Haddenham United Vs Bedgrove Dynamos
5th February 2011
Back to league action after the excitement of the previous weeks Oving Cup game with Haddenham welcoming Bedgrove Dynamos to Woodways for a mid table clash.
Having lost to Dynamos at the start of the season the home side were looking to get even and further consolidate their position in the league.
An unwelcome returning visitor was the arctic blast that greeted the teams as they lined up for kick off. With more power than a Gavin White on Vodka and Redbulls the chance of watching a decent game of football seemed remote. And so it proved.
Haddenham kicked off into the teeth of the gale and were soon into their passing rhythm. Seeming to have learnt from their previous experience of playing football in conditions more suited to extreme kite flying they kept the ball on the ground and were controlling possession.
Inevitably there were going to be long range wind assisted Dynamo efforts to deal with but with keeper Morris pulling off a couple of terrific saves in the first 20 minutes Haddenham were creating the better chances.
With 25 minutes gone the deadlock was broken. Alan Lewis and Jake Rea were in imperious form in the centre of midfield and it was through them that the breakthrough came.
Lewis picked the ball up in midfield and seeing Rea in a good position chipped it over the Bedgrove midfielder to him. Using his chest to take the ball past a challenge Rea used his knee to set up a volley which he then dispatched over the keeper from 25 yards.
The rest of the first half continued in much the same pattern with Morris pulling off two more terrific saves to maintain Haddenham’s lead at the interval.
The second half started with the expectation that with the wind at their backs Haddenham would continue to dominate and increase their lead.
If anything the wind got stronger with frequent gusts preventing either team from managing a settled period of play. As the game descended into an even scrappier affair it was hard to see where the next goal would come from.
15 minutes into the second half Bedgrove got the equaliser that their improved play probably deserved. The ball was lost in midfield and the subsequent through ball evaded the defence before being smartly finished from 6 yards out.
The goal galvanised Bedgrove who started to edge possession and control of midfield, with Haddenham struggling to create the chances of the first half and the wind playing havoc with passing for both teams.
Despite this improvement the home team’s defence were secure and it seemed unlikely that Bedgrove would add to their score unless Haddenham played a part giving them the chance.
In the 78th minute that was exactly what Haddenham did. A free kick was awarded 10 yards inside and on the left hand side of the Haddenham half. While the defence debated the validity of the penalty with the referee, opposition players as well as supporters on the sideline Bedgrove got on with the game.
Taking the free kick quickly they picked out the player left in space by the absent Heggie. He controlled the ball well, got his shot away quickly only to see Morris pull off another good save. Unfortunately while Haddenham watched and admired Morris’s effort the ball fell to a Bedgrove player who tapped into the empty goal.
The last 12 minutes saw Haddenham frantically trying to get the equaliser but in truth they never looked like pulling it off.
This was definitely a case of 3 points thrown away and a draw would have been a fair result. Although the wind certainly played a major part in the outcome it was, as the cliché says, the same for both teams and in the second half in particular Bedgrove adapted to the conditions better than Haddenham.
A disappointing day all round that was topped off by a member of the Bedgrove team threatening to arrest Haddenham’s manager for assault - “I know the law mate so get out of my space”.
Apparently standing on the cycle path with an unattractive face can now be considered to be assault, so expect a rise in the number of arrests at the playing field over the coming months!