Hemel Hempstead Town FC 3 Weymouth FC 0
Vanarama National League South – 14th December 2024
Match Report by Allan Mitchell
After a November that everyone wanted to forget the club parted ways with Bobby Wilkinson and welcomed a new management team with Lee Allinson taking the helm.
Allinson comes in after a successful spell at Hendon FC and he wasted no time in bringing some new faces in from his former club, with Samuel Adenola, Joe White and Kai Omoko-Brosnan joining the Tudors, along with goalkeeper Bradley House from Horsham.
The first half of this game was a somewhat cagey affair, Weymouth haven’t had the best of seasons although they did come in off the back of an excellent FA Trophy win over Yeovil Town so their confidence had been boosted by that result.
Hemel started with three of the new faces in the line up so it was always going to take time for them to settle in but there were signs that the new coaching team had been working on passing and keeping the ball. Despite Hemel having a lot of the possession, chances were few and far between with neither keeper having to make any real saves of note in the first 45 minutes, although Brandon Barzey did manage to get a free kick over the wall just before the interval but Will Buse saved comfortably.
Photo credit: Club Photographer Jemma Sear / @_photosbyjem
The second half saw The Tudors make a lively start and they won a free kick just on the edge of the box on the left hand side. Barzey stepped up and this time, curled the ball into the corner to give the Tudors the lead on 48 minutes.
It was just the lift Hemel needed and you could see a real sense of confidence start to feed through the side. A good ball down the right was seized upon by Ricardo German who out muscled the Weymouth defender before firing a cross into the box, Barzey caught it superbly on the volley, doubling The Tudors advantage after 53 minutes.
The remainder of the half was dominated by the home side with Alfie Cerulli clipping a shot just onto the roof of the net after a good turn on the edge of the box and Barzey had an effort cleared off the line.
Hemel got a third goal in the 74th minute when Samuel Adenola topped off an excellent debut, smashing home a loose ball in the six box after some more good work by Barzey on the left hand side.
Photo credit: Club Photographer Jemma Sear / @_photosbyjem
Weymouth had half a chance to reduce the arrears late on but Bradley House did superbly to push a shot onto the post to secure a clean sheet along with the three points.
Attendance: 601
Tudors Man of the Match: Brandon Barzey - with a special mention to Samuel Adenola for an excellent debut at right back.