WALDOCK
SPARES HEYFORD BLUSHES
Fixture:
Heyford Athletic V's Milton
Venue:
Nether Heyford Playing Field
Competition:
Northants Combination Premier Division
Result:
3:2 (Half Time: 2:0)
Heyford
Goal Scorers: Dave Drinkwater, Tommy Waldock (2)
Line
Up:
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Mike
Scott |
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Nik
Maund |
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James
Hemphill |
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Duncan
Harris |
|
|
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Nathan
Lacey (C) |
|
|
|
Nick Brown |
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Steve
Hair |
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Nick
Moore |
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Tommy
Waldock |
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Dave
Drinkwater |
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Ash
Brown |
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SUBS
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|
|
 |
Stuart
Clarke
on
for Steve Hair
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Pete Kamara
on
for Nick Brown
|
|
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Matt
Currey
on
for Nick Moore
|
|
|
Nick
Inwood
Unused
|
|
Match
Report: (Courtesy of Nick Inwood)
Following
last weeks excellent 2-1 win at Moulton, Heyford commenced their
home campaign on a warm September's day in front of a decent
sized crowd who were anticipating a comfortable afternoon for
the home side against a Milton side who had survived relegation
last season due to the inadequate facilities of the Division
1 Runners Up and had opened their account last week with an
8-1 home defeat against fancied Harborough Town.
The
Heyford line up saw two changes to the previous weeks starting
XI with the much anticipated competitive debut of diminutive
striker Tommy Waldock who came in for Paul Currier who was unavailable,
plus there was a recall in midfield for Heyford veteran Steve
Hair who replaced Paul Curley who was on his honeymoon - a move
which saw James Hemphill move to his preferred position of left
back with Ash Brown being asked to patrol the wing.
There
was only 1 minute and 34 seconds on the clock when Milton pressed
the self destruct button, with the right full back presenting
the ball on a plate to Ash Brown whose excellent low cross was
diverted past the keeper by the on rushing Dave Drinkwater to
register his first goal of the campaign and give Heyford the
lead.
With
last weeks result in mind Milton were at sixes and sevens in
defence with the Heyford strike force of Drinkwater and Waldock
opening them up at will.
It
was no surprise that on 15 minutes Heyford increased their lead
and it was even less of a surprise that the scorer was Waldock,
who reacted quickest after his initial effort had rebounded
off the post to score his first competitive Heyford goal - the
first of many we hope!
With
tails up Heyford created a number of clear chances to put the
game beyond the visitors with Harris missing a header from point
blank range following a corner and the woodwork being struck
on no less than 4 occasions as well as former Heyford number
1 Carl Denney in the Milton goal pulling off an unbelievable
save from a Waldock close range effort.
Half
Time: Heyford Athletic 2 Milton 0
Despite
stressing the importance of the next goal (Milton had only trailed
2-0 last week at the interval) Heyford started slowly, being
caught in possession time and time again.
Credit
to Milton, they now looked a different side who were clearly
not going to surrender as they had the previous week.
15
minutes after the interval they scored the goal that their second
half efforts had warranted although it was scored in somewhat
controversial circumstances as Nik Maund was clearly hauled
to the ground off the ball, allowing the man he was marking
a clear run on goal before coolly dispatching the ball past
Mike Scott who got a hand to the ball although not enough to
keep it out.
Milton
were now the side making all the running and with the heat of
the day starting to tell Heyford made their first change with
the welcome return to action following injury of Stuart Clarke
who replaced Steve
Hair.
10
minutes later a second change followed as Pete Kamara (pictured)
was introduced for his Heyford debutin place of Nick Brown,
although within 5 minutes of this change the scores were level
as a jinking run into the Heyford area saw the ball being dispatched
into the bottom corner with Mike Scott stranded.
All
ten of Miltons outfield players ran to celebrate in front of
the Away dug out and the Heyford team were now facing a real
test of character.
With
15 minutes remaining Heyford went for the last throw of the
dice as powerhouse striker and Heyford's match winner at Moulton,
Matt Currey was introduced in place of Nick Moore as the home
side switched to a 4-3-3 formation.
With
the clock ticking towards the final minutes a Milton effort
from the far touchline crashed off the base of the near post
and was cleared to safety - following this were Heyford now
happy to settle for a point?
As
the game went into the 90th minute, Matt Currey won the ball
on half way and using his frame to its full potential battered
his way through the Milton rearguard before laying the ball
into the path of Drinkwater who was now through on goal with
the keeper to beat.
Drinkwater's
shot from the edge of the area was excellently saved by Denney,
before the rebound was somehow scrambled clear to the left wing
where Waldock was lurking. With the Milton defence now back
in numbers and Denney back on his feet Tommy had two options,
power or the chip, he went for the latter and much to the delight
of team mates and the bench his effort was inch perfect as it
nestled in the far top corner of the net.
Injury
time was played out without scare and the final whistle was
greeted with a sense of relief as Heyford had got themselves
out of jail!
Full
Time: Heyford Athletic 3 Milton 2
Match
Summary:
Before
I summarise today's match just remember what I said before the
game we're a new team / squad and it will take time for us to
gel, we've had at least six new players make their debuts for
the club in the last two weeks with at least another one (Matt
Barron) to come hopefully next week.
We
have some excellent players at the club this season and both
Smithy and I are confident that once everyone is available for
selection and we do gel we will be more than a match for any
side in this league.
Anyway
onto today's game and for some reason the team didn't click
today and as a result we didn't play anywhere near our full
potential with the chances we created being mainly down to the
quality of Drinkwater and Waldock in attack, with the pair linking
up excellently. Too many times we were slow on the ball and
were easily caught in possession, particularly in the second
half.
That
said Milton deserve credit for this as after their result last
week, to find themselves 2-0 down after 15 minutes they could
have folded although they didn't and in the second half especially
every time a player in Blue received the ball there was someone
in Green all over the man in possession.
On
the plus side, to play as we did today and gain 3 points is
a massive achievement, last season it would have been Milton
scoring the last minute winner and not us.
Another
massive plus for the team today was the return from injury of
Stuart Clarke (pictured above right),
he is a massive player for the team as he showed today with
a number of timely interventions, crunching tackles and his
aerial strength. We hope that his hamstring problems are now
firnly behind him once and for all.
Man of the Match: Tommy Waldock
I
quote.........
75
minutes, Stan to the lads in the dugout
"Tommy
has hardly touched the ball second half, we haven't given him
a decent ball to run onto since half time"
George
(Milton linesman)
"That's
because we've sussed him out, he's in our pocket now"
90
minutes, Tommy produces a wonderful finish to deliver 3 points
for the team - quality player, quality finish. It just shows
that the opposition can keep him quiet for a whole half of football
but you can never say "he's in our pocket" a constant
goal threat!
