Courts were again left celebrating.
Willerby Holiday Homes faced a strong wind in first half of their game against AFC Malt Shovel first half and were under pressure for the first 10 minutes until a great through ball from Gary Neve beat the Malt Shovel offside trap and Carl Tozer ran through to tuck it in to the bottom corner of the net
The task facing Malt Shovel was made more difficult when a red card was produced by the referee for dissent, and the remainder of the half was decidedly scrappy, but shortly before the break Shovel won a corner and Chris Liversedge’s cross went into the goal off keeper Dennis Roe’s leg.
The second half saw both sides enjoying a fair share of the play. Willerby had introduced Mick Larkin with thirty minutes remaining, and he became ‘super-sub’ with 10 minutes remaining, when he took on two players before hitting a low drive into the net from 20 yards, depriving a battling Shovel of the draw they felt they deserved, and the defeat was hard to take.
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Match Reports
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24th April 2010
17th April 2010
10th April 2010
3rd April 2010
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