Hempnall FC

Hempnall visited local rivals Poringland who sat close to the top of the table with Hempnall, so a tough game on their sloping pitch was always likely.

Hempnall played uphill in the first half, and were unable to show their recent form. Poor distribution allowed the opposition to regularly steal the ball to run at the Hempnall defence.

On this occasion, for the first 20 minutes at least, the defence was lacking in their touch and decision making, deciding to try and play rather than take the ‘clear the ball’ option, frustrating the watching manager, Bunn.

Poringland took a deserved 2-0 lead after only 20 minutes, and we were concerned that their knowledge of their pitch would leave Hempnall badly exposed, but gradually, Hempnall got back into the game, but their few decent attacks led to nothing.

Poringland still looked the most likely to score but the score remained 2-0 at half time partly due to better defending and Davis’s fine goalkeeping.

With the slope in the second half, Hempnall began to look more like a team willing and able to exploit the conditions; keeping Poringland down to a few half chances, Hempnall’s attacking should have brought dividends, but again, a lack of cutting edge saw them unable to convert any of their chances.

That’s about it really – a couple of defensive errors, and the poor run of the ball in the opposition area saw a frustrating day turn into a very disappointing day.

Well played Poringland though, after getting to the point of withdrawing from the league due to lack of players, suddenly, they have a promotion seeking new side. Best of luck to them, I doubt we will face a significantly better team this season, so all is not lost.

I can’t really pick a MOM this week, nobody had an outstanding game.

Onwards and upwards as they say.