Hempnall FC

With Radvilas unavailable for a number of weeks, Kelly still injured and Rout also unavailable, the squad was limited, and manager Dimsey was forced to play himself at centre forward, with Navarrina taking the line after a bout of flu.

It was never going to be easy against the high flying Martham who put 14 past Blofield United Reserves last week.

However, Hempnall started very brightly, and had the upper hand for 20 minutes. Had Etherington’s shot skimmed the inside and not the outside of the upright, it might have been a different game. Had Dimsey’s effort been a stronger strike, we may have been dancing on the sidelines.

It’s hard to put a finger on why, but Hempnall leak goals. Individually, the back four look good, and the midfield support them well, so we on the sidelines scratch our heads wondering how the score became 0-4.

Hempnall gifted the opposition two goals, the other two were quality finishes that even the excellent Hemmings could not keep out. Give credit to the opposing players, they were extremely quick on the break, the balls over the top or by-passing the defence were excellent.

It would have been reasonable for Hempnall to give it up as a bad job at half time, but the second half was a tail of two sides of the team – the adventurous via the likes of the excellent Nobbs, Etherington and Lambe, and the defensive frailties, making the second half a good watch, albeit frustrating.

Hempnall dominated much of the the second half.

The excellent Browne, Hempnall’s best player on the day, who has slotted into his midfield role with determination, started the comeback with a very well taken header.

Lambe then also headed in to make the comeback a distinct possibility.

Barber came close with a header which just cleared the crossbar.

Had the next few attacks when Hempnall were on top been converted into goals, rather than defensive clearances, Martham would have been under great pressure to get even a point, but a couple of breakways brought two swift goals for Martham to take the game out of Hempnall’s reach.

I thought the referee had an excellent game – he controlled it well without resorting to the book, and we all enjoyed the game more because of his unfussy control. Also, the opposition assistant referee was very good (as was our’s incidentally!).

There were several very good performances, notably Nobbs and Watts, but Secretary’s MOM is Browne.