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TUESDAY 22 AUGUST 2006 SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
HERTFORD TOWN 0 OXHEY JETS 3
"Welcome to the Spartan..", that seemed to be the message the Jets had for Hertford Town last night, as the Blues got off to the worst possible start to their life in the Spartan South Midlands League! Desperate to make good the damage done in the home FA Cup defeat to Stotfold on Saturday, a nervy Blues side, missing Ryan Redford, Scott Neilson, Kevin Cooper and Pablo Ardiles, all preferring holidays to football, began well enough, but with no firepower up front made no impact on a resolute Oxhey defence. Needless to say, Hertford's defensive fragility was exposed as they were picked off with no great difficulty by Jets, to give them a win which they themselves had not expected.
Team: 1. Mark Virgo, 2. Mark Teasdale, 3. Tom Neill, 4. Ryan Wade (capt), 5. Matt Watts, 6. Dan Culwick, 7. Adrian Robinson, 8. Leo Turner, 9. Paul Dodd, 10. Nicky Marsh, 11. Lee Roberts. Subs: 14. Jamie Nicholson (for Culwick, 40), 16. Kevin Ashwood (for Robinson, 61).
Hertford clearly had the better of the opening exchanges as Jets began tentatively. Jamie Arthur gave an early glimpse of his threat up front for the visitors though, when he flashed a cross into the Blues' box whch was nearly turned home by a defender. Mark Virgo came to the rescue though with a one handed save to concede a corner. From this the ball broke downfield to Lee Roberts and he found Ryan Wade. 20 seconds after the Oxhey corner, Wade got in a raking shot which went not far over the bar. On 8 minutes a Lee Roberts cross was blocked for a corner and Nicky Marsh floated this over onto Leo Turner's head, but the midfielder headed wide.
With absolutely no threat up front, all Hertford's hard work was to no avail, and they nearly went behind on 23 minutes when the highly combative Mitchell Murphy produced a spectaular overhead kick on th edge of the box. Fortunately Mark Virgo was able to tip the ball over the bar.
Two minutes later, most people, including the stadium announcer, thought that Oxhey's Chris Harding had scored with a looping header from a corner, but the ball had narrowly scraped over the ball and fallen onto the goalnet behind the goal. As Hertford continued to build patiently, Jets began to show an "in your face" approach which Blues will have to learn to compete with if they are to be sucessful in this league. Ryan Wade got up from a foul to go close with a 23 yard free kick and then Paul Dodd appeared to be taken down as he ran into the box - the referee was singularly unimpressed with his theatrical fall, although it looked like Dodd had tried to continue on after the contact. Gary Beadle nearly punished Blues for their lack of concentration in the moments after this incident
On 37 minutes Mitchell Murphy was booked for a very bad face-on high tackle on Adrian Robinson, leaving the midfielder needing prolonged treatment. Moments later Hertford's woes continued when Dan Culwick pulled up with a thigh injury after clearing a ball, and had to be assisted off the field. Jamie Nicholson came on in his place. With the game looking like a first half stalemate, Oxhey took a shock lead when WAYNE GLADDY seized on a loose ball 18 yards out and placed a firm drive past a helpless Mark Virgo.
Half Time: Hertford Town 0 Oxhey Jets 1
Oxhey's Marc Ayres became the second Jets player to be booked for some over robust work and Matt Watts became the first home player to see yellow for complaining too much. A minute later Leo Turner received the same fate to make the bookings 2-2 but for entirely different reasons. On 57 minutes it was all over. The excellant Jamie Arthur conjured up a goal out of nothing when he seized on a loose ball in a central position 20 yards out and lashed a wicked shot at Mark Virgo. Although the home No.1 saw it coming, it took a wicked kick in front of him and flew over him into the net for 0-2.
Jets replaced Mitchell Murphy with Matt Tyas as they realised that the game was theirs for the taking. Hertford sent on Kevin Ashwood for Adrian Robinson on the hour and continued manfully to try and break down the Jets defence. Despite winning several corners and free kicks there was no-one to finish. In the final 15 minutes, Oxhey replaced Wayne Gladdy and Chris Ingham, with Karl Bull and Jeremy Tolman and all that Hertford had to show was a fierce Leo Turner free kick which was deflected for a corner before Jets added the final blow of the knife when JAMIE ARTHUR added his second and Jets' third with 2 minutes of added time played, to leave the margin of defeat a little harsh on the home side.
Final Score: Hertford Town 0 Oxhey Jets 3
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