Vanarama National League South 26th December 2023
Match report by Allan Mitchell
After a run of defeats had pushed them down to the wrong end of the table, Hemel gave their supporters some Christmas cheer by winning two tough fixtures on the bounce. After dispatching a very good Worthing side on Saturday they followed it up with a hard fought win at local rivals St Albans in front of over 3,500 spectators at Clarence Park.
The Tudors almost got off to the perfect start when new signing Tre Mitford got onto the end of through ball that saw him just beat City keeper McNamara to it, he flicked it past him but was forced wide, he managed to get his shot away only to see it hit the post and bounce away.
After this early let off The Saints stepped up through the gears and forced Hemel back and Craig King had to be at his best to tip a free kick over the bar on 15 minutes. It was only a short reprieve however as Michael Clark wasn’t picked up from the resulting corner and he drove the ball in through a crowd of players to open the scoring.
City then lost influential midfield Ryan Blackman in the 20th minute when he limped off to be replaced by George Morrall.
This seemed to effect the balance of the home side and Hemel stared to press forward more.
The nearest they came to an equaliser was on 40 minutes when a looping freekick caused confusion in the City back line and Mitford got his head to the ball only to see it strike the inside of the post again, much to the relief of the massed ranks of City supporters.
The visitors started the second half in much the same way they ended the first with manager Brad Quinton bringing on Brandon Barzey at the break. His pace and ability to take players on immediately had an impact and he almost equalised on 50 minutes when a misplaced pass found him in space in the box, he raced through on goal but McNamara made an excellent block, pushing the ball out for a corner.
With City now struggling to find any threat they were dealt a huge blow on the hour mark when star striker, Shaun Jeffers committed a needless late foul on Kyle Ajayi and having been booked for kicking the ball way in the first half, he saw a second yellow followed by a red, reducing his side to ten men.
It soon became one way traffic as City packed their back line and invited Hemel on. Josh Williams was having a lot of success down the left hand side and cross after cross was fed into the Saints area. It seemed only a matter of time before the Yellow wall was breached and on 76 minutes it was, in the most bizarre of circumstances. Brandon Barzey cut inside from the flank before sending in a looping cross into the box, there was a collective groan from Tudors fans as it looked as though he’d over hit it but it dropped onto the post and into the net to level the scores.
There really was only going to be one side that was going to win it from here with City dropping deeper and deeper to protect their goal.
As the clock ticked down it looked like the home side might just hang on for a hard earned point but Hemel kept pressing and won a corner out on the left. It was fed into Chris Smith who nodded it across the face of goal where Mitford was waiting and he forced it over the line before running around behind the goal to celebrate with the massed ranks of Tudors fans.
There was time for one final City attack and Hemel’s nemesis, ex player Zane Banton who had come on as sub after returning from injury, received the ball on the left and cut inside, he was upended by Whittaker right on the edge of the box. With the Tudor Army holding their breath the ball was fed into the six yard but it just had too much on it and narrowly evaded Partington at the back post. That was enough for the referee, who blew his whistle seconds later and the Hemel players joyfully celebrated the victory with the supporters at the end of the game.
Hemel: King; McKenzie, Williams (J) O’Connor-Ajayi, Hill, Smith (C); Re (Iaciofano) Newton, Brown (Barzey) Whittaker, Tre (Williams) Subs not used: Smith (B)Briscoe.
Attendance 3589 Tudors Man of the Match: Chris Smith