League

Rochford Park
Spectators: 8455 (Terracing: 6342, Seating: 1944, VIP seats: 169) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Ciarán Merchant got the match started through his kick off. After a defensive mix-up in Rochford City's zone, Frank Ginn stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Sammy Barnes came out of the goal and Frank Ginn tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. If Karl Lewis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 5th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 6thth minute of the game Frank Ginn who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Rochford City's Sammy Barnes was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. 8 minutes into the match, Hextable City's Frank Ginn sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Sammy Barnes narrowly saved just below the crossbar. The crowd rose to their feet as Rochford City's Ciarán Merchant slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Pedro Lewis. That made the score 1-0 after 23 minutes of play. Antony Lewington kicked well hit freekick during the 26th minute of the match. Ciarán Merchant received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Pedro Lewis came out and tried to block the shot, but Ciarán Merchant slotted it home off the left post making it 3-0 in the 39th minute. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 3-0.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Frank Ginn to make the kick off. Karl Lewis struck a weak shot in the 53rd minute. Sammy Barnes didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Hextable City. If Jason Davis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 56th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 58 minutes into the match, Ciarán Merchant had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Pedro Lewis. Hextable City's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Ciarán Merchant was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 4-0. In the 61st minute Ciarán Merchant shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Pedro Lewis saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Pedro Lewis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ciarán Merchant, who was totally free with the ball in the 63rd minute. The supporters of Rochford City booed when Hextable City was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 69 match minutes in a wonderful position. Frank Ginn didn't get a good kick on the ball. Gerry Fields kicked well hit freekick during the 71st minute of the match. In the 72nd minute, Ciarán Merchant made a precise shot to the right of Pedro Lewis. Hextable City's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 5-0. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ciarán Merchant in the 80th minute of play forced Hextable City's goalkeeper Pedro Lewis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Damian Brontë's late challenge caught a Hextable City's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Damian Brontë helped the player get up and apologised. In the 83rd match minute, Rochford City was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Damian Brontë to maneuver through the defense. Sammy Barnes showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Frank Ginn, who was totally free with the ball in the 86th minute. When Karl Lewis came up free with the goalie in the 88th minute, the Hextable City fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Karl Lewis couldn't finish the play. In the 91st match minute, Rochford City was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Billie Carsley to maneuver through the defense. When Damian Shepherd came up free with the goalie in the 92nd minute, the Hextable City fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Damian Shepherd couldn't finish the play. Sammy Barnes didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Karl Lewis went, in the 94th minute, to the upper right corner, 5-1 was the resulting score. Hextable City's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.