Match Report - Saturday 20th December 2008
Penn & Tylers Green A 2 v Hambleden 6
Hambleden rediscovered a little bit of form that has been badly missing of late; the reintroduction of Stuart Stephen in front of the back four and Ryan Kemp back in the heart of defence seemed to steady the ship.
It was Penn who had the better early chances; on 18 minutes a poor back pass from Hambleden's left back, James Rodrigues, sent clear Penn striker Neil James, but Hambleden's keeper Michael Clarke made an excellent stop low to the right to deny Penn from taking the lead.
A goal from Steve Sanashee on 28 minutes gave Hambleden the lead, with a neat little chip over Penn's keeper, Jamie Childs, as he went to ground. Sanashee then turned provider on 37 minutes as his header sent clear Chris Francis who rounded Childs to score from a tight angle. Half-time score 0-2.
Penn pulled one back just after the break with James redeeming himself after his first half miss; a cross from the left evaded everyone in the box except James, who smashed the ball home at the back post.
Stephen was withdrawn on the hour mark, allowing the introduction of Dean Kemp (out with injury for the last 3 months), who added a bit more flair and pace to Hambleden going forward which soon paid off; on 69 minutes Ryan Kemp's free kick found Sanashee who headed down and under Childs' dive into the corner to take his total to 8 this season.
On 70 minutes, Chris Francis came off for veteran Adam Markwell, another substitution that seemed to have an impact almost immediately. On 71 minutes Dean Kemp played in his brother Ryan down the right and the centre back out-sprinted the full back to slot his shot through Childs' legs.
On 82 minutes, Penn did get a lucky break; following a corner James' goalbound effort beat the dive of Clarke but was cleared off the line by Nikolai Lakovic, only to smash Clarke in the face and go in!
On 85 minutes, Sanashee sent clear Markwell from his own half, and he smashed a left footed 'thunderbolt' from 20 yards that nearly broke the net! Then on 86 minutes the Kemp brothers combined again, this time Ryan sending Dean clear down the right for him to run on and tuck the ball past Childs at his near post. Final score 2 -6.
TEAM: Clarke, Hobson, Lakbovic (captain), R.Kemp, Rodrigues, Francis (Markwell 70), Maknin, Stephen (D.Kemp 60), Mcleod, North, Sanashee.
Hambleden's only fixture for 2009 so far is a Wycombe Senior cup tie at Holmer Green on Wednesday 14th January, kick-off 7.30 pm.