Tonbridge Invicta Hurricanes 7  v. Hamsey Rangers Youth 1

Sunday 11 November 2007 – Armistice Day

After an eventful journey involving stopping for the two minute silence then negotiating round a village wreath-laying ceremony then the whole supporters’ convoy trustingly following the Manager into a cul-de-sac and struggling to get out again, the Hurricanes took to the pitch in rather watery sunlight. It was a wide-looking pitch with ropes along the sidelines for the supporters to stand behind, which seemed a good idea as the linesmen could run up and down unimpeded by supporters, subs and other hangers on. After a one minute silence to honour Armistice Day, the game began.

Hurricanes quickly went 1 - 0 up after a cross from George Jones led to Kane Joseph scoring. Then it was 2 – 0 after Ryan Hine got in a good shot. As the match continued, there was some excellent defending by Henry Partridge, having a very good game, and some fine saves by Stanley Hill. Hurricanes’ third goal came from a drop kick by Stanley, which found Kane, who booted it in: 3 – 0. Hamsey Rangers then scored but it was disallowed as the flag was up.

Next to score was George Jones, in a goalmouth melée, making it 4 – 0. The Hamsey backs made several excellent saves right on the line during the half and another Hamsey shot on goal nearly went in but either the ball curved in the air or was caught by the wind. Just before half time, Hamsey did score with a fabulous shot which soared over Stanley’s head and went in: 4 – 1.

The first goal of the second half was scored by Hamsey but again, it was disallowed (offside). Several minutes later, Hurricanes nearly scored. Throughout the match the game moved all over the pitch, switching ends all the time. Sam Greehy and Luke Bohanan were playing well in defence. Hamsey had a corner, which was well taken but safely grabbed by Stanley. Another Hamsey corner followed, which was cleared by Ryan, with yet another a minute later, which was foiled by a very good save by Stanley. Hamsey had had 3 or 4 corners by this point and Invicta hadn’t had any. What does that mean?

Hamsey had another corner followed straight away by yet another, cleared by Elliott Checkley. A couple of minutes later, Elliott scored a cracking goal to make it 5 – 1. Gabriel Russell then had a high looping shot tipped round the post by the Hamsey keeper.  Elliott then had a shot which hit the far post and George just missed getting it into the goal in the scramble which followed.

Next was a good shot by Henry, which was saved, and another by Kane which met the same fate. Hurricanes then had their first corner, leading to a George pass which Sam was unlucky not to score from. Henry had another shot saved but then, with only three minutes to go, he took the ball all the way in a solo effort and scored an excellent goal to make it 6 – 1. The final goal of the match came after a Hurricanes corner led to a penalty being awarded for handball, which Kane fired in to make the final score 7 – 1, in a much more closely fought game than the score would suggest.

Man of the Match (as voted by the supporters) - Henry Partridge, who played a blinder!

Next week: 10.30 am KO at home.