Hempnall FC

The scoreline suggested a one-sided thrashing, but this match was anything but that.

Again, circumstances resulted in two late call-offs, meaning that once again, the defensive line up was altered with Oli Pointer stepping in alongside his manager; the front-line was also changed, though the team looked balanced.

The writer arrived late, to learn that Hempnall were 1-0 down after about 25 minutes, but the BRF reported the team had played well, and could, in fact, easily have been 2-1 up were it not for rather wayward finishing.

So, a positive vibe, but by half-time, the team were 0-3 down mainly due to Beccle's excellent finishing and a couple of lapses.

Despite all of the changes to the team, we on the sidelines thought the team looked competitive, and really not far short of the standard Beccles were setting, though we knew that a lack of substitutes meant the lads were in for a tough second half.

Inevitably, despite playing some really decent football, Hempnall's lack of fresh legs (that Beccles could fall back on with their three substitutes), played it's part, and tiredness started to show. Despite this, Hempnall had several decent chances, but Beccles always looked good and fast on the break.

Another 5 minute period saw Hempnall leak three goals, and at the death, a further own goal (beautiful header, Beefy!), but the score genuinely didn't reflect the performance level.

Once again, the referee, this week Daniel Apostoaie, had a fine game, realising that this was never going to be a dirty game, both sides committed to wholehearted football, and he decided not to revert to the book, his sensible handling of the players was plenty enough to keep discipline – so that's two weeks when referees have showed a great deal of commonsense.

Despite the result, it was really refreshing to see the lads upbeat afterwards. It is a real bonus having this set of lads at Hempnall, and once they team becomes settled, results will undoubtedly improve.

Like with Hindringham the week before, the Beccles lads and supporters were a pleasure to have at Hempnall.