Hempnall FC

Hempnall were facing AC Mill Lane Reserves who lay mid table, a couple of points above but with games in hand, so Hempnall knew they were in for a battle.

Manager Cranmer had to make a number of changes again, but is resigned to the fact that running a Reserve team is never easy, with first team call ups, work commitments and injuries always getting in the way, so he was happy to have 13 players, including himself and the Chairman, though a couple of players, Tupper and Bradley, were fighting injuries so it was touch and go whether they would last out the match.

As it turned out, the game was very even, both teams creating and missing decent chances early on, AC Mill Lane looking the most likely to score early on, Hempnall’s final ball letting them down on a few occasions, though neither team was able to take the upper hand and wayward finishing dominated.

Hempnall were lookng mobile enough in the first half especially, Mortimer, Bradley and Chapman working very hard to take the attack to the opposition, and with the Hempnall defence marshalled well by the player manager, and the opposition defence snuffing out most of the Hempnall attacks, we knew goals would be hard to come by.

The Hempnall keeper made a couple of decent saves before AC Mill Lane went one up following some hesitency in defence, the ball should really have been cleared but wasn’t and the forward was presented with an easy chance. 0-1

Still both teams attacked, and chances or half chances fell to both teams, before Chapman latched on to a clearance 25 yards out, and with the keeper out of the action, he finished very well, to make it 1-1.

The second half was much the same, chances at both ends, and with both teams running out of puff, and both keepers making excellent saves, the scores remained level. Mortimer was increasingly looking like the man to break the deadlock, but it wasn’t to be.

Shots from Bradley, Tupper, Cranmer, Smith and Lockwood didn’t test the keeper, though Bradley’s shot across goal and just missed the far post. A header from Mortimer went wide.

In fairness, both teams had the chances to win the match, poor finishing and good saves kept the scores level, and a draw was a fair result.

Secretary’s MOM for his persistence and effort (plus a bit of skill!!), is Ryan Mortimer.

Match photos will be on the website later.