HEYFORD
HAMMERED BY IN FORM ROADE
Fixture:
Heyford Athletic V's Roade
Venue:
Nether Heyford Playing Field
Competition:
Northants Combination Premier Division
Result:
1:5 (Half Time: 1:1)
Heyford
Goal Scorers: Nathan Lacey
Line
Up:
|
1.
|
Nick
Inwood |
|
2.
|
Paul
Curley |
|
3.
|
James
Hemphill |
|
4.
|
Nik
Maund |
|
5.
|
Nathan
Lacey |
|
6.
|
Nick
Brown |
|
7.
|
Steve
Hair (C) |
|
8.
|
Ben
Richards |
|
9.
|
Paul
Currier |
|
10.
|
Matt
Gernon |
|
11.
|
Ryan
Grant |
|
SUBS
|
|
| |
Ian
Grant (on for Matt Gernon)
|
| |
Adam
Daniels (on for Steve Hair)
|
| |
Tom
Butcher (unused)
|
| |
Joe
Gartland (unused)
|
| |
Lee
Wilkinson (unused)
|
Match
Report (Courtesy of Nick Inwood)
For
the second successive week Heyford slumped to a heavy home defeat,
in fact the heaviest home defeat of the season against an in
form Roade side who were coming into the game having lost only
one of their last nine league games.
For
the first 10 minutes it was clearly visable that Roade were
a side playing with confidence as they were sharper on the ball
and quick to react every time play broke down.
It
was during this early period that they took a deserved lead
with powerhouse striker Mark Drake being left with an easy chance
which was coolly dispatched low past Inwood in the Heyford goal.
Heyford
responded well to this setback and for the next 20 minutes played
their best football of the game which ended with Nathan Lacey
placing an excellent header inside the far post following a
great ball into the box by Ryan Grant from the Heyford right.
This
equalizer gave the home sided greater confidence with Brown
clipping the top of the bar and Gernon seeing an excellent shot
from the angle whistle across the face of goal.
As
the half time interval approached Roade began to stamp their
authority on the game again and 5 minutes before the interval
Inwood was forced into a good save from a free header from point
blank range - a save which brought comparisons to the legendary
Gordon Banks.............
With
the scores level at half time both sides went in at the interval
thinking that the 3 points was there for the taking.
Half
Time: Heyford Athletic 1 Roade 1
Roade
started the second period as they did the first, on the front
foot. 10 minutes in a corner was only half cleared and as the
ball was smashed across the face of goal it was turned in from
underneath the cross bar to reestablish the lead for the visitors.
On
60 minutes Currier had an excellent chance to restore parity
only for him to drag his right footed shot from 8 yards the
wrong side of the post.
This
was the best it got as unfortunately the last 30 minutes of
the game became a horror show. Firstly a mistake inside the
6 yard box from James Hemphill, who performed well at left back,
left the Roade substitute one on one with Inwood and despite
his powerful initial shot being saved by the keeper the rebound
fell to the same player and his follow up shot trickled inside
the far post with Inwood stranded.
With
15 minutes to go Roade increased their advantage when a long
punt from the keeper left the player one on one with Inwood,
who was slow advancing from his line giving the Roade player
the opportunity to pick his spot to make it 4-1.
Another
goal nearly followed minutes later when a rare wayward pass
from Mr consistency (Paul Curley) set the dangerous Drake through
one on one with Inwood although after rounding the home keeper
Maund managed to get back and make an excellent goal line clearance.
With
all confidence visibly drained from the home side, Hemphill
was lucky to escape punishment following a professional foul
on half way although his luck ran out with 5 minutes remaining
as a clumsy tackle inside the area saw the referee point to
the spot and up stepped Drake to put the ball into the back
of the net and the home side out of their misery.
Full
Time: Heyford Athletic 1 Roade 5
Managers
Comments:
For
the third successive week we turned in an abject performance
and got exactly what we deserved - nothing!
Having
played reasonably well first half it is difficult to understand
our second half performance, although credit must go to Roade
who ultimately are a side with nothing to play for.
What
is evident is that next season attitudes must change, training
needs to happen and some more quality needs adding to the side.
We
do have a number of players who are good enough to get results
at this level, its just a matter of becoming a team as yet again
our opponents showed more willingness to play for each other
which has been the case far too often this season.
Man of the Match: Ryan Grant
Played
well in more than one position and never gave up. Excellent
cross lead to equalizing goal. Like Whitty another player who
would have made such a difference had he been available all
season.
