Hyde FC 2 County Development Squad 2 ( Lancashire League West) 23 October 2014
Last night`s
game between Hyde FC and Stockport County Development Squads, was into its
dying embers at the neat Abbey Hey stadium......County were 2-1 up in a closely
fought encounter, and looking winners, when the referee awarded Hyde a free
kick in a very scoreable position, from which they unsurprisingly scored,
albeit at the second attempt! More about this later....for now I will content
myself by saying the game ended 2-2 ,as the official blew for time directly the
ball was played off at the re-start and the points were thus shared.
On the
balance of play the result was not all that bad a reflection of how things
went. County went into an early lead as Jordan Young`s brilliant finish added
the necessary gloss to an inch perfect ball from Jordan Lazenbury ,who went on
to add a second notable assist late on when teeing Lee Stevenson ( playing for
fitness and match time)for County`s second. Before this, Hyde had scored a
belter themselves through Marcus Dibble who capitalised on excellent work by
Rob Swallow, and our Tameside neighbours made a real game of it until the
Stevenson goal that seemed to have settled matters. This proved not to be the
case and it was a great pity that such an otherwise decent game should finish
on such a sour note!
Despite the
obvious disappointment, Alan Lord, who`s team were held up on the M60 due to a
crash, will have gained much from this. He will have seen Stevenson get his `
match time’ and despite taking a time to get used to things at this level,
score a typical sniffers effort.
Another experienced County head on show was
Glenn Belezika, and I was really impressed with Glenn`s input...constantly
encouraging his young team mates off the ball.....always firm and sharp with
it! Alongside Glenn in a back four, I made Dave Moran the pick and vying with
Jordan Lazenbury for the M.O.M!
Much of the
early play took place in the Hyde half where new signing Damani Holness ,Lazenbury and Stevenson busied themselves
trying to prise the home defence apart, with Charlie Russell and Jordan
Lazenbury providing the ammo.
Leon O`Malley added useful support down the
right, but both Lazenbury and Mike Hampson were unlucky with a couple of
efforts- the only response from Hyde being a shot by George West that Josh
Powell covered nicely.
This took us
to the 11th minute when County`s pressure paid off thanks to a
quality ball from Jordan Lazenbury that landed at the feet of Jordan Young on
the edge of the box. Young had plenty of red shirted company around him and a
few bodies twixt self and goal, but a neat swivel and turn saw him unleash a
lethal cross shot that crashed into the far corner of keeper Josh Broadbent`s net!
For some
15 or 20 minutes after this the
pattern repeated itself pretty much
...with Jack Mason, Big Wamasule and Lee Gregory doing their best to offer a
threat , but the bulk of play being at the other end, where Gregory and Marcus
Dibble were working hard to stem the tide. This hard work eventually paid off
with a goal. Any pressure seemed to have been nullified as Powell`s firm punch
cleared the ball out of the box for County, but Hyde were determined to not be
denied, and within a minute were probing the box via Rob Swallow who only just
failed to get a shot in. The angst just would not subside for County though...
as Swallow tried again.....was blocked ...sending the ball out to Marcus Dibble
who unleashed the fiercest of drives way past Powell`s dive into the net for
the equaliser.
This
enlivened Hyde no end and only an excellent last ditcher by Connor Hancock, saw
off Jack Mason on the end of a fine ball from Gregory.
That was a
warning for County ,and they seemed to be heeding it as a series of corners
looked to have them a whisker away from getting a second goal- but instead
Broadbent dealt with Hampson`s header well and it stayed 1-1.
All this
time however...Hyde were keeping their powder dry and content to hit County on
the break – West doing just this ,on 38 minutes, but lifting his shot over the
bar. If West was at all dismayed by
this...it did not show ,as he ran at the yellow shirted blue back line with a
purpose next ,before passing inside to Mason who`s shot thudded into the post
with Powell beaten!
After
this.....for Hyde .....Swallow saw a decent run and cross come to nothing for
lack of support, and Russell, Lazenbury and Stevenson all had efforts charged
down for County as , what seemed an overly long first half eventually ended
with it still 1-1.
With Dean
Hitchin on after the break for Leon O`Malley, who had taken a knock, County set
about regaining their lead , but Hampson was denied by a good stop by Broadbent
after Damani Holness had set him up.
