Hempnall FC

A bit of an odd game at Hempnall yesterday, it started badly with the manager, Andy Cranmer, having to make three changes to his proposed line up due to players’ work commitments, the late arrivals caused disruption to his plans.

This was all very disappointing as the previous two matches saw Hempnall play so well and sit at the top end of the table, but the manner of the 1-6 defeat to Redwood left the manager pondering the difference between this performance and the previous two.

The early part of the game saw Hempnall play reasonably but allowed the customary scruffy goal to enable the opposition to take the upper hand.

Then a refereeing decision that had some of us baffled, with Nick Talbot adjudged to have fouled a player when making what looked to us on the sidelines to be a great challenge.

Just outside the Hempnall box, the opposition player managed to crack the ball into the back of the net for 0-2.

Going forward, Hempnall looked to cause sufficient tremors in the opposition defence to allow us to think Hempnall would get back into it, though dubious finishing, decent goalkeeping and a bit of luck enabled Redwood to keep the Hempnall players frustrated.

In the meantime, though, penalties were given to both teams, both missed.

Refereeing decisions went against Hempnall, a couple of clear (to us) penalties were not given, a few other decisions could have gone either way but went against the home team, so all in all, it was getting somewhat frustrating – we can’t blame the referee though, we simply ran out of steam and heads went down, leaving too many gaps for the opposing players to take advantage of.

Robins managed to get one goal back, but the quick breaking Redwood surged forward, and one of their goals was a stunner, great interplay, a great cross and finish, worthy of winning any match. 

Onwards and upwards; a more settled squad would allow a more consistent perfomance level, hopefully injuries will reduce, and the manager will reduce his stress levels.

MOM Justin Womack for his excellent shift up front, closely followed by Nick Talbot for his all round endeavour.