HULLBRIDGE SPORTS 1 HERTFORD TOWN 0
East Anglian Cup - Second Round
Tuesday 7th April 2009
The less said about Hertford Town's final appearance in the East Anglian Cup the better. This game was dominated more by the referee's whistle than the football, which was a pity as both sides tried to play some good football, though both were equally guilty of some woeful finishing. A single Hullbridge goal sealed the result but Hertford could and should have scored enough goals to take the tie. Roll on Thursday's Floodlight Cup game at home to St Margaretsbury. Teams. Hullbridge Sports: 1. Adam Sinclair, 2. Luke Horton, 3. Tom Clayton, 4. Sean Stannard, 5. Ryan Hodgson (capt), 6. Lee Davies, 7. Tony Lane, 8. James Wackett, 9. Ilyod Wilson, 10. Dan Barrington, 11. Paul Oakley.
Hertford Town: 1. Grant Hamilton, 2. Ryan Gordon, 3. Chris Spiteri, 4. Joel Maybury, 5. Glenn Draper (capt), 6. Pablo Ardiles, 7. Alex Scriven, 8. Matt McArdle, 9. Troy Alexander-Jarrett, 10. Andy Chapman, 11. Lee Garrity. Subs Used: Owen Beale (for Chapman), George Uttute (for Spiteri).
A somewhat unfamiliar Hertford Town side started this game. There were rare outings for Grant Hamilton, Chris Spiteri and Andy Chapman, recent signing Lee Garrity made his first full start and towards the end another recent signing, George Uttute, came on for his Hertford Town debut.
The home side came racing out of the blocks and within a minute of the start Paul Oakley had shot over the bar. Alex Scriven replied in the 4th minute but his shot was wide. In the 13th minute he became the first of a number of players to be shown a yellow card by the seemingly over-zealous referee.
A Hertford corner in the 16th minute was taken by Lee Garrity and flicked on by Joel Maybury, but was eventually cleared by the Hullbridge defence. Four minutes later the visitors won a free kick. Pablo Ardiles played the ball short to Garrity but it was forced out for a corner when he tried to play in his cross. Garrity also took the corner but it was cleared to safety. A little while later, Garrity was again the creator, playing a neat through ball to Troy Alexander-Jarrett, but his shot was just wide.
The breakthrough for the home side came on the half hour mark. A telling cross was played in from the right. The ball came to Sean Stannard, who lashed the ball back across goal and into the right hand corner to give Hullbridge the lead. Hertford were soon on the attack and won a free kick following a poor challenge on Garrity. However, the chance came to nothing as the ball was headed clear. A short while later a solo effort by Alexander-Jarrett saw the striker's shot go just wide of the post. Neither side created much for the next few minutes and the referee soon blew the half time whistle.
Half Time Score: Hullbridge Sports 1 Hertford Town 0
Almost immediately after the restart Chris Spiteri got himself booked, apparently for complaining about a rather rash challenge by a Hullbridge player that had resulted in a Hertford free kick. The free kick immediately afterwards was placed just over by Alexander-Jarrett. Hullbridge immediately mounted a counter-attack and Grant Hamilton pulled off a great save, diving to his left. The visitors soon made their first substitution; Owen Beale coming on for Andy Chapman, who was suffering from a recurring calf injury.
On the hour mark Hertford had a great chance to equalise when Hullbridge 'keeper Adam Sinclair dropped the ball in front of goal. Alexander-Jarrett was on hand and should have buried his effort, but somehow it was cleared behind for a corner and this came to nothing. Five minutes later there was a scramble in the Hullbridge box and it seemed the visitors would surely score, but again the ball was somehow cleared to safety. Glenn Draper was then yellow carded, again apparently for dissent. Hertford soon won a free kick, which was taken by Beale. He passed to Alexander-Jarrett, but his shot hit the crossbar and went harmlessly over.
With less than fifteen minutes of normal time to go, Beale was upended in the box by Sinclair. However, the referee interpreted the situation somewhat differently. He saw nothing wrong with the challenge and waved play on, though he was forced to stop play for treatment to Beale after a Hullbridge player kicked the ball out, having realised that the Hertford player was hurt. Pablo Ardiles was then booked for disputing the referee's original decision to play on.
With five minutes of normal time remaining a second Hertford substitution saw George Uttute come on for Chris Spiteri. The visitors soon won a corner, but Beale's cross was headed over by Glenn Draper. Two minutes later Joel Maybury had an excellent opportunity to put the scores level and possibly send the game into extra time, but he somehow missed when right in front of goal. Hullbridge immediately broke downfield but were also guilty of some terrible finishing. Two minutes into stoppage time the visitors won another free kick, but again Draper headed over from a Beale cross. Again the home side broke quickly, but again their finishing was poor. As the game approached the 95th minute Ryan Gordon tried an effort on the half volley but it was wide and once the resulting goal kick was taken the referee blew the full time whistle.
Final Score: Hullbridge Sports 1 Hertford Town 0