Thank you to our sponsors

Welcome to the Official Site of

Hawkenbury 1 v 1 Pembury

For the second week in a row we faced Hawkenbury on a Tuesday night, this week we were away and after having 15 players available last week and only 10 on Saturday, I was happy to again have 15 players to call on. This was short lived as during the day a number of players dropped out resulting in us being down to 11 with 2 who were going to be late, luckily Charlie Mallows could make it giving us 12, inc Genty who was struggling with a grass burn! Also this inc me and after playing 90 minutes on Saturday and Sunday I was walking like a robot!

We started the match with 10 players, as Galey and Wyles were running late due to work. We lined up with Rich in goal (who was also struggling with a knee injury), Charlie Mallows at right back (still suffering from mild concussion) Tom Bowyer and myself at centre backs and Woody at left back. Genty right mid, Pat Bishop and Ollie in the middle and Vinny on the left with Alun up front.

I also lost the toss, so Hawkenbury switched and decided to shoot downhill the first half although to begin with we were gutted but it turned out to be a god send. Going against the slope in the first half, we played the first 20 minutes with 10 men and defended really well, pushing up when we needed to and dropping deeper when required the defence did exactly what I asked them to do and were only tested once when we didn’t fully clear a ball from a corner but Bowyer made the tackle of the year to deny their centre forward an open goal now you had to have been there to realise how good a tackle this was and I have seen a few over the years and I have never seen one better (I get as excited about tackles as forwards do about goals!) We then had a great chance of our own, when Ollie played through Genty who turned and hit a volley on the edge of the box that just went wide, it was a shame it was on his wrong side otherwise he would have worked the goalkeeper. Despite playing with 10 men we started to work our way into the game with Ollie and Pat starting to get a grip with their midfield. Hawkenbury had more possession coming down the hill but were reduced to shots from distance which when they got past the defence Rich was more than capable of dealing with. With 20 minutes gone, Galey came on to make us up to 11 and he dropped in at right back and we pushed Charlie up to right mid. This had an immediate impact as we could now impose ourselves a little more on them and although we didn’t use the ball quite well enough we ensured that when we did we got it forward quickly and then backed Al and Genty up, Al was delivering some great balls into the box that we were unfortunately unable to capitalise on, due mainly to their giant goalkeeper.

We started to get a few shots off and although we didn’t test their goalkeeper enough we were becoming dominant in the game, Vinny had a great chance when put in by Pat but couldn’t quite connect properly, Ollie scuffed a shot wide (even after all his bragging about his goals on Sunday!). All the time we were staying resolute at the back, although with the pace of their wingers we were always under pressure when the ball broke but some good solid defending and organisation kept them at bay.

Half time and it was still 0-0 and the game was very close, they probably shaded the first half in terms of possession but we defended well and were good on the break, we now had the easier of the halves and were shooting downhill. By half time Wyles had shown up so we now had a sub to use but with people struggling it was who to take off - those that were struggling showed the fight for the team and none of them wanted to come off which is very pleasing as at times people have maybe “bottled it” and come off with the most minor of injuries but not tonight we were a team and we wanted the win.

Second half started and it took us 5 minutes to get going, but as soon as we woke up Ollie and Pat took control of the game, working hard to win the ball back and using it well when they did. Charlie and Vinny started to cause problems down the wings being backed up by Woody and Galey, Alun was winning the ball in the air and linking up well and we looked a lot more threatening, we just had to be careful to not go gung ho and push too many forward, what with the pace Hawkenbury have up front and my lack of it. But we were holding tight and causing them a few problems, but again we just couldn’t find that final ball to get the goal we wanted.

We made the change mid way through the half bringing Mido on for Genty who had put in a great shift when struggling with a tight hamstring, this soon paid off when Wyles was put through by Ollie and was brought down 5 yards outside the box to give us a free kick in a dangerous position. Al stepped up to take it and curled the ball round the wall and into the bottom corner to give us the lead that our work rate had deserved.

With 15 minutes left and Hawkenbury pushing on and going with 4 in attack, we knew we had to stay tight to keep control of our lead and if we continued to defend in the same manner we would be successful. We repelled a few attacks from Hawkenbury but after a sloppy clearance from myself the defence were caught out of position and Hawkenbury had a man free at the back post to equalise with 10 minutes left. Although we were gutted, me in particular as my error led to the goal we regained our composure and battled on, winning tackles and headers and giving everything to keep at least the point we more than earned we wanted a win but at this stage of a very hard, long season and some of us having played 3 games in 4 days (including me!) we were desperate to hold on and gave absolutely everything to insure it wasn’t points dropped, Rich made a great save at the end and we won headers and got blocks in at the right time to finish the game 1-1.

This point takes us off the bottom of the league and gives us something to play for. I for one don’t want to finish bottom and with us playing last placed Tenterden on bank holiday Monday we have an ideal opportunity to gain our first 3 points of the season and put some distance between us and Tenterden.

For no other reason than the effort that the guys who have played the last few weeks with only 10/11 players available we have found some light at the end of the tunnel and I am incredibly proud of those that are there week in week out, when others have let them down. So guys, especially the ones that have been on or off we have 4 games left and each one is winnable we just need you guys to be there and enjoy it, so I’m no asking I’m begging come and help us out and lets get a few wins before the end of the season - do it for a bit of pride in yourselves!

A great point for us against local rivals and over the 2 games I think 2 draws is probably a fair result, I was incredibly proud and happy regarding a good solid performance against a tough team - well that was until I had to try and walk up the stairs at home!

Man of the match is Tom Bowyer for the best tackle I’ve seen, although he just pipped everyone!

Team:
R Sayell
M Wood
C Mallows
M Brown (c)
T Bowyer
V Cheung
P Bishop
O Allman
J Gale
L Gent
A Evans
M Wyles

Thank you to our sponsors

Traditional Local Pub