01/10/2016 – Report – Hatfield Peverel FC versus Earls Colne FC

ANDREAS CARTER ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

 

PREMIER DIVISION

 

  HATFIELD PEVEREL FC:                   1.

EARLS COLNE FC:                               3.

 

Date:   Saturday 01^st October 2016.             Venue: Keith Bigden Memorial Ground, Hatfield Peverel.

 

When I visited the Keith Bigden Memorial Ground in late August, the scheduled evening match was abandoned after just six minutes when Anthony Roll of Hatfield Peverel FC took a bad tumble to dislocate his elbow and suffer other injuries. It was pleasing to see him attend this match, his plaster cast was removed last week and as long as the required physiotherapy goes to plan then a return to football looks likely in the New Year.

 

Hatfield Peverel FC have had a reasonable start to this season, this season under the guidance of Steven Pretty, eleven points from six games with only one defeat on the opening game of the season, before kick-off, and it was also pleasing to see their main pitch back in use after an infestation of rabbits, apparently the local farmer had shot twenty in the last week alone. Earls Colne, on the other hand, with thirteen points from eight games, have nearly accumulated almost as many points that they gained throughout last season! Their new manager, John Pike has brought in many new players and I recognised only three players from last season so the future at present looks good.

 

On a bright sunny and windy afternoon the match official for this Premier Division game was local referee, Matthew Jarvis who many people thought I was assessing as I had my notebook out throughout the game! It’s not the first time that wrong assumption has happened but my role is to report on the teams, their play, their attitudes and I rarely comment on the officials performance as they have a difficult enough job as it is, especially when he has club linesman to assist and the two used in this match did a good job.

 

Hatfield Peverel kicked off and Turner (L) back at his home club was forced to put in two strong challenges as the visitors pressed forward then Brewster played the ball through to Long whose pace forced keeper Lempriere to advance to fly-kick the ball clear. Both teams adopted a patient approach to the game as defences held firm with much of the action through midfield, and after six minutes the visitors gained a corner when a forward cross-field ball from Pike found the over-lapping Huwes who teased Irvine into conceding the corner kick, with Turner (L) heading clear with Hickman challenging. In response Hunt for the home team found Hull and then Turner (L) pushed forward to send in a low cross which Pike headed clear for a corner to the home team, taken long to find Turner (L) whose return header found Brewster climbing well at the far post but only finding the side netting. Mouser put in a timely challenge on Carter who was immediately caught by Palmer (B) with the free-kick from Keefe being headed clear by Turner (L).

The first shot on target came on thirteen minutes when captain, Miller had a go from twenty-five yards but Hirst easily gathered and Earls Colne continued to push forward down the left side with Huwes overlapping to chase another driven forward ball from Pike. Hatfield Peverel hit back and when Dix made an error in trying to clear the ball Long, standing wide on the left wing, crossed to Brewster who blasted the ball wide from just inside the penalty area. Long was seeing plenty of the ball, always an outlet with his willingness to chase the long ball and when he found Hunt in space the central striker curled the ball round a defender only to hit the inside of the far upright and rebound off the shoulder of the stranded keeper to be cleared and keeper Lempriere then made an excellent save to divert a driven cross from Palmer (B). On twenty-two minutes Keefe tried his luck with a dipping effort that had Hirst back-pedalling with the ball striking the top of the cross-bar and safety behind. New signing Palmer (J) for Earls Colne was holding the ball up well and when the Hatfield Peverel defence stood off him he played the ball to Keefe whose shot fizzed wide of the goal. Huwes who seemed to have suffered a recurrence of an injury was replaced by Mansfield who slotted into a left side wing back position with Hunt and Palmer (B) working the ball forward for the home team with Hunt over-running the ball out of play.

