BERKHAMSTED FC 5-2 HULLBRIDGE SPORTS: FULL MATCH REPORT, WITH A WORLD WAR ONE FLAVOUR...

The Comrades Breach the Hullbridge Lines & Advance In the Vase…

Berkhamsted FC 5-2 Hullbridge Sports

Wedged between Friday 11th November and Remembrance Sunday, this game report was always going to contain references to World War 1. The hosts are nicknamed The Comrades, Berkhamsted was once used for trench warfare training and like in the battlegrounds of Flanders, a canal oozed nearby and many trains passed behind the enclosure where a number of young Berko fans sang and marched about. In truth, Hullbridge didn’t do themselves justice and looked rather ‘chumpy’, like shell-shock sufferers by the end of the skirmish. Suckered by a goal from a free-kick, then a second before the break from a simple head-on, Sports were demoralised further by two fine strikes after the interval from Adam Mead and Ashton Campbell. And yet their response, netting twice and quickly, against the flow of play, tensed their hosts but Campbell’s second goal settled the Berko nerves. There was a remarkable melee in the home goalmouth near the end when three Sports headers struck the Berko goal-frame in quick succession following a free-kick but there was little chance that the guests would claim anything from the match for Berkhamsted deserved the victory.

TOSSING FOR TRENCHES...

Some guy complained to me that a motor cyclist (a despatch rider?) was stifling the area surrounding the rail-track and there was blue drifting smoke visible a couple of times: a gas attack? Surely not… Hullbridge were limited to four real offensives in the opening half which included a pair of headers too high by hard-working striker Ash Pibworth and tall midfielder Harry Skinner, plus a shot after cutting inside from the right by useful winger Matt Brinklow. Home central defender Lewis Rodrigo blocked that superbly just as he had cleared a previous attack by the opponents. Ben Perry did collide with home ‘keeper Carl Tasker as if Perry had leapt into a trench for a spot of hand-to-hand combat but in all fairness Tasker was rarely tasked at all. 

"BUT YOU LET HIM OFF..."

The hosts however looked smart on the ball in the drizzly conditions and pursued their passing game throughout creating several chances before half-time. Striker Campbell’s pace was rapid and loping and the Sports defence failed to cope with his movement for much of the afternoon. He nearly scored in the first minute, getting away to the left onto Ash Lewis’ pass but the eventual shot drifted across the face of goal. Lewis was chunky, tough to shake off the ball, like an army drill sergeant instructing his troop in the physical stuff and he soon nudged a left-side centre from rampaging left-back Tom ‘Tommy’ Carter past the near post. Visiting goalie Jamie Merralls did well to knock away a Carter centre following a short corner before fans’ favourite Dan Jones began to affect the proceedings.

LEWIS TELLS THE REFEREE THAT HE LOOKS SO COOL WITH THAT PONY TAIL...

He shot hurriedly wide from 18 yards then after Sergeant Lewis was felled, the winger sized up the free-kick from inside-right. His trajectory was dangerous and incendiary allowing a run towards the near upright, a lean forward and suddenly Lewis gunned his header past the surprised Merralls. Jones fired another free-kick low past a post, Lewis fed the elusive Alex Campana on the right flank but Campbell nodded his colleague’s centre over the target. Hullbridge survived a melee in No Man’s Land before another short corner led to busy midfielder Jack Stevens clipping a shot past the right angle of bar and post. Again the hosts had been innovative and Sports hadn’t reacted. Lewis shoved a pass right to full-back Gerardo Smaldone and although Campbell couldn’t get a touch at the near post, Jones seemed certain to shoot home at the far stick but his trigger jammed, he lost the grip on his rifle and the ball was bundled badly wide. 

1-0...

THE FANS LIKE THAT...

LEWIS DOES TOO...

Before goal two wrecked Hullbridge’s hopes, Jones took another low free-kick past the Hullbridge blockade or wall and this time Merralls did splendidly, falling right onto the goalmouth duckboards to push the ball aside and although Campbell seemed certain to gobble up the rebound, his close-range effort appeared to be turned onto the crossbar by the beleaguered goalkeeper. And then Campbell nodded on a long Berko pass and Jones ran on, slipping the ball past Merralls and suddenly after Merralls beat out an angled Carter shot, Hullbridge’s morale seemed to drop, they stood down, doubtless visited the latrines after the half ended and two players were brought up from the reserve trenches to replace Perry and the rather quiet and ineffective wide-player Yvan Kombi.

HUGS FOR JONES...

2-0...

...& WATFORD FANS HAPPY...

So, a decent half from The Comrades who kept possession under their creeping barrage, used the bully beef of Lewis in midfield, the pace and routes of Campbell, the niceties of Campano and the set-pieces of Jones to fuel their great push. Max Farrelly was ebullient in midfield like an infantryman sent out to cut the Bosch barbed wire and Stevens was totally absorbed in stealing possession but with home skipper Jim ‘Long John’ Baldry hollering orders from central defence, it was tough to see where the visitors could possibly make a counter push. Maybe replacements Charlie Gerada and Jimmy Cox would do the trick…

"NAH, SWAP SHIRTS AT THE END, MATE..."

TASKER SITS AFTER BEING HIT BY THE SHRAPNEL THAT WAS PERRY...

KOMBI, RIGHT: LITTLE EFFECT...

