LANGFORD 1 HERTFORD TOWN 1
Molten Spartan South Midlands League - Premier Division
Saturday 11th April 2009
Another Saturday afternoon and another draw for the Blues, for the third Saturday in a row Hertford Town had to make do with one point in their Premier Division encounter, this time with Langford. Whilst they were able to extend their unbeaten sequence in the league to an impressive nine games, the effects of the extra time and penalties only 40 hours earlier against St Margaretsbury seemed to have an impact towards the end of the game as a few tired legs were in evidence.
Hertford made four changes to the starting line up that were victorious on Thursday, Attila Korsoveczki, Dave Hunt and Rob Luya were all unavailable and Michael Cooper dropped to the bench, to be replaced by Pablo Ardiles, Ryan Gordon, Matt McArdle and Troy Alexander-Jarrett.
Teams- Hertford Town: 1. Lee Robinson, 2. Pablo Ardiles, 3. Ryan Gordon, 4. Joel Maybury, 5. Glenn Draper (capt), 6. Matt McArdle, 7. Jamie Abbott, 8. Owen Beale, 9. Troy Alexander-Jarrett, 10. Daryl Mitchell, 11. Lee Roberts. Subs Used: 12. Alex Scriven (for Beale) 14. Michael Cooper (for Ardiles)
Langford: 1. Steve Young, 2. Andy Carter, 3. Ryan Nicholl, 4. Adam Pitcairn (capt), 5. Joe Delasalle, 6. Dave Ralph, 7. Dave Brown, 8. Lee Pateman, 9. Justin Griffiths, 10. Lee Harman, 11. Rob Groves. Subs Used: Mark Ellis (for Griffiths).
Within 10 seconds of the kick off on a rather damp afternoon, the referees whistle blew for the first infringement of the game, the resultant Hertford free kick coming to nothing. The first chances for both teams came within the first 5 minutes. Firstly a weak defensive header from an Owen Beale cross presented Troy Alexander-Jarrett with an opportunity for Hertford with a volley, but his shot was comfortably saved. Shortly afterwards Rob Groves had a shot from distance but it flew over the bar.
The referee was forced into his first action in the 7th minute, a poor challenge by Lee Pateman on Matt McArdle resulted in a warning for the Langford number 8. On 8 minutes a glorious opportunity was wasted by Langford, a shot cleared off the line by Glenn Draper fell invitingly to Dave Brown, but his shot was wide of the target.
Confusion reigned in the Hertford defence on 11 minutes, a clearance from Draper cannoned off Maybury and went out for a corner which Langford could not take advantage of. A foul by McArdle on 12 minutes presented Langford with another opportunity, a powerful shot by Joe Delasalle and a follow up by Justin Griffiths were both cleared for what Langford believed was a corner, the referee appeared to overrule his assistant and awarded a goal kick, much to Hertford's relief.
On 17 minutes Alexander-Jarrett beat the offside trap and raced down the left wing, his attempted cross was cleared for a corner which came to nothing. A Hertford free kick by Abbott on 20 minutes was floated across the box and met by the head of Joel Maybury, his attempt on goal was deflected out for another corner which produced a very similar result to the one before.
On 22 minutes Ardiles seemed to be outpaced down the Langford right wing and had no option but to commit a foul. The resultant free kick was drilled to the near post by Rob Groves but Jamie Abbot was able to clear. On 26 minutes an intelligent through ball from the industrious Matt McArdle found Owen Beale on the edge of the penalty area, whilst Langford were able to clear the initial danger the ball was then handled by a defender for another set piece to Hertford. The free kick by Abbott was too close to Steve Young for what should have been a comfortable save, fortunately for the Langford keeper no Hertford player was able to take advantage of the spilled ball and it was reclaimed quickly by Young.
On 34 minutes the ball was in the Hertford net, a cross by Rob Groves found it's way through to Griffiths who finished well, only to have the goal ruled out for offside. The first booking of the game arrived in the 38th minute, the Langford captain Adam Pitcairn was guilty of a poor challenge on Lee Roberts and was shown the yellow card. The resulting free kick fell to Daryl Mitchell, whilst he was able to control the ball well, his weak shot was comfortably saved by Young. The alarm bells for the Hertford defence rang loudly again in the 42nd minute, a Langford corner hit into the Hertford goalmouth was eventually cleared by a combination of Draper and Maybury.
