Hempnall FC

Hempnall welcomed Hingham Athletic to Bungay Road, and as it turned out, we saw the second best team this season at Hempnall, ranking almost wth Gorleston Reserves for speed, cutting edge, quality and organisation.

The game started badly for Hempnall when the referee gave a penalty that left all of us on the sideline scratching our heads, but whatever it was for, the penalty was despatched despite a valiant effort by the Hempnall keeper, so even then, we thought it might not be our day if the opposition were getting the breaks as well as havng the quality.

Hempnall have not had the luxury of a settled defence, and it showed when, after 10 minutes, Hingham carved their way through to score a second.

Disappointingly, Hempnall could, and should, have cleared the ball on a number of occasions, but dallied and invited the opposition to break them down, which they did.

Despite their difficulties, Hempnall looked decent going forward, Billy Kelly looking very dangerous on the flank.

Hempnall had their chances, Bennett putting a free kick over the bar, Clarke then brought a fantastic save from the Hingham keeper, whilst at the other end, the Hempnall keeper was showing his worth with good saves and interceptions from the quick breaking Hingham.

Billy Kelly then went close after combining with his brother, and then another game of ping pong in the opposition defence saw Hempnall go close, but the ball was cleared and Hingham immediately cut through the defence to score another.

The writing was on the wall, and we conceded another to go to the break 0-4.

The second half was largely a different story, the Hempnall defence were a bit better organised and with substitute Nick Stride influencing the game in midfield, Hempnall were more difficult to break down.

With the Hempnall keeper in fine form, the scores stayed at 0-0 second half for quite some time, with Hempnall looking quite likely to score, especially through the dangerous Kelly and Clarke.

Shaun Kelly was also contributing with efforts on goal, but the ball just wouldn’t go in.

Clarke did manage a ‘Worldy’ volley, which flew into the net, but the referee spotted an offside somewhere, and Hempnall were denied a consolation, and Clarke denied an enthusistic celebration.

A little later, with Hempnall still in their purple patch, a corner met by Talbot, challenging with the keeper, ended up in the net only to be ruled out for a foul by Talbot, again, somewhat unfortunate as the keeper just seemed to lose the ball under challenge. It wasn’t Hempnall’s day.

The inevitable happened, concentration was lost, and the opposition managed three late goals.

Whilst Bellingham worked his socks off, and Billy Kelly again looking good, with others playing their part, Hempnall were not quite strong enough against this good Hingham side.

Despite letting in 7 goals, the Hempnall keeper had a fine game, and is the Secretary’s MOM.