Hempnall FC

Hempnall welcomed Holt to Bungay Road for this important bottom of the table clash. Late call offs again left the squad stretched, and the Manager was again on the bench and his assistant, Pointer, taking up the centre half role.

Hempnall started brightly, and had the best of the early chances, but were unable to convert any.

Then the inevitable happened – the young referee made an error of judgement, penalising the Hempnall keeper for handling outside the area when the ball was clearly in.

The resulting free kick was beautifully despatched by the Holt player to make it 0-1, and from there, Hempnall struggled to get a real foothold.

Whilst Holt were playing well, it seems when it is going against you, every loose ball goes to the opposition, and to us on the sidelines, that is what happened – Hempnall always seemed to be chasing the ball.

After an excellent losing performance against top of the table Waveney in midweek, we were still confident that the team could get back into it, but lapses and good Holt play saw Hempnall go two down before the break.

Hempnall conceded a third, and we wondered whether heads would drop and we would concede more, but the manager made his two substitutions, including bringing himself on to add fresh legs and impetus.

A degree of 'handbags' between a couple of players led to two bookings, this despite the game being competitive but fair, and both benches were disappointed at the bookings.

In the same incident, Mulley received a booking for saying something out of turn, and regrettably, a 50/50 challenge later in the game, which saw the Holt player returning to his feet with a broken shin pad, saw Mulley sent off for two yellow cards. We were left shaking our heads at the apparent unfairness of it all.

That decision seemed to drive Hempnall forward, and with 10 men started playing better football, with Kelly and Etherington in particular causing the defence a few problems, and Etherington was eventually tripped in the box.

Up stepped the manager, Dimsey, to slot the penalty, and a comeback looked possible, but with 10 men, unlikely. More good play saw Hempnall on top for a while, but Holt were comfortable and deserved their victory, though we were confused at some of the referees decisions, still that happens in every game, and the best of luck going forward to the referee who was being assessed.

With Foulsham winning leaving Hempnall rooted to the bottom, the forthcoming matches against relegation threatened teams are even more important if we are to stave off relegation. Let's hope our best player, Nobbs, is available soon after injury.