And as the drizzle fell like on the Somme, people trudged to get their rations cooked in dixies and to light a gasper or two with a Lucifer. Me? I stood in the weather with an umbrella to protect my camera and wondered whether I’d get trench-foot or not…

The Sports winger Brinklow (is he named after the Coventry Alliance team of the same name, managed by my mate Edwin Greaves?) had been more effective on the right than the left for his team but with the introduction of fellow bantam regiment colleague Gerada, he was shoved to the left of the line but until their team had conceded a brace of second-half goals nothing was seen offensively of the Hullbridge visitors at all. Neat play by Farrelly and Campbell had already released Smaldone towards the right byeline although Merralls had blocked the right-back’s shot before Jones was hurt (a shrapnel wound maybe) and he was led away to the field hospital with a ‘blighty one’ to be replaced from the dug-out by Adam Mead, a fine name for a wine-drinker. A free-kick had already been awarded to the hosts 25 yards out and with Jones gone, Lewis and Baldry hovered like trench rats over a carcass to take on the shot but Mead ushered them away as he ran onto the field and promptly curled a fine free-kick past Merrills and high into the Hullbridge net; his first foot to ball of the game. 

NFL STYLE: MEAD WALKS ON TO TAKE A KICK...

3-0...

THE BEARDED OFFORD LOOKS LIKE HE KNOWS THE GAME IS UP...

Within minutes, the horrors of war were seen on Hullbridge faces as a low pass forward by Smaldone to Campbell saw the sniper turn Joe Turpin and suddenly unleash a stunning howitzer, a real strafe for Merralls who could only bend backwards as the ball flicked off the underside of the horizontal beam as it flashed, lashed and crashed into the damp net. This minenwerfer not only struck the target but also affected the Hullbridge morale further and their foot-sloggers must have felt like becoming conscientious objectors and leaving the brigade completely. But no, they pulled up their puttees and fought… 

WOW...

FINE GOAL BY CAMPBELL...

BIG HUGS...

4-0...

GAME OVER?

Home midfielder Farrelly was cautioned for his second foul within minutes and completely against all odds, Aaron Hunwicks, the Sports number 2 wearing 12, played a short free-kick to Gerada, exchanging passes and the substitute crossed well from the byeline and with the home defenders choosing that moment to take part in the Mannequin Challenge, Wallace ventured towards the near post and appeared to knee the ball past the shell-shocked Tasker. A consolation? Not at all, for after Lewis had been fed by the tricky Campana but had shovelled a 15 yard shot over the Hullbridge goal-frame, Hunwicks decided that he liked Gerada’s wing-play, flicked the ball out to him and when the low cross was delivered Skinner swept the ball first-time beyond the leaping Tasker into the left side of the net from 12 yards. 

FARRELLY IS CAUTIONED...

WALLACE HAS SCORED...

4-1...

LEWIS HAS MISSED...

SKINNER, LEFT, HAS MADE IT 4-2...

A dogfight seemed to be beginning; the Red Barons from Hullbridge against the Sopwith Camels from Berkhamsted but the hosts were made to ‘stand to’ by their coaches, some in ‘mufti’, their civilian dress, and Campana exchanged passes on the left with Carter, reached the byeline with clever feet and clipped in a centre which Merralls could only push away and follow but Campbell was in no mood to allow the ‘keeper to baulk him and smacked a low shot from 10 yards into the bottom left corner of the net. Dan Edwards replaced the powerful Lewis for The Comrades, Tom Dance replaced Turpin for Sports and the guests’ central defender Kieran Offord bellowed like a hated Sergeant at his troops to show some desire for the ball.

5-2...

CAMPBELL'S SECOND...

MEAD: WHAT AN INTRODUCTION...

Merrall’s poor kick allowed Mead a shot which went wide, the tireless Farrelly was replaced by the pillbox Terry Dixon who simply did the simple thing, including setting up Carter for a shot which flew past a post. Gerada drove a cross-shot across the face of the home goal, Campana had a drive blocked at the opposite end, Mead fired wide again with a dud and after Wallace had shot too high for the visitors, Edwards was cautioned for a foul and Hullbridge’s subsequent free-kick took on blotto proportions… When swung in, Wallace rose to head against the crossbar before nodding the rebound into the 6 yard box for Pibworth to head against the left stick and then the ball was knocked up for Skinner at the right upright to surely score but he too struck a post and the hosts cleared the ball. The relief? You could hear it from Blackheath…   

DIXON: SOLID AS A ROCK...

CAMPBELL IS CHASED BY GERADA...

A low Mead effort popped up like a skidding Mills bomb into Merralls’ chest as the game neared its finish, Campbell’s wild shot, ‘over the top’ was then matched by Gerada’s at the other end whose skied effort looped up and down like a Verey light over the trenches. The action was terminated and the teams shook hands like it was a Christmas Day truce at the Front and having fallen into a hole of defeat, Hullbridge would certainly be ‘looking for a better ‘ole’ next time. They had copped it, they had failed in their war of attrition, they were napoo (used up) and all that was left for them was to pack up their troubles in the kit-bag and wave goodbyee…

INTO THE CORNER...

THE END...

...& HANDSHAKES...

The Berko lads must have been delighted by their form on the day despite the three second period lapses but when zero hour had arrived they had taken the initiative and won the battle well. Campbell and Campana had been full of ammunition for the hosts but Carter, Jones, Lewis and Smaldone had all contributed offensively for the squad. Stevens and Farrelly fused well with Lewis in the trenches and the central defenders had mostly looked solid. For the visitors Pibworth was offered little support in truth despite the efforts of Brinklow and Gerada but Hunwicks worked hard at right-back and Offord was never a slacker. Wallace was faced by too much offensive midfield play from the opponents but he never gave up…

Me? Walked away in the drizzle, checking that no Zeppelin lurked above the Chilterns, scratched a bit at the lice beneath my polo-necked jumper and wondered about those trains again… Were they omms and chevoos? Probably not but in World War 1, men watched them roll past: wