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Sunday 5th September 2010
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Matches played Saturday 24th October 2009
Back to drawing board for AFC Hull and Swiss Cottage RBL.
Swiss Cottage RBL and AFC Hull both moved up into the Amateur League Premier Division this season, and are now facing the harsh realities of life at the top. With both sides hitting form to achieve wins in the League Senior Cup last week, their latest league games were entered into with confidence – but both came away empty handed!!
Swiss Cottage were given a 45 minute lesson by the high flying, unbeaten Eddie Beedle side who produced a great display and by half time had the game sewn up with a very safe four goal advantage, which came as a result of a dominant and neat passing display which split the Swiss defence time and again – very reminiscent of the attacking display produced by Swiss in beating The Lair a week ago.
After the break, Swiss seemed to wake up and gradually took the game to Eddie Beedle and were rewarded with a well-worked goal from Jack Wheelhouse. Swiss did make several good chances but some point blank saves by Beedle keeper Danny Hill kept their tally to just one goal and Eddie Beedle rounded off a convincing victory with their fifth goal just after the hour mark.
AFC Hull’s morale boosting win over Cavalier Wanderers put them in good spirits to face The Lair, to whom they had lost in the ERCFA Cup earlier in the month, and potentially they were catching The Lair at a low ebb.
If only football was that predictable!!
AFC Hull had a bare eleven players available at kick off, and yet the feeling amongst the players and management was that the team on the pitch should be good enough to secure the side's first home league win of the season.
The match, played in heavy autumnal showers, was started well by AFC Hull, with good possession and some confidence on the ball and after little over a quarter of an hour, an excellent long pass from stand-in right back Sam Nicholson found the head of Nathan Nuttall, but Nuttall’s header went narrowly wide of the goal.
Throughout the first half, the AFC Hull dominated possession but found shooting chances difficult to come by until, in the last five minutes of the half, they picked up the pace, coinciding with the 3G pitch's floodlights sparking into life, first with Mark Friston laying the ball off to Nuttall, who blasted his shot wide, and then, with a minute of the half remaining, when AFC Hull were awarded a free kick forty yards from goal, Nicholson's inch-perfect set piece found Tony Tummon in the six yard box, and he finished with aplomb to put the home side a goal up at the break.
AFC Hull started the second half slowly, almost conceding in the opening couple of minutes of the half, but were rescued by goalkeeper Craig Lindley, who saved just below his crossbar. The team's usual open passing game seemed to be faltering somewhat, and while the occasional chance was created, play appeared to be disjointed.
As the half wore on, The Lair's midfield began creating problems with deep, penetrating runs and only a string of saves from Lindley prevented an equaliser. The Lair did equalise on sixty-nine minutes after a very quick counter-attack.
AFC Hull started creating half-chances, with Graham Donaldson,Sean McFaul, Nuttall and Tummon all having opportunities to restore the side’s lead.
Towards the end of the match, concentration lapsed and in an awful final two minutes, the points slipped from AFC Hull's grasp.
The Lair went ahead when a runner was allowed to steal into the area untracked, slotting the ball into the back of the net with about a minute remaining and things got worse with the last action of the game, when the team seemed to switch off for a moment allowing a Lair shot from distance, which just beat the diving Craig Lindley at his far post.
Both Eddie Beedle and The Lair are now hoping that they can carry this winning form over to the current weekend when they travel to the West Riding to play in the Yorkshire Old Boys’ Shield.
Quaddy Rangers have had to cope for much of the last three weeks without incapacitated manager Nigel Taylor, and have seem to have lost, at least temporarily, their winning mentality, having twice let potential match winning leads, slip.
Quaddy started the game against SC Electrical playing some great football, and with Simon Start back on song, and showing a great willingness to fight for the ball, took the lead when Start picked up the ball just inside the Electrical half and he went inside a couple of players before letting a shot go which keeper James Hart did well to parry, but Louis Nagi was quickly there to slot the rebound home.
It was same again with another Start shot, and Nagi follow up when keeper Hart spilled the ball, and comfortable at 2-0, Quaddy were sorry to hear the halftime whistle which served to break their concentration.
Quaddy seemed to approach the second half thinking they had done enough to secure the game, but conceding the game was certainly not on SC’s agenda especially when they pulled a goal back early in the half.
