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Tuesday 7th September 2010
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Matches played Saturday 28th March 2009
It's the magic of the Cup - AFC Piper prove that it's all on the day.
Throughout the season, the youngsters of AFC Hull have proven to be virtually untouchable in their league fixtures, but in forays into the ERCFA and League Cup competitions their form has been largely unpredictable and with a game played in each cup last week, their interest in both competitions was ended.
Midweek, under lights, Kinnersley were the opposition in the ER Intermediate Cup in a game which was ordered to be replayed after Kinnersley were found to have contravened a player eligibility rule, but the match result was the same as the first encounter, with Kinnersley on this occasion edging home by the odd goal in three, though it has to be said, that, on the balance of play on the night, AFC Hull deserved a better fate and the game may have taken a different turn had a drive, in the first half, gone in instead of rebounding back into play with the Kinnersley custodian well beaten.
Having lost to higher ranked opponents, AFC Hull would doubtless be expecting a different outcome in the third round of the League Cup competition where they were the senior side, but, as in the previous round, where beating Staks AFC proved difficult, they came up against a determined outfit with a point to prove, in AFC Piper.
Piper.
High winds made conditions difficult for both sides to play their natural passing games, and the early part of the match suffered with several breaks in play. However, Piper managed to get a foot-hold in the game and began making openings against uncertain AFC Hull defending, and the deadlock was broken after ten minutes when a combination of the wind and poor defending allowed Andrew Finnerty to race clear and slot the ball comfortably past an on-rushing Hull keeper, Craig Lindley.
AFC Hull continued to struggle playing into the wind, and Piper increased their lead when a well worked passing move on the left found Imran Kahn on the edge of the box and he laid the ball off to Mark Johnson who crashed the ball from 25 yards past the helpless goalkeeper.
This second setback acted as a spur to AFC Hull and they began to show some authority and almost got back into the game on the quarter hour when Piper struggled to deal with a cross from the left wing, Matthew Warcup and goalkeeper James Walker getting each other into difficulties before Warcup finally took charge to clear from off his own goal line.
As the half wore on, Piper continued to threaten as long balls posed a constant threat to the AFC Hull back four, but, on forty minutes, AFC Hull responded positively when Callum Harrison struck the ball goalwards from twenty yards, out only to see his effort brilliantly saved by Walker. The wind continued to be problematical, and the half drew to a close with Piper on top.
Both sides made single substitutions at the break, and AFC Hull started to make use of the strong wind, now blowing in their favour, and within two minutes of the restart, leading scorer Sam Nicholson pulling a goal back from the edge of the box.
Two minutes later AFC Hull were given a golden opportunity to equalise when Referee Martin Flynn awarded AFC Hull a dubious penalty for a hand-ball in the box, but the normally assured Nicholson shot weakly and the penalty was brilliantly saved by Jamie Walker diving low to his left.
Walker undid his good work a few minutes later when a poor throw out was capitalised upon by Hull’s Dale Carty who lobbed the ball back into an empty net from twenty-five yards to level the scores.
Having pulled back a two-goal deficit, AFC Hull should have been buoyant, but this time it was Piper who heeded the wake up call, and they began creating chances and were rewarded for their persistence when a dangerous Matty Warcup long throw found Imran Kahn in the six-yard box, and he gathered the ball delightfully before turning and slotting it under keeper Lindley to restore Pipers lead.
At three-two down, AFC Hull had it all to do again and began pouring forward in numbers, but the Piper defence frustrated them on several occasions before a Mark Friston cross found Nathan Nichol unmarked and closing in on goal, and he finished from point blank range to again level the game.
Piper’s tenacity was broken when a Sean McFaul pass opened up space for Dale Carty to fire past the Piper keeper, putting his side ahead for the first time in the game with just ten minutes to the final whistle.
It was now Piper’s turn to dig deep but with five minutes remaining, Andrew Finnerty broke free again and despite being chased down by two defenders, calmly slotted the ball in the bottom corner for a replica of his first goal of the game.
Piper had to show extra resilience in the closing stages and, at the very least, deserved the opportunity to contest extra time.
Two late forced substitutions meant tactical changes were required by AFC Piper, for whom Richard Bartle's team talk proved enough to give the players the determination to fight to the bitter end, and it was fair to say that AFC Hull, who had won the toss and took advantage of the wind.again, looked the more likely to score as they peppered the Piper goal with shots, but without creating too many clear cut opportunities as Walker and his defensive line stood firm.
Piper created very little but defended valiantly, and Jamie Walker displayed more heroics, and enjoyed a little (painful) luck, when a shot smacked him in the face and flew wide.
Eventually, the referee drew this epic battle to a close and it went into penalties to decide a winner.
Mark Johnson stepped up first for Piper and sent the keeper the wrong way, slotting calmly to the keeper’s right but the reply was equally as good as Walker was sent the wrong way as Nichol smashed the ball down the middle.
Callum Young stepped up second for Piper and also slotted easily past the goalkeeper. However, the second penalty for AFC Hull was brilliant saved by Walker, cementing his man of the match accolade – had that ever been in doubt!!
Matthew Warcup stepped up next and coolly slotted under the keeper Lindley who got his finger tips to the ball, but couldn't keep it out. AFC Hull needed a reply but their third penalty was blazed horribly wide, giving Andrew Kingston to opportunity to send Piper into euphoria, which he did by smashing the ball into the roof of the net – and was promptly mobbed by his delirious team-mates.
AFC Hull are now left to complete what must surely be the formality of securing the Division 1 league title, while AFC Piper must now work towards achieving promotion, along with the certainty of a cup semi-final against Paull Wanderers on 25 April.
