Hempnall FC

Hempnall welcomed top of the table South Walsham to Bungay Road, on another hot day.

With a less than full strength squad, Jordy Batterham stepped up from the Reserves and we welcomed back Jimmy Edwards.

We were expecting a tough match, and from the off, the teams looked evenly matched. 

Hempnall were looking strong, with Womack in the mood to take the opposition on, and with Marjoram also bedding into the team, the opposition defence was going to have a tough time. 

One of Hempnall’s attacks led to Blake deciding to take a pot shot from at least 30 yards, which deceived the keeper to nestle into the net for 1-0.

 The game continued end to end, and whilst probably shading it, Hempnall had to thank keeper Davis for some quick interceptions, the Hempnall keeper pulled off a couple of magnificent saves to keep the opposition scoreline barren. With goal line clearences keeping us on our toes, we thought the next goal might be telling. 

Hempnall’s best opportunities were coming from set plays, but the half time score remained at 1-0. 

The second half pattern continued for a while, until a Hempnall attack saw Womack hammer the ball into the net for 2-0. 

Still end to end, South Walsham were certainly playing their part, and the defence, with a very secure goalkeeper, managed to repel the opposition effort. Davis again pulled off a couple of excellent saves. 

At the other end, a rabona from Marjoram didn’t really trouble the keeper, Blake then came close, before Marjoram beat the keeper to the ball to flick in for 3-0. Game over we thought, how wrong could we be. 

To their credit, South Walsham didn’t crumble – anything but – they came back with a goal, before a bout of bar and post hitting fom Hempnall should have resulted in a fourth. 

We didn’t have long to wait though, Womack headed a corner towards the goal to be flicked in by Leather. Now, surely, it was game over at 4-1. 

Not to be – Hempnall did their best to keep the crowd on their toes, allowing South Walsham to score a second then a third, just before the referee blew the final whistle. 

This was a really entertaining game between two well matched sides, very well refereed by Mr. Banham. 

Today, I thought there were a number of very good performances, the defence was excellent, Jordy fitted in very well, the midfield worked tirelessly, Dowling's energy is boundless. The front two created a number of headaches for the defence.

However, Davis had a superb game in goal, and he is comfortably my MOM.