TUDOR TALK

[tapper]

Tuesday 21st August
Southern League Premier Division
Hitchin Town 1 Hemel Town 2

A late, late strike from Ollie Burgess secured the three points for the Tudors on a miserable night in the constant drizzle at Top Field.
A makeshift Hemel side (showing four changes from the team that drew with Halesowen on the opening Saturday) at times looked lost for ideas, as players old and new tried to find each others wavelength, & the less said about the first hour of the match the better from a spectator point of view, as both sides struggled to put two passes together on the greasy surface.
Drew Roberts came the closest for Hemel in the first half - hitting the side netting on twelve minutes, and Hemel keeper Steve Smith was forced to tip over Shane Hill’s shot at full stretch on thirty eight minutes.
But that was about it entertainment wise as both Hemel and Hitchin gave the ball away far too regularly, although the Canaries probably took the honours in the first forty five on possession.
The home side finally took the lead three minutes after the break however - Carl Williams quickly taken free-kick from twenty five yards catching everyone unawares as Smith tried to organise his wall.
Ex-Tudor Richard Pringle nearly increased their lead shortly after but shot wide, & Hemel’s Dean Cracknell also saw his shot through a sea of legs cleared off the line by Parys Okai just afterwards, but it wasn’t until the sixty seventh minute that Hemel finally struck.
Substitute Steve Sinclair fed Garry Sippetts inside the area, and the striker turned his marker easily before setting up Burgess with a low pass that the winger finished well under keeper Ricky Perks.
From that point on it was virtually all Hemel, as the Tudors suddenly realised that Hitchin had now settled for a point & were there for the taking.
Cracknell, Roberts & Burgess all had shots stopped by Perks, and Cracknell again came within a whisker of connecting with Roberts’ cross at the far post with a quarter of an hour left. But the goal Hemel wanted just wouldn’t come.
Perks saved well again following a one on one with Cracknell, and at the other end Lance Gentle-King headed wide across goal from Hill’s cross.
But as the clock struck ninety minutes, Cracknell stabbed a quickly taken free-kick to Burgess, and the winger quickly slipped into the area past two wild challenges, before slipping the ball under Perks again as he advanced.
Not the most entertaining of games, but Hemel’s fans wern’t too worried about that as they left in buoyant mood, but for the home fans, the night was further spoiled as news then came through that Okai had suffered a double fracture of his leg six minutes from the end, in an accidental clash with ex-Top Field favourite Josh Sozzo.

Hemel Town:
Steve smith, Jamie Kearns, Chris Herron, Dean Cracknell, Yiadom Yeboah, Fabio Valenti (Steve Sinclair), Ollie Burgess, Robbie Kean (Adam Martin), Garry Sippetts (Josh Sozzo), Drew Roberts, Paul Edgeworth.
Subs (Not Used): Danny Nicholls Jnr & Ian Brown.

Hitchin Town: Ricky Perks, David Deeney, Parys Okai (Lance Gentle-King), Ryan Frater, Matt Childs, Glen Lamacraft, Carl Williams, Jason James (Kwame Hoyte), Richard Pringle (Carl Drew), Scott Orphanou, Shane Hill

[steve]

Sad news regarding the Hitchin player, wish him a speedy recovery.
From where I was standing it looked no more than two players fully committed trying to win the ball on a wet surface. I can understand the Hitchin fans being upset about losing a player but some of the post's on their forum are just plain silly, surely they don't really believe that Josh set out to hurt their player.

Further to what I wrote above,the following is taken from the Hitchin Town site

Okai breaks leg against Hemel
Wednesday, August 22 2007

Hitchin defender Parys Okai was left with a double break of his left leg after the Canaries defeat at the hands of Hemel Hempstead.

Okai has fractured both his tibia and fibula and will be in plaster for 16 weeks. "This is a cruel blow for Parys," said Manager Darren Salton. "He turned down a move to Cambridge City last week and he was looking forward to playing for us this season."

Salton and Okai are both of the opinion that the tackle by former Hitchin striker Josh Sozzo that broke Okai's leg was not deliberate. "Sozzo is devastated by the news," said Salton. "He is a friend of Parys's and of Hitchin Town and I would welcome him back to this club for the contribution he made when he played for us. Sozzo never meant to hurt Parys".

[tapper]

I saw and heard the contact between the two players - but it looked pretty innocious to me. I was surprised he had to go off & that he had broken his leg, that was a shock.
Good luck to the lad.

[pidge]

hope he has a speedy recovery