Quaddy were unable to get out of first gear and SC took advantage twice more to turn the score line to their favour – Shane Hill and Lewis Poucher (2) being the team’s marksmen.
Pinefleet Wolfreton had ten first team regulars unavailable for their game with Sutton Fields Rangers and were down to the bare bones but somehow managed to respond every time Sutton scored – which they did on three occasions – and thanks to a great hat-trick from Andy Pegden and a goal on his return from a toe injury, from Gary Marsden took the match spoils.
Pinefleet Wolfreton Reserves in Division 1 took an early lead when West Hull United’s Danny Thompson delayed a clearance, and Chris Bucknell seized on the moment of hesitation to take advantage and open the scoring, but West Hull did not lose composure and battled well with their giant centre forward Izunna Uzokwe causing problem for the Pinefleet defenders with his close ball control, height and general good movement.
It was not surprising that Uzokwe orchestrated an equaliser for West Hull when he squared an tempting cross across the Pinefleet area, and though Seb Kapkowski did not get a lot on the ball, his contact was enough to divert it over the goal line.
A solid looking West Hull defence was disrupted when John Boyeson suffered a groin injury, and the defence was breached just before half time when a ‘fresh air’ clearance allowed Pinefleet’s Chris Bucknall to again take advantage and he shot across the goal into the net.
The second half resumed with West Hull continuing to play neat football and the equaliser came when substitute Tomaz Matyaskik, who had literally just joined in the action, latched onto a ball lifted perfectly over the Pinefleet defence, and he lobbed keeper Chris Wilson whom he caught in no man’s land.
The game entered a quiet period in which neither side looking likely to regain the initiative, but sparked into life when a free kick, awarded for pushing, was floated into the Pinefleet area, and Uzokwe met the ball neatly and headed the ball home, only to be judged to have moved into an offside position, and the ‘goal’ was disallowed.
Pinefleet responded instantly, and after the ball had whizzed around the West Hull area, looked set to score, until defender Mark Bradford cleared the danger from off his goal line.
West Hull suffered more injuries after they had used their three substitutes, and were forced to play the final quarter of the game with ten players, but Pinefleet were unable to capitalise, and with virtually the last kick of the game - a free kick – the ball was met by Londoner Uzokwe, who extended his recent (at least a ) goal a game record, with a well placed header into the net, securing West Hull all the match points.
Cross Keys Cottingham and AFC West Hull B were involved in a very closely contested match, but which lacked goalmouth threats or action at either end until the deadlock was broken in Keys favour by Richard Hook.
Keys pushed on from their goal, but could not penetrate the visitor’s defence where the keeper surely took the man of the match after a string of fine saves, including, in the last minute of the first half, saving a penalty from Trev Edwards.
The last ten minutes of the game saw AFC West Hull put Keys under the cosh, but were unable to secure a leveller.
Paull Wanderers began their game against Spring Bank Tigers in high spirits after a good cup win the previous week, but were without some key players including captain Karl Smith.
The changes did not seem to have a detrimental effect on the side who enjoyed a great deal of possession early on, and after seven minutes player/manager Mark Sexton almost opened the scoring but his shot, which beat the keeper, hit the cross bar before rebounding to safety.
Next came a long shot by Tommy Donnelly which only just went over, and then it was James Sexton’s turn to hit the bar with a good hard shot, and all within the first twenty minutes, so it came as a big shock when Aso Hama Amen scored a goal against the run of play for Spring Bank.
To rub salt into the wound, Spring Bank then added a second goal from the same player in the 35th minute, and the Paull players went in at half time incredulous to be two goals down.
The second half was only five minutes old when Paull again hit the woodwork - this time from a shot hammered goalward by Dave Brennan.
Paull then returned to the pattern of the first half, playing all their football in the Spring Bank half of the pitch, and the pressure finally paid off when a James Sexton took a quick free kick and found the back of the net.
With thirty minutes remaining, Paull needed to control the ball and did so, hitting the wood work for the fourth time with a great first time effort from Donnelly – a shot which left the keeper rooted to the spot, but he could not beat the bar!
With only five minutes remaining and a hard to take defeat on the cards, substitute Terry Thompson was allowed time to cross the ball, and his fresh legs found Danny Wilbor in the box and Wilbor some how, but deservedly, forced the ball into the net.
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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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