Holness
was getting forward to good effect and this would continue in what was a
good game from him, but he was faced by determined defending from Hyde most
notably from Dibble and Gregory ,so for County...a second goal had to wait!
Having said
that Dibble and Gregory had defended well.....they also offered something going
forward and Dibble was unlucky to see his shot deflected for a corner from
Gregory`s free kick.
It went end
to end for a bit now with Swallow providing threat and width down the right for
Hyde, whilst Holness and Lazenbury did likewise for County – just a finish was
missing for both outfits, and when at last it looked like County had produced
one..Holness`s brilliant run to the by-line ended with his shot coming back out
off one of a line of defenders on the line!
County were
possibly shell shocked at this last disappointment, and were massively indebted
to Dave Moran who was on hand to stop the rot as George West scuttled clear
with every intent to score!
After
this....Lazenbury and Hampson both went close for County, whilst Moran was
again called on to work wonders as Swallow threatened to latch onto a route one
ball from Broadbent!
Callum Cooke
came on for goal scorer Jordan Young for
County ,and slightly later Hampson gave way to George Blackwell, as they tried
to counter Hyde`s increasingly lively
work , largely involving Swallow and Mason...but not exclusively- Nang Assan
going close with one effort as a series of free kicks pushed County back.
Slowly but
surely County managed to get back a measure of control – Holness doing really
well again down the left but having to be content with a corner after a fine blocking tackle by Jack Pritchard
stopped his run. Enter Jordan Lazenbury
stage left, and his kick landed in a bunch of players clustered on the goal
line. One was keeper Broadbent who grabbed the ball and then spilled it.....the
other was ace sniffer of goals Lee Stevenson and the rest was a formality as he
forced the ball home to make it 2-1 to County!
Lees Walshaw and Stevenson in the thick of it...... |
Another
Lazenbury/ Stevenson combo followed on from the last action as Hyde seemingly
wilted, and County looked to capitalise on this, but Lazenbury`s final ball
bounced agonisingly wide of the far post with the Tamesider`s on the rack!
It was at
this point that an element of the surreal took over proceedings. All seemed
well.....a late Hyde raid had ended with Josh Powell making a stop and then
regaining his footing before lumping the ball skyward in our direction on the
far touchline. End of story ...except no.......the referee had blown his
whistle....not for the end of the game but for........................ well no
one immediately could guess precisely what the kick was for, but it emerged
later that the referee gave it for the County keeper holding onto the ball too
long! “ Twelve seconds” he defiantly snorted as he made for the dressing rooms
at game`s end , but I saw no such expanse of time twixt Josh getting and getting rid of the
ball! Any way ... when was the last time Law 12 of FIFA`s Laws of the Game, was
last invoked by a referee? Way back I would vouch, and the Rule is in fact
intended to be discretionary and not called on except for ` egregious
exceptions’-FIFA advice! Again I saw no such element. In addition the 6 seconds
mentioned in the rule ,as I understand it, starts not the second the keeper
grabs the ball...but when he /she gathers himself/herself....gets up ...looks
around and finds someone to pass to- in
other words the referee has to use his common sense!
Despite all
the above ...the referee was adamant and the kick was in a position almost
impossible to miss...but Hyde took it early and did miss, only for the referee to allow a re-take which duly went in taking a deflection en-route.
It was
2-2.... and seconds later....after County had kicked off again....that was the
final score as the referee had blown for time!
As I say a
sad end to what had been a decent game!
County line
up:
Josh Powell,
Leon O`Malley ( Dean Hitchen 48), Glenn Belezika, Connor Hancock, Dave Moran,
Charlie Russell, Damani Holness, Mike Hampson ( George Blackwell 75), Lee
Stevenson, Jordan Lazenbury, Jordan Young(Callum Cooke 67).
Hyde line
up:
Josh
Broadbent, Lee Walshaw, George Mannion, Lee Gregory( Dan Judge 60), Jack
Pritchard, Marcus Dibble, Rob Swallow, George Riley, Jack Mason( Wjani Evans
85), Big Wamasula( Nana Assan 75), George West.
Ian Brown
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