| Match Report : Hemel Hempstead Town 2-1 City - April 25th 2009 |
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| Vauxhall Road is one of the better grounds in this league |
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| As the final whistle blew at Vauxhall Road to signal Hemel Hempstead's 2-1 victory it wasn't just the hundred plus City fans that were disappointed by the Tigers defeat but also the fans of Oxford City, who, having beaten Clevedon Town 1-0 were relying on a Tigers success to win a playoff place of their own. |
| As it happens the victory earned the Tudors a trip to Cherrywood Road to take on Farnborough as the Tigers welcome Cambridge City to the Corinium Stadium and would love to see a similar crowd to the 1969 that watched Corby Town lift the title today or will the football following public of Gloucester be glued to the Champions League on ITV instead? |
| Tuesday's starting eleven will no doubt differ from the one fielded today with Neil Mustoe, Mike Symons, Tom Webb and Alex Sykes all rested ahead of the crucial playoff tie. Hemel had striker Anthony Thomas looking to score a hat-trick to make him the clubs all-time top scorer. |
| On a rock hard pitch in sunny Hertfordshire City started off kicking downhill with a surprisingly strong wind at their backs and one direct ball caused problems for young Hemel keeper Nick Law who had trouble dealing with the bounce and would've been happy to see Jack Pitcher head narrowly wide from the ensuing scramble. |
| But the wind didn't help City as it held the ball up after a long clearance that caught Marc Richards on his heels and the diminutive Drew Roberts scampered away before taking his time to fire a shot low into Kev Sawyer's bottom right hand corner. The home fans came to life with the realisation that this was what they needed to join City in the playoffs. |
| However Pitcher added his own twist to the script when he levelled for the Tigers two minutes later by shooting across the keeper after being played in by Dean Grubb following a crossfiled pass from Luke Ballinger on the left wing. It was only his second goal in almost three months. |
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| Jack Pitcher celebrates his goal with the fans |
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| The combination of the strong wind and rock hard surface was spoiling what could've been a decent game and half chances were few and far between with neither side really posing any threat on each others goals. |
| So it was with some disappointment that Hemel were allowed to take the lead with what turned out to be the winning goal with the game approaching half time. A corner kick seemed to have been aimed woefully deep but was collected and returned by Steve Wales who found Thomas unmarked at the far post where he sidefooted the ball back into the opposite corner with Sawyer motionless. |
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| Anthony Thomas scores the winner for Hemel |
| After a quiet ten minute spell at the start of the second period David Mehew made a double change by replacing Matt Rose and Marc Richards for Tom Webb and Neil Mustoe. |
| The strong wind was still causing problems and even though the home team were playing the better football the nearest they came to scoring was from a long punt by keeper Law that had his opposite number back tracking to help the ball past the angle of post and crossbar. |
| City hadn't really done themselves justice and didn't really get going until an off the ball incident when Hemel's Nathan Bowden-Hasse aimed an elbow at Jack Harris went unpunished, even though it was under the gaze of the linesman. This was followed by a melee which saw Hemel's Chris Dillon bizarrely throwing punches at his own teammates and was substituted before he was sent off. |
| City almost equalised through Matt Sysum when he headed against the post from a corner and Webb found the net when played in by Ballinger but the goal was ruled out by the linesman's flag. |
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| Matt Sysum hit the post with his header |
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| City manager Mehew preferred to look at the seventy-five points gained by the Tigers over the course of the season rather than the three that got away today as he prepares for the clubs biggest game in years on Tuesday night. |
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City : Kev Sawyer, Dean Grubb, Lee Marshall, Matt Sysum, Marc Richards (Neil Mustoe 54), Matt Rose (C) (Tom Webb 54), Lee Smith, Jack Harris, Will Morford (Mike Symons 73), Jack Pitcher, Luke Ballinger. Not Used - Alex Sykes, Adie Harris
Booked : Jack Harris
Goals : Jack Pitcher (9) |
Hemel Hempstead Town : Nick Law, Aurele Champion, Chris Herron, Paul Edgeworth (C), Nathan Bowden-Hasse, Dave Deeney, Chris Dillion (Ryan Blake 74), Adam Martin, Drew Roberts, Anthony Thomas, Steve Wales (James Pegram 80). Not Used - Rashid Kamara, Sam Youngs, Adam Bernard
Booked : Nathan Bowden-Hasse
Goals : Drew Roberts (7), Anthony Thomas (36) |
| Attendance : 684 |
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