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MIDLAND
FOOTBALL COMBINATION FIRST DIVISION
Saturday 16th
September 2006
WMPFC 1 v 1
Leamington Hibernian
West Midlands Police
FC; S.Williams, D.Bates, P.Lee, J.Quinney, N.Hill,
P.Halfpenny, M.McDonagh, D.O’Sullivan, J.Harvey, T.Smith, E.
Davison. Subs D.Blake, T.Wakeley, I.Griffiths, R.Sutton
This was yet another
battle of the bottom teams with both hoping to kick starts
their seasons. Yet again the Police side changed from the
previous week with Nick Hill making his first start at the
back and Jake Harvey moving up front. Much of the early
play belonged to Leamington whilst the Police tried to come
to terms with the changes and the pace of the game.
For long periods
Leamington created chances which they were unable to take,
and during this spell only the quality of the finishing left
the Police team on a level footing. With 10 mins to go
before half time Police went behind, this followed a corner
from the left, the ball came into the box and the Police
defence remained stationary allowing Leamington to attack
the ball and head home the goal. This was probably no more
than they deserved and Police team was grateful for half
time and to only be down 1 – 0.
At half time changes
had to be made and following the break Police quickly
introduced Dave Blake to bolster the front line. Dave was
making his first appearance of the season and immediately
gave a physical presence up front which appeared to unsettle
Leamington and push the Police on. Across the team the
changes seem to put belief back into the Police team and for
long periods they dominated possession without providing the
cutting edge.
It was not until mid
way through the second half that Police went on level terms
following a log through ball from Jake Harvey, this was
picked up by Paul Halfpenny’s clever run who got goal side
of the defender and ran in on goal. He was fouled inside
the box but Paul kept going and slotted the ball past the
keeper. The ‘goal’ however did not stand as the referee
blew his whistle for the penalty without allowing the play
to continue. The resulting penalty was smashed home by Tome
Smith for his first goal this season.
From this point on
the Police continued to throw everything at Leamington and
were unlucky not to take the lead, however two late injuries
to Police players meant the final stages were a grim battle
to stay on level terms, in the end the final whistle could
not come soon enough. The result was a fair reflection on
the game and the Police team were pleased with the
tremendous debut of Nick Hill who even though he had cramp
at the end still was by far the man of the match.
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