Match Report - Southam United v Long Crendon

MATCH

REPORT

Hellenenic League Division 1, Bobby Hancocks Park, 03.08.22

SOUTHAM UNITED 2

(Barby 47’, Drummond 72’)

LONG CRENDON 5

(Chappell 26’, Hawkes 51’, Lethbridge 56’, 59’, Simpson 65’)

It was a tough day out when Long Crendon visited Bobby Hancocks Park for the opening match of the Hellenic League Division 1 season.

Spirits were high at kickoff and both teams saw chances on goal within the first two minutes, setting up what many supporters hoped would be a tightly contested match.

By the 26th minute Crendon had taken control of the flow of play and won a free-kick just outside the box. Even though Southam’s keeper, Lewis Hudson, got to the resulting shot on goal, it wasn’t enough and the ball sailed into the top left corner of the goal to start the scoring on the day.

It didn’t take long, however, for the Saints’ forward, Melvin Mauritson, to get one back himself, and by the 27th minute the scoreline was level again. It was his first goal for club since coming back from a shoulder injury sustained during preseason.

After going in level at the half Crendon found a 17 minute scoring spree and managed four goals past Hudson and a reeling back-line. By the 70th minute the match was essentially out of reach. >

Forward, Shane Osborne, did manage to find a second for Southam after executing a perfect free-kick, similar to Crendon’s in the first half, into the top corner in the 89th minute.

It was only to be a consolation though as the afternoon ended with Crendon on top in a 5-2 scoreline.

After the match Head Coach Rich Kay spoke about the great start to the match and the quick spell that put them out of victory’s reach.

“It was a really dissapointing result in the end...It was never a 5-2 scoreline. We were bang in the game, and managed to score within a minute of their free-kick to put it back at 1-1. And for the final 15-20 minutes we had a really good spell.

“But, the game was lost in a 9 or 10 minute spell. We’ve gone 2-1 down and we needed to react a lot better. We’ve conceded 3 goals in 9 minutes. We were competing in the game, and then after that we were completely out of the game. Pretty poor decision making and defending to be honest.

“The analysis after the game was pretty easy. At this

level we’re going to get punished for mistakes. We can’t be making those mistakes and the decision making needs to be better.

“You don’t mind losing to a good side, but to be honest, we gifted them some of those goals to put the contest out of sight. It felt like a missed opportunity.”

The Saints’ next match will be away to Abingdon United on Tuesday, 9 August, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm.•

SOUTHAM UNITED: Hudson, Dunn, Bloomer, Neale, Fitzmaurice, Barby (c), Ellis Champkins, Ethan Champkins, Mauritson, Osborne, Dixon (Drummond 72’). Subs not used: O’Brien, Boe, Green, Speed

LONG CRENDON: Cullen, Allen-Stokes (Butler 81’), Shaw, Lynch, Pettingell, Brownsword, G. Ashworth (Simpson 62’), Rice, Hawkes (Diment 81’), Chappell (Reilly 75’), Lethbridge. Subs not used: N/A