Hempnall FC

Hempnall welcomed Narborough Reserves to Hempnall, on a wet but playable pitch. The home team were feeling confident after a run of largely good results and performances.

We were treated to a good performance, and it was only the Narborough keeper, who made some splendid saves (one ‘Worldy’) to keep the score down, as Hempnall were, on this occasion, much the better team.

The back four of Radford, Cullabine, Amini and Batterham dealt easily with any threat, the Hempnall keeper had little to do.

Batterham in particular was able to show his athleticism, able to support his forwards with his strong runs and not to be outdone, the Hempnall number four, Simon Cullabine, was also very quick to burst forward whilst still doing his defensive work.

The game started well, Hempnall rained in plenty of shots but were unable to convert, the opposition keeper intercepting on more than one occasion from Elton, Herbert and Ryan Cullabine, and Cullabine and Goldie in particular were running riot up front.

Hempnall thought their first goal had arrived when Elton finished a good move, but somehow the keeper kept it out, but shortly after, Jack Herbert did finish off a move for 1-0.

The floodgates opened, with Cullabine getting his second, and with shots raining in from all directions, it was only a matter of time, and the Hempnall number 7, Goldie, netted his first with a fine finish for 3-0 at half time.

The second half started very much like the first, the keeper pulled off a decent save from Elton, then Simon Cullabine headed over, before Goldie finished well for his second.

Sub Nick Stride came on to good effect, and had a couple of shots which the keeper dealt with, before Goldie scored his third with a lovely diving header.

On came normal keeper Gerry Fox as sub up front, and to everybody’s delight, scored with a very nice finish. To wrap it up, Cullabine scored his third and Hempnall’s seventh for a good victory.

The opposition, to their credit, never gave up and played with an excellent spirit.

A good team performance, everybody played their part, and good performances were seen all over the pitch.

For me, there were four players that stood out – the two Cullabines, Goldie and Batterham, and my overall pick for MOM is Jordie, for his all action and quality performance.