League Play-Off

Hadleigh
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Vern Hayes started the match with the kick off. If Ronny Panther had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 5th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Timothy Sills made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vern Ward in the 7th minute of play. Sidney Basham charged in rather forcefully in the 15th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Sidney Basham the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 15th minute, Sidney Basham hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Andre Thomson was probably a little too eager to shoot when he, in the 16th played minute, shot the ball from way out. The shot was hard, but the ball flew wide of the goal. Vern Hayes received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 27th minute. Timothy Sills tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. A collision led to Hadleigh FC getting a freekick after 28 minutes play. Sidney Basham hit a great ball. After a rather tough play, Hadleigh FC's Sidney Basham got a free kick in the 38th minute. The audience was convinced that Vern Hayes's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Timothy Sills was relentless in the 40th minute of the game. Timothy Sills came out of the goal in the 42nd minute to try and stop a shot by Long Crendon's Vern Hayes. But to his dismay, Vern Hayes quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-1. After a rather tough play, Hadleigh FC's Ronny Panther got a free kick in the 46th minute.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Ronny Panther to strike the kick off in the second half. After 57 played minutes, Hadleigh FC's Wayne Hanley shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Warren Barltrop came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Hadleigh FC reached it. In the 69th minute, Andre Thomson hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 70th minute, Wayne Hanley sent off a long shot on goal, but the shot was nowhere near the goal and Long Crendon's Warren Barltrop didn't even have to move. If Vern Ward had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 73rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After having played for 79 minutes, Ricky Sparkes managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Hadleigh FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Ricky Sparkes was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Ronny Panther's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Warren Barltrop read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 82nd minute of play. Doug Midgley's late challenge caught a Hadleigh FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Doug Midgley helped the player get up and apologised. If Vern Hayes had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 93rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Vern Ward could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 95th minute of the match, but Timothy Sills made a huge save. Vern Ward fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 96th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Timothy Sills having to interfere. The Hadleigh FC supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Long Crendon's performance. The match ended with a win for Long Crendon.