TUDOR TALK

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Saturday 3rd November
F. A. Trophy 2nd Qualifying Round
Hemel Town 2 Clevedon Town 1

For the first hour or so of this match you would have been hard pressed to stay awake, as both sides continued where they left off a week ago in the drab league encounter.
Long range shots were the order of the day as both defences easily kept the respective forward lines at bay, and unfortunately with neither midfield outfits able to trouble the two keepers from distance, the crowd had little to excite it from that source either.
The one exception came on eleven minutes, when Drew Roberts laid off to Josh Sozzo inside the area, and the centre forward’s sudden snapshot slammed off visiting keeper Danny Greaves’ right hand post.
But it was with a general sigh of relief that Luton referee Paul Forrester called a halt to things at the forty five mark so that everyone could get a cup of tea.
The second half began as the first left off with Clevedon continuing to have good possession - but showing very little idea of what to do with it - and with Hemel (kicking down the slope) attempting to batter their way past a solid looking Clevedon back four.
The first decent shot on target for the home side (Sozzo’s first half effort aside) came on fifty three minutes, when Adam Martin unleashed a low pile-driver from the corner of the area, which slightly deflected off defender Mike Trought to force Greaves into a good stop at the foot of his near post.
Hemel custodian Ian Brown then had to make a fine save of his own at the other end to deny Kris Leek’s looping header, before the match finally came to life on sixty five minutes.
Mark Coulson fired a long straight ball down the middle where Sozzo managed to get behind Clevedon skipper Scott Hendy and into the area. Stabbing the ball past the advancing Greaves, Sozzo suddenly found himself flying through the air as the keeper’s momentum took him through the striker’s legs for a penalty from a nasty looking foul.
Referee Forrester however - much to the anger and surprise of the watching crowd - refused to even book Greaves, when he clearly should have walked for an early shower as the last man. The anger quickly abated shortly after though, when Roberts stepped up to give the Tudors the lead from the spot.
Clevedon boss Paul Bater then made a double change from his bench, and the Seasiders now began to press forward more and more, helped by some suicidal defending at times from the home side, that had the crowd holding its breath.
Christian Sylvester and Kyle Bassett were given far too much room on the Hemel left and both had shots blocked in front of Brown, before Bassett again forced Brown into a good stop at the foot of his post.
With time running out it looked as if it was only a matter of time before the equaliser came, but with five minutes left Hemel finally made the tie safe (or so the fans thought) with a second goal.
A neat one-two between Roberts and Sozzo thirty yards out put Roberts into the area, and he then went round the advancing Greaves but drove himself too wide to shoot. Collecting the ball Roberts spotted skipper Paul Edgeworth making a run toward the far post and chipped a lovely cross over Hendy for Edgeworth to nod home into the empty net from a yard out.
The Hemel fans relief was short lived however, as their side now conspired to give the game away, by sitting back and allowing Clevedon to attack them for the last eight minutes or so of time left. And it was from a failed attempt once more to clear the ball to safety, that Geraint Bater was able to slap home a consolation goal from twenty five yards out, through a crowd of players a minute into injury time.
This set up another nervous finish for the home fans as Clevedon finished much the stronger side, but in the end the defence somehow held on and the Tudors advance into the third qualifying round, to be played ironically when these same to teams are due to meat again in the league later this month.

Hemel Town:
Ian Brown, Simon Sweeney, Mark Coulson, Matt Gearing (Chris Herron), Nathan Bowden-Haase, Adam Martin, Robbie Kean (Dwain Williams), Josh Sozzo, Steve Sinclair (Ollie Burgess), Drew Roberts, Paul Edgeworth. Subs (Not Used): Dean Cracknell & Yiadom Yeboah.

Clevedon Town:
Danny Greaves, Josh Brigham, Danny Haines, Geraint Bater, Scott Hendy, Mike Trought (Dain O‘Connor), Kris Leek (Mike Symons), Mike Green, Mitchell Page, Christian Sylvester, kyle Bassett (Steve Cook). Sub (Not Used): Tyron Toppar.