Hempnall FC

A huge weekend of Sport, with Team Europe taking on USA in the Ryder Cup and Hempnall Res playing Thetford Rovers in the Div 2 league game.
 
Ray Youngman informed me that the Green Keeper from the Medinah Golf course in Chicago had paddled over the pond, to takes some advise on how to look after the grass and after viewing the greenery at Hempnall, had put in a ludicrous offer to buy the turf from Bungay road to use on the 16,17 and 18th Holes. Ray’s reply, ‘I don’t think so parrl’!!
 
The squad was looking as youthful as ever, packed with young talented footballers, the likes of Alex ‘Colsaerts’ Robins, Luke Knights, Billy Howard, and Oli Pointer Smith, who have all stepped up from our Under 17’s to support the senior teams. The rest of the squad were familiar to the Hempnall faithful (who were there in large numbers, 7) as we finally become more settled after the holiday season draws to an end. Fortunately for us there isn’t a massive time difference between Long Stratton and Hempnall, so Danny ‘Mcllroy’ Quantrill arrived in good time for the kickoff, however still had the police escort!
 
The game kicked off at a typically frantic pace for Div 2, with both teams fighting for early control. What makes us able to compete in the middle of the park, this season more than any other is the addition of our Director and General Oli Pointer Ben ‘Ian Poulter’ Player. We no longer suffer from slow starts, he starts the game at 100 miles an hour and gets quicker as he goes. If you’ve seen his facial expression on the match photos you’ll know that he doesn’t stand still longer enough to get a sharp picture, he looks a little like a ‘Pitbull licking p*ss off a nettle’.
 
The first blow was dealt by our midfielder and local lothario, Adam ‘Luke Donald’ Willis who led from the front and latched onto a through ball which had come from some neat football down the right flank. He placed the ball off the inside leg of the defender, deliberately wrong-footing the keeper and into the amazingly well pegged net (Net Pegged by Oli Pointer 2012).
 
Thetford then grabbed an equaliser, I can’t remember their goal but they scored, 1-1.
 
With a back 4 of Jimmy ‘Paul Lawrie’ Dale, Ben ‘Justin Rose’ Ling, James ‘McDowell’ Daniels (based on height) and Alex ‘Colsaerts” Robins, it was always going to be a game where Thetford would find it hard to score many, so it was a case of whether we could create an opportunity to win the game.

The first half display, unlike the first 2 days for team Europe, had been solid. Some great work upfront from Chris ‘Hanson‘ Easton and Richard ‘Garcia’ Leathers who highlighted how important it is to work hard as a strike partnership, especially against teams like Thetford who have creative fullbacks.

As the half drew to a close, Rory Quantrill kept us in the game with 2 or 3 world class saves, to keep Thetford at bay and meant we had gone into the break 1-1.
 
Half Time  Hempnall 1 Thetford Rovers 1 

The second half mirrored the final day of the Ryder Cup, with Ben ‘Poulter’ Player leading from the front and guiding the rest of the team into a winnable position. The spirit was there, as it had been for all of last season, but now we’re fortunate enough to have one or 2 match winners buried in the squad.
 
As we applied pressure on the Thetford defense and delivered a cross from the left which drifted over the keeper and the centre back and dropped out of the sky....surely someone could get on the end of it?   If there was one person you would have wanted this to fall to it would have been our German compatriot, Matty ‘Kaymer’ Nixon. Sure enough, after managing to avoid all big tackles and duck under every single header, what mattered is that when we needed him most, he arrived!
Step forward Matty ‘Kaymer’ Nixon, lurking at the back post, the ball dropped from heaven, the shouts bellowing from the packed Bungay road crowd were, Right foot?....No No Left Foot?... BOOM! Too late... Nixon had unleashed a volley which sent the crowd into raptures and the players into a frenzy.

We held firm for the remaining 10 minutes and the 3 points were ours...again!!
 
With our unbeaten run now stretching to 3 games, it’s as though we can’t even remember what it feels like to lose (similar in many ways to Arsenal in 2003/4). Also being undefeated in the league this season at our fortress that is ‘Bungay Road’ is a title we will fight to keep!!
 
Final Score:  Hempnall 2 Thetford Rovers 1

A fantastic team performance, earned us another 3 points and propelled us into the evening of celebration packed with lager, gambling and some scantily clad dogs! I LOVE YARMOUTH!
 
MOM Award

 3rd - Oli Pointer Adam Willis
 2nd - Oli Pointer Ben Player
 1st - Oli Pointer Alex Robins