At the other end Miller fed Turner (A) but Mouser made an excellent interception and both teams had so far given a good account of themselves, as the game flowed from end to end with goalkeepers rarely troubled with midfield players dominating and teams having to be patient in their build up play. From a Hunt throw-in, Brewster found Long but when Hull received the ball in space he fluffed his control and his shot was weak to Lempriere. On thirty-five minutes Long fired a shot across goal latching onto a long ball forward from Turner (L)  with Irvine just a few feet short of reaching the cross at the far post. A mazy run from Carter down the right wing forced two attempted challenges from Turner (L) whose third attempt brought a free-kick just outside the penalty area but the free-kick saw Turner (L) fouled by Pike. Palmer (J) tried to bring down Turner (L) from behind but with the home team still in possession the referee played on with Turner (L) limping away to run off the injury. This game desperately needed a goal and this came in the thirty-eighth minute when a forward ball from Ogborn found Keefe, whose lay off fell to MITCHELL HICKMAN who lobbed the ball home over everyone standing inside the six yard box, a good finish from a defender! The response from Hatfield Peverel was concentrated, a free-kick from Lapwood was cleared by Mansfield, a corner from Palmer (B) found the head of Turner (L) and fall to Irvine whose long shot hit Dix but the home side could find no way through.

 

HALF-TIME:       0 – 1

 

Earls Colne restarted the match, lost possession and conceded an early goal when Hunt and Palmer (B) combined to get the ball through to MICHAEL BREWSTER who controlled the ball before rifling home from the edge of the penalty area giving keeper Lempriere no chance to save. Hatfield Peverel picked up the pace and Brewster, buoyed by his goal started to put himself about a bit, big challenges and big headers at both ends but at the same time covering large areas of the pitch. Lempriere saved a shot from Palmer (B) whilst namesake Palmer (J) started to impose himself amongst his new team-mates having signed-on before the game. Palmer (J) put pressure on Irvine who just managed to clear but both teams were looking for more goals in an open match which neither team had totally dominated so far. Hull should have done better inside the penalty area but dithered when it mattered most and Pike put in a fine challenge on Hunt who had run through from a wide position and Pike was again on hand to clear the ball off the toes of Long as he threatened. On sixty minutes a lengthy spell of injury time was seen when Keefe was injured in a foul challenge, to eventually be replaced by Preston and with the wait over Carter kicked the ball high and wide of the goal.

A free-kick from Lapwood found Brewster who climbed high only to head the ball well over the cross-bar and to be honest Hatfield had seen more, clear cut chances, Hunt scuffed the ball into the hands of Lempriere from close range but generally his team were wasteful in front of goal, a situation they would eventually rue! On sixty-five minutes Palmer (J) ran forward lobbing the ball over both the advancing keeper and defender Turner (L) only for the ball to strike the arm of Mouser, the last covering defender. The referee immediately awarded a penalty-kick, a correct decision from where I was standing as the ball was definitely handled by the defender otherwise the ball would have headed towards the unattended goal. After a short consultation with the home linesman the referee called Mouser over and the player was shown the red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. JOSHUA PALMER stepped up to drive the ball to the right hand side with keeper Hirst taking a trip the other way. Three minutes later and Earls Colne increased their lead, Palmer (J) seemed to impede Turner (L) to gain possession and as defenders stood off he passed to ANDREW TURNER who had the easiest of chances to side-foot home, with Turner (L) bemoaning the fact he felt he had been fouled in the lead up to that goal.

With two goals inside almost as many minutes it took only another four minutes for Hatfield Peverel to be awarded a penalty themselves when a throw-in from Palmer (B) reached the penalty area where a defender was adjudged to have climbed illegally over a home player, Long stepped up to take the spot-kick only for keeper Lempriere to make a fine full length save at the foot of the post. Hatfield Peverel replaced Palmer (B) with Clark but Earls Colne continued to play some decent football in their steady approach with every player wanting the ball either in defence or through midfield and wide on the flanks. A fine cross-field pass from Hunt found Clark in space but his first touch was clumsy and the visitors cleared the danger whereupon Palmer (J) set up Turner (A) whose first two goal-bound shots took ricochets’ off defenders as the home defence momentarily lost their shape. Hatfield replaced Hunt and Wilkinson with Willis and Pitts respectively on seventy-five minutes but Earls Colne still held the upper hand making a substitution themselves with ten minutes remaining when Turner (A) was replaced by James.

