Match Report - 10th December 2006

Not the ideal preparation for Headstone. With the Headstone Manor pitches waterlogged they had not trained for over a week and they had four players, Tom Wrigley, Ciaran McDougall, Brett Swinton-Bland and Nicholas Furquim, unavailable. So defensive re-jigging was required. Joe Jordan lined up at centre back and Headstone’s Mr Fixit, Thomas Green, who plays in any position without complaint, played right back and was superb.

Hendon deserved their win but the scoreline didn’t do Headstone justice. Two soft goals late in the game from defensive lapses made it look like this was a one sided game. It was not. Headstone made an accomplished Hendon team work very hard for the points. Hendon created more chances and Daniel Lynch was the busier keeper but Headstone had good enough chances to have managed a third goal. Though they lost, this performance was light years from the disappointing defeat in their last match at Harlington. Here there was commitment, determination, some good passing moves and teamwork.

Daniel produced several excellent saves and had little chance with any of the goals. Thomas defended and used the ball well. Josh Street had a very good game at left back. He challenged strongly, timing his tackles well and he looked to make good use of the ball. Francis Nkhoma showed why he was sorely missed at Harlington. He was strong battling away for the loose balls and passed the ball very well. On the left George Moriarty was in danger of running himself into the ground such was his determination. He was everywhere, giving his all but on occasions just tried to do too much on his own.

On 7 minutes Hendon came within a whisker of taking the lead. As they attacked down the right, Daniel came racing off his line to thwart the danger but misjudged how near the striker was and he nipped past Daniel and crossed towards the empty net. Another Hendon striker closed in but managed to steer the ball wide. The let off was short lived as on 8 minutes they opened the scoring. Hendon were managing to get through and behind the Headstone defence rather too easily and their striker skipped past Russell Butlin and then beat Daniel in a one on one.

The lead lasted 6 minutes when Headstone equalised through Conor McBreen’s speed and striking instinct. Headstone built an attack on the left and fed a through ball that looked over hit. But Conor sniffed a chance and as the keeper came to collect Conor beat him to it and tucked it into the empty net. Hendon had more chances on goal and in one looked to have scored when Thomas came from nowhere to clear the shot off the line.

At the other end Russell had a couple of shots and close range efforts from corners that Hendon struggled to clear and Thomas and Luis Meneses Zerpa had shots that went just wide. But on 32 minutes Hendon restored their lead with a swift break down the right and a chip from the edge of the area floated over Daniel into the corner. So at the break Hendon went in with a 2-1 lead.

Headstone have been starting the second half much stronger this season, coming out focussed and sharp. Hendon’s defenders were accomplished but often looked to do too much with the ball and Conor, Kyle Giles-Brown, Federico Jaramillo and George snapped at them and caused them a few problems. In the 39th minute it resulted in a really well taken goal by George. Conor and Kyle worked together to put a Hendon defender under pressure and won the ball off him. They fed the ball through to George who, with a defender chasing back, kept his cool, drew the keeper, rounded him and then calmly slotted the ball home. It was thoroughly deserved by George and demonstrated his determination and skill.

The game was pretty even at this stage. Headstone were making good use of the ball and defended solidly. But on 42 minutes Hendon produced an unstoppable shot from wide on the right after a throw in that restored their lead. The striker hit the ball with the outside of his left foot and it curled and dipped over Daniel’s outstretched hand. He had no chance.

Headstone should have equalised again when they were awarded a free kick 20 yards out. Russell stepped up and hit a fine shot that the keeper fumbled. Kyle and Conor were first to react. Kyle followed up on the rebound but without enough conviction and the keeper saved the shot when he shouldn’t have been given the chance. Shortly after Jordan Coleman replaced Federico on the right. Then Russell had a couple of knocks, first when a strong challenge left him on the floor and then he had to come off briefly when he was left limping from an opponent’s studs. Once he was back in action Jordan Wright came on. Kyle came off and Luis went up front.

It looked like the game would finish 2-3 but Hendon finished well with two goals in the last five minutes. Headstone failed to clear a Hendon corner and their forward picked up the ball on the edge of the box and curled it neatly into the left corner. Two minutes later a throw out by Daniel was not read by any of the Headstone players and Hendon pounced and shot into the unguarded net.

The end was disappointing as the last two goals soured what had been a fine, battling performance. But there were plenty of positives to take from this especially as Hendon are without doubt one of the division’s better teams who will be looking to finish in the top two. Thomas Green was man of the match for his great attitude and excellent performance at right back.