A period of Hertford possession in midfield did not seem to be getting them very far until an astute through ball to Troy Alexander-Jarrett seemed to put him in the clear only for Joe Delasalle to get in his way and earn himself a booking. A powerful strike by Jamie Abbott from the free kick was cleared in spectacular fashion by a flying header from a Langford defender. As time petered out for half time there was remarkably still time for two further cautions to be administered by the referee. There was nothing out of the ordinary as a Hertford foul gave Langford a free kick on the half way line, it was not obvious what then caused players from both teams to confront each other. When calm had been restored and the handbags put away, bookings were given to Hertford's Owen Beale and Langford's Andy Carter.
Half Time Langford 0 Hertford Town 0
It only took 2 minutes of the second half for both teams to have chances. Daryl Mitchell won a corner and took the kick himself, his cross was met powerfully by Glenn Draper but was headed over the bar. The ball was immediately cleared down the other end, Lee Harman perhaps should have done better with his shot when he was through on goal. The first substitution took place on 51 minutes, the dangerous Justin Griffiths being replaced by Mark Ellis. On 59 minutes Hertford received their second caution of the game, the ball seemed to have been cleared by the Hertford defence but the referee called play back and booked Matt McArdle, presumably for a challenge. A great cross from Rob Groves was met on the full by Delasalle, with Lee Robinson looking helplessly on, the ball sailed thankfully over the bar.
The first goal of the game came on 61 minutes, the ball traveling from one end to the other without a touch from a Langford player before it hit the back of the net. A clearance from Lee Robinson was controlled neatly in the centre circle by Daryl Mitchell. Daryl's second touch was to send Lee Roberts scampering down the left wing, his cross then eluding the goalkeeper and a defender, to be met by TROY ALEXANDER-JARRETT who headed the ball into the roof of the net from six yards. Two minutes later the lead was almost doubled with the same three outfield players being involved. A pass from Daryl Mitchell was deflected through to Lee Roberts on the left wing, Lee being played onside by the inadvertent flick by the defender. Another dangerous cross was met this time by the right boot of Alexander-Jarrett, only this time his shot went agonizingly wide.
Hertford made their first change of personnel on 67 minutes, manager Pablo Ardiles being replaced by Michael Cooper. Cooper immediately went to fill the role of right back, Ryan Gordon moving across field to fill the vacancy at left back. The equalizer for Langford came another two minutes later on 69 minutes. Some good interplay between Lee Harman and Rob Groves down the Langford left presented an opportunity for Groves to whip a ball dangerously into the box. The cross cleared the despairing head of Glenn Draper, where it was controlled neatly by Mark Ellis before he drilled a shot across Lee Robinson and into the corner of the net. Hertford then made a second change, Alex Scriven coming on to replace Owen Beale on 74 minutes and almost immediately his pace was to cause problems to the Langford defence.
On 76 minutes Mitchell fed Scriven down the right, his cross only just eluding the on rushing Alexander-Jarrett. On 80 minutes a weak challenge by the Langford left back allowed Scriven into the penalty area to shoot against the keeper. A follow up shot by Alexander Jarrett was somehow cleared off the line by Andy Carter. Almost immediately the ball was down the other end of the pitch, Draper was caught in possession in midfield and only a desperate challenge by Ryan Gordon, for which he was booked, stopped the immediate danger. The resultant free kick was taken by Joe Delasalle and only troubled the wall behind the goal. The final ten minutes of normal time were relatively uneventful, producing few goalscoring chances. A good run and cross by Michael Cooper was well cleared, another run by Scriven pulled the ball back for Mitchell to shoot over. As all around seemed to be in agreement that a draw was a fair result of the game, Langford were awarded a free kick in the fifth minute of injury time. Ryan Nicholl sent the free kick dangerously into the penalty area which was met with the usual authority by Glenn Draper, sent into the air and towards the cross bar, where it was thankfully claimed by Lee Robinson under the challenge of the fast approaching Langford strikers. The draw was indeed to be the fair result.
DAVID BLAKE