Palmer (J) was correctly adjudged to have handled the ball when driving through the home defence with only keeper, Hirst, in the way, a late whistle perhaps but the decision was correct. A forward run by Hull led to Turner (L) joining his attack curling the ball just wide as the home team continued to press forward themselves, a corner taken by Pitts was cleared by Preston to Brewster who steered a hard driven shot goalwards where keeper Lempriere made an excellent save and he excelled again stopping a shot from Willis after being set up by Clark. There were seven minutes of injury time played and in that time Palmer (J) set up Dix but Hirst saved, Lapwood had a shot ricochet over everyone, striking the cross-bar but generally the visiting defence battled to the last minute during which the frustration of Brewster got the better of him when he cynically tripped Dix as he sped past.

 

FULL TIME:        1 – 3

 

This was a decent encounter, both teams had a right go with defences having to play well or be punished, Hatfield Peverel had a couple of regular players missing and as I reported earlier Hatfield Peverel will look back at the chances they had and failed to take. Earls Colne have gathered a decent group of young players together and deserved to win this game, which may have turned to their advantage with the second goal from the penalty which I felt was the correct decision, whilst the home team failed to score from their penalty award.

 

My usual Man of the Match selection changed as the game wore on, Brewster and Turner (L) put in big shifts with Hull, Hunt, Palmer (B) and Long looking dangerous going forward, it was their finishing which perhaps let them down this week. For Earls Colne I had only seen three on their squad before so a refreshing change to see new players coming into the ESBFL, numerous players caught the eye, Hickman and Pike look strong in central defence, captain Miller eased through the game directing play with Keefe, Turner and especially new signing Palmer (J) constantly a threat. So who have I missed, well after re-reading my notes I find that keeper Lempriere made more than a couple of useful saves, including a penalty stop so this week it is the keeper who gets my vote.

 

Teams:

 

HATFIELD PEVEREL FC:                                 Colours: Blue & White Shirts, Black Shorts and Black Socks.

Graham Hirst., James Irvine., Elliot Mouser., Michael Brewster., Luke Turner., Patrick Wilkinson., Ben Lapwood (C)., Ben Hull., Danny Hunt., Ben Palmer., Ross Long.

 

Manager:                      Steven Pretty

Used Substitutes:          Jack Pitts., Harvey Clark., Sam Willis.

 

 

EARLS COLNE FC:                                           Colours:            Red Shirts, Red Shorts & Red Socks

Callum Lempriere., Bradley Dix., Michael Huwes., Mitchell Hickman., Bobby Pike., Thomas Ogborn., Nicky Miller (C)., Bradley Keefe., Joshua Palmer., Andrew Turner., Corey Carte.

 

Manager:                      John Pike.

Used Substitutes:          Joshua Preston., Brett Mansfield., Godfrey James.

Unused Substitutes:      Christopher Coyston.

 

 

Referee:                       Matthew JARVIS                        (Maldon)

 

Man of the Match:      Callum LEMPRIERE                (EARLS COLNE FC)

 

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Request to Club / Fixture Secretaries

 

This season the fixtures, results, referees and “kick-off” times will be shown automatically on “The FA Full-Time / The Whole Game System” ( http://full-time.thefa.com ) but would all Club / Fixture Secretaries please advice any agreed changes, as required, to Alison Willmore ( mjw1947@sky.com ) especially for evening games and for those matches being played under floodlights etc.

 

KO is 3:00pm from:        August to October

KO is 2:00pm in:             November, December & January

KO is 2:30pm in:             February

KO is 3:00pm from:        March to end of season

 

Cup Matches:

Kick-Off times for ESBFL cup matches, are generally 30 minutes earlier than those shown above but check competition rules beforehand.

Kick-Off times for Essex County Football Association cup matches are published on the ECFA web-site.

( www.essexfa.com/competitions/county-cups )

 

 

 

ESBFL “web-site”

 

The web-site for the Essex & Suffolk Border Football League is:              www.esblfootball.com