26th Jan 2008 - Romans too strong for Hedge End army

Knowing that Hedge End still haven't won at their new home stadium, and also with Romans sitting on the top spot of division two, there wasn't much chance that the result would be heading Hedge End's way.  However, they turned up with passion and pride.  Bernard was out injured and Matt made a welcome return to the team. 

The first half started very brightly and both teams were playing very attacking football.  With end to end stuff you really couldn't see where the game was going.  Matt and Ali had a couple of chances early on and Hedge End were putting a lot of pressure on the favourites to win the league.  Romans also had a few chances but nothing that scared the Hedge End defence too much.

The first half ended 0-0.

The second half started very much the same.  Ali was linking up well with Andy and Sunny and they were keeping the ball very well.  Then, very late on in the game, Romans prevented a Hedge End attack and pumped the ball down field.  This was met by their striker who run on goal and slotted it passed Rob.

Then shortly after they added a second when some good play on the right wing was met in the middle and again they just hit it in with only Rob to beat.  Rob made a fantastic save when Romans thumped the ball from way out and he had to tip the ball over.  Romans did get a third when their left midfielder came in and scored from a tight angle.  3-0 did seem to flatter the away team quite a bit. 

Overall Romans were the better team and it's no wonder that they are fighting for top position in the league, but it was frustrating watching Hedge End work so hard in a game like this and get nothing out of it.  The good point is that the fighting spirit was obvious and so it means that Hedge End should be ready for the couple of 'six pointers' that are coming up. 

Also there were some great displays of football and the guys that have recently joined the team like Sunny, Tim, Ali, Luke and Jim have settled down well and have connected straight away.  It's helping the team get over the fact that Pete has left us.