P & IC United Reserves Vs Haddenham United
12th February 2011
With the rare appearance of sunshine and the chance to play on a pitch that is flat and has grass on it Haddenham arrived at Pitstone in optimistic mood.
With the wind barely gusting at more than 10 mph it took Haddenham a few minutes to get used to near perfect playing conditions. The change in playing surface certainly suited the passing game of the visitors and they were soon into their stride.
And we didn’t have to wait long for the first goal. 8 minutes in and a Haddenham attack was cleared by the P & IC defence. The ball looped to Dave Morris who brilliantly volleyed over the loud, but small, keeper from 25 yards.
5 minutes later and Haddenham had doubled their score with the best move of the game. James Ward, filling in at left back due to injuries and absent players watching the electrifying events at Newbury, broke up the home sides attack.
He quickly fed the ball into Jake Rea who in turn found Alan Lewis in space on the right. Looking up, Lewis delivered a pin point pass to Gonzalo Goy who turned his marker inside out before chipping a delightful pass to Ryan Simmons who had made a great run down the right hand side. Simmons coolly lobbed the ball over the keeper and with 13 minutes gone the score was 2 - 0.
Haddenham were in complete control of the game, with the home side offering little more than hopeful long balls which were dealt with comfortably at the back.
On 20 minutes another flowing move ended with Matt Tatum having a great strike from the edge of the box. With the goalkeeper beaten the ball cannoned off the inside of the post and away to safety much to Haddenham’s frustration.
After 35 minutes P & IC got were rewarded for their aerial bombardment when a clearance evaded the Haddenham defence and keeper Morris failed to collect the ball on the edge of the box. The onrushing attacker, who must have the longest hair in the ADL, nipped in front of Morris knocking the ball past him and finishing into the empty net.
Half time and Haddenham had a well deserved 2 -1 lead but with their failure to hold onto leads in recent games the team knew they had to go looking for more goals.
Goy was proving a real handful with the P & IC defence resorting to defensive tactics more suited to an ice hockey rink it seemed that it was only a matter of time before Haddenham increased their lead.
In the 54th minute Haddenham won a free kick out on the left. Tatum delivered a dangerous ball into the box and the attempted clearance resembled something out of the pinball wizard scene in Tommy as the ball ricocheted off several players.
As the ball was driven towards goal for the umpteenth time Phil Heggie reaped to reward of the significant investment he has made in his stomach over recent months. With a poachers instinct he guided the ball home with the aforementioned stomach and Haddenham were 3 -1 up.
6 minutes later and the other veteran of the team got in on the act, though his route to goal was more conventional. Finding space on the right 22 yards out just to the left of the penalty area Alan ‘Squidly’ Lewis met a ball on the half volley. Rolling back the years (again) he struck the sweetest of shots that nestled happily in the top corner.
Lewis was replaced by Brady Natale on 65 minutes and Haddenham continued to dictate the tempo of the game with P & IC continuing to loft aerial attacks.
With 15 minutes remaining the home team were given a glimmer of hope.
Another long ball into the box was met by Satchi who tried to clear from the 6 yard box with the outside of his right foot. Although he didn’t make a clean connection luckily the ball was cushioned off the top of his foot and fell unexpectedly to the grateful keeper Morris.
“Back pass” cried the home team. “Ha ha” came the reply from Haddenham. The referee agreed with the home side and awarded a free kick on the edge of the 6 yard box. One can only assume that he had never seen Satchi play before and mistook him for Zidane, because if that touch was an intentional cushioned back pass then Satchi has been wasting his time at Haddenham all these years. The free kick was quickly taken and an unmarked played rolled it into the empty goal.
Despite having let leads go in recent games Haddenham saw out the game comfortably and left Pitstone with a well deserved 4 -2 victory and 3 points.