Vanarama National League South
21st September 2023
Match report by Allan Mitchell
There is no shortage of entertainment at the Focus Community Arena these days and for the third league game in a row, supporters were treated to a six-goal thriller that saw the spoils shared.
Hemel made the brighter start to the game with George Williams coming close with a curling effort that just cleared the crossbar in the second minute, Ricardo German then saw his shot get deflected wide with the Farnborough keeper, Jack Turner beaten and from the resulting corner, Kyle Ajayi rose high at the back post but could only put his header straight into Turner's arms.
Completely against the run of play, Boro took the lead after seven minutes with their first attempt on goal. Ex-Tudor Reggie Young did well down the left and drove a ball into the near post that Mathews-Lewis clipped past Craig King.
This saw the visitors up their game and they came close to extending their lead twice in a couple of minutes. They had a shot cleared off the line before the lively Ricky Holmes saw his shot crash off the crossbar just moments later.
Hemel regrouped and equalised when Teddy Howe cut inside before curling a shot into the far corner on 18 minutes.
Photography by Daniel Pitt // @danielpitt19
Boro were straight on the attack from the restart and Holmes tested Craig King with a powerful drive after he had raced into the box.
On 25 minutes The Tudors took the lead when Bayley brown tapped home from close range after a corner took a couple of fortunate ricochets in the six yard box.
But Boro equalised with an almost carbon copy attack that almost led to Holmes scoring earlier, this time it was Richard Chin who was allowed a free run from just inside the halfway line, he drove into the box before firing across King and into the bottom corner.
With Farnborough’s pacey attack causing problems, Tudors Boss bobby Wilkinson made a change on the half hour mark and reshuffled his defence, moving to a back four with Sydney Ibie coming on for Kai Woolard-Innocent.
This gave the home side a better balance and they took the game to Boro as the interval approached, Ricardo German did well to hold the ball up on the edge of the box before firing in a shot that Turner saved at full stretch and in the final minute of stoppage time they took the lead again. George Williams won the ball on the halfway line and sent Sydney Ibie clear, he looked up and picked out Jordan Esprit who made no mistake firing home for his first goal for the club.
Having gone in a goal to the good you felt that the first ten minutes of the second half were going to be crucial, but the lead was short lived as Farnborough equalised just four minutes in. They made a quick counter after a Hemel corner was cleared, the Tudors looked a bit short on numbers as the ball was fed to the pacey Richard Chin on the halfway line, he raced clear and with options either side of him, chose to go it alone cutting into the box before planting the ball past Craig King for his second of the game.
Photography by Daniel Pitt // @danielpitt19
It was anyone’s guess as to what the final score would be as things really opened up for the remainder of the game but despite both sides having some excellent chances there was no more scoring and they had to settle for a share of the points but The Tudors remain clear at the top and are still unbeaten in the league.
Bobby Wilkinson reflected after the game that a draw was a fair result and he feels both teams will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, whilst he was disappointed in the manner in which they conceded the second and third goals he was pleased with his players efforts and wanted to thank the supporters for really getting behind the lads on a tricky afternoon against a very good Farnborough side.
Hemel: King: Davies (Kurran-Browne) Woolard-Innocent (Ibie) (Jeche) Ajayi, Tompkins, Smith, Williams, Howe, German (Cerulli) Esprit, Brown (Wiltshire)
Attendance: 823
Mitch's Man of the Match: Jordan Esprit.
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