The Tudors stuttering season finally came to an end, as they meekly
handed the last trophy of the season to Ryman division one side Potters
Bar.
It took just six minutes for Potters Bar to take the lead, as Hemel’s
defence once more took too long to come to terms with the fact that the
match had actually kicked off.
Daniel Talbot’s corner kick to the far post found Andy Keepence all
alone six yards out, & his header beat keeper Steve Smith inside his post.
Hemel did try to step up going forward at least, but all too often they
over elaborated on the ball, or having done the hard work then screwed
up the easy stuff, with the result that any chance of a shot was lost
as the hard working Potters Bar players closed them down.
Hemel should have equalised on thirteen minutes when Gary Sippetts and
Shaun Byrne combined well to present Anthony Thomas with an open goal,
but the Barnet bound striker sliced his shot from ten yards completely
wide.
Byrne then sent his header from Paul Edgeworth’s cross wide at the far
post on twenty minutes, & on the half hour Thomas screwed another shot
from the angle wide, after a good nod-on by Sippetts of Steve
Sinclair’s cross.
But perhaps the general lack of idea’s in Hemel’s play was summed up
with a couple of minutes to go to the break. Herron’s chipped cross to
the far post found three Hemel players all passing the buck to one
another with an open goal in front of them. The net result was that when
Sinclair finally did shoot, the ball deflected tamely off Keepence straight
to his keeper on the line. Incredibly, referee Taylor from Enfield
chose to give Hemel an indirect free-kick on the six yard line for this,
presumably for a backpass.
With the entire Potters Bar side less than six yards away (and at least
two Hemel players screaming for a sideways pass that would leave a
simple tap in) Edgeworth chose instead simply to blast the ball straight at
the wall - with the predictable result that it rebounded straight back
into the hands of keeper Richard Hayward again.
There was no doubt as the half time whistle blew that Hemel had made
the better openings. But all too often players refused to take
responsibility and actually “have a pop” preferring instead to pass elsewhere and
the chance was usually lost.
Unfortunately things didn’t change much after the break. Hemel
continued to press forward with the lions share of possession available to
them, but unfortunately also with the same lack of direct play that Potters
Bar found all too easy to intercept and deal with.
Hemel’s best early chance came when Mark Dennison sent Sippetts behind
defender Michael Sharman three minutes in, but the ball got caught
under the strikers feet and Hayward was able to close down the shot.
On fifty four minutes however it became clear that it wasn’t going to
be the Tudors night when Nathan Bowden-Haase slipped whilst trying to
clear the ball out wide, and this left Phil Turner with a totally clear
run on goal - the striker easily rounding Smith before slipping the ball
home from fifteen yards out.
Just before the hour Bowden-Haase attempted to make amends, but just
placed his header from Yiadom Yeboah’s throw into the box over the bar, &
shortly afterwards Herron’s long throw put Sippetts in once more behind
Sharman, but this time Sippetts took too long to shoot and Sharman was
able to race back and take the ball of the striker toes at the last
moment.
Half chances followed for Thomas and notably for Sinclair, and at the
other end both Gabriel Fanibuyan & Black both sliced long range efforts
wide as Potters Bar hit on the break. But any hopes of yet another
famous comeback from the Tudors were dashed, as from one such break on
eighty one minutes Hemel found themselves somewhat harshly down to ten men.
Dennison tracked Richard Howard down the line on the Hemel left, and as
the Potters Bar number nine thumped the ball forward towards Turner,
the ball struck Dennison accidentally on the lower arm. Mr Taylor (who
was some distance away) produced a straight red card for deliberate
handball against the unlucky Dennison, and with Edgeworth now having to move
back into the back three as cover, the Tudors lost what passing they
had in midfield, & now faced an almost impossible task.
Hemel still tried to push forward however, but Potters Bar finally
completed what was a hard fought win in the end with a minute left.
Substitute Bradley Poole found Turner completely unmarked in the Hemel area,
and after rounding Smith once more, the striker punched his shot high
into the net from eight yards.
The match now limped quietly to an end, with most of Hemel’s
disgruntled fans on the night choosing to leave early, and many will now be glad
that a season which seemed to last forever is finally over, so that
they can recharge their batteries for next year.
Manager Steve Bateman will not have such an easy summer however, as he
now looks to strengthen his squad for next year, and try to replace
those players he already knows will not be at Vauxhall Road for the next
campaign.
Sadly in the end, Hemel won just one of the four cup finals they
reached this year, and of course missed out in the promotion play offs too.
But even the most demanding of the Tudors supporters are happy to admit,
that there is a very good base on which Bateman can build for the task
ahead.