The result of the Premier Division clash between Crown FC and Sutton Fields Rangers was likely to go a long way to determining the final destination of the silverware, and it was unfortunate that the high winds dictated much of the run of play.
Sutton Fields had first use of the elements but failed to take advantage of the chances which created, although they were unfortunate to see a long range curling shot from Lee Brown go inches wide, and also were denied when a header was cleared off the goal-line.
The second half saw Crown utilise the elements to better effect and goals from Sean Wilson and the reliable Glenn Morfitt secured the vital match spoils.
Quaddy Rangers were looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat a week previous, but were without key players who were nursing injuries for the visit of AFC Preston.
Despite the missing personnel, both teams played good football and up front for Quaddy, Dave Bettney was looking to strike up a new partnership with Lee MacFaul and the pairing gelled straight away and interpassing on the edge of the area saw MacFaul set up Bettney for the opening goal of the game.
Ten minutes later Preston were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area, and although the wall did its job by blocking the free kick, the ball deflected straight back to the striker, Lee Wilson, whose second shot was smashed goal wards and into the net before anyone could react.
Quaddy resumed the neat football which is fast becoming their trademark, and MacFaul and Bettney again combined, and on this occasion Bettney was the provider and MacFaul smacked the ball from the edge of the area past keeper Rob Wilkinson and into the net off the inside of the post – prompting MacFaul to leap about like he was sixteen again in celebration of his first goal in a couple of years!
Both side created other chances before the half time break, but neither was able to make one count. Rich Wilcox was welcomed back into the Quaddy fold in the second half and played his part as his side were made to defend at length in the rainy and windy conditions, but the patched up team stayed strong and protected their narrow lead to the final whistle.
AFC Preston’s second team in Division 1 have enjoyed hard fought, close encounters with Swiss Cottage, and the latest meeting was expected to follow suit.
Swiss formulated a game plan to utilise the strong wind, build up a useful lead by half time and defend it in the second period, and so, straight from the kick off took the game to Preston, and found themselves a goal to the good after just five minutes with a well drilled shot from Shaun Scotthorne.
Leading scorer Ben Bassett soon added a second and after 20 minutes Darren Hunter scored Swiss’s third goal to put Preston very much on the back foot and they were finding difficulty holding the Swiss attacks which seemed, and were, relentless and Swiss went into the break with a six goal advantage with more goals from Craig Fitzpatrick, Mark Wood and another from Shaun Scotthorne.
After the break Swiss fully expected, and were subjected to a lot of pressure from the Preston attack who were confident that the reverse scenario of the first half would apply, but the Swiss defence held firm and after 55 minutes Ben Bassett broke through to register another goal for Swiss.
Preston were doubly handicapped after having introduced their lone substitute when a player was carried off, and then a second player was lost to a hamstring injury, and suddenly they were down to nine players.
The match was clearly now beyond Preston and matters got even worse on the hour when a well-drilled shot from Shaun Scotthorne beat the Preston keeper to complete his hat-trick.
Preston did find the net after a sequence of corners with a well taken header from Kev Fenton, but this was no more than a consolation goal which Swiss responded to, with interest, as Craig Fitzpatrick claimed his second goal before Richard Sullivan completed the scoring.
Paull Wanderers have found a winning mentality at the business end of the season and extended their recent winning run to five games with a 3-1 success over Spring Bank Tigers, keeping their strong finish on track.
There were strong winds coming off the sea front at Paull but that did not stop the home side from playing some eye catching football and went in front when some top class closing down by veteran Terry Thompson left him with the ball in the corner, from where his pin point cross fell to the feet of ‘on fire’ Tommy Donnelly and he slotted the ball under the Spring Bank keeper.
Paull appeared to have a great chance to double their lead when Danny Wilbor was through on goal and was taken out by a defender, but the referee saw the incident as worthy of no more than a free kick, which came to nothing.
Paull extended their lead ten minutes before the interval when Donnelly’s quick pass to Wilbor sent him inside the area and he made no mistake with the shot across goal into the bottom corner of the net.
The second half saw Paull playing with the wind in their faces, and were penned in their own half early on, and conceded a goal – disputed as offside - within five minute of the restart.
A nervy twenty minutes followed for Paull, but a hard working and solid defence allowed Spring Bank to shoot only from distance.
Paull should have extended their lead when Damian Bullingham was put in by Donnelly but Bullingham unselfishly passed to the shouting Wilbor when it was easier to score himself, and the chance was lost, and another shot, minutes later, went tantalisingly close.
The game was still open, and end-to-end, but a good passing move down the Paull left finally decided the outcome when Michael Ward was found inside the area and his shot went in off a Spring Bank defender.
Geoff Wednesday played with the very strong wind at their backs in the first half against the Duke of Wellington and used it to advantage for once, rattling four goals in in the first half, including a hat trick for Danny Garside, which he completed with a well taken penalty.
The second half also saw Wednesday create chances, but it was the Dukes turn to use the wind and although they failed to get on the scoreboard, it was significant that Wednesday’s man of the match performance went to keeper John Hawkes!
Skippers are racing toward the Division 2 title, but were pulled up short when AFC Humber raced into a three goal lead with goals from Kris Waudby, Mike Swales and Simon Brown, but a succession of penalties allowed Skippers back into the game.
Lennie Hardy converted a hat-trick of goals from the spot but finished the game with a broken leg, after he caught his leg an opposition player’s boot. Further goals from Lee Spicer and Gareth Lawrence allowed Skippers to play their ‘get out of jail’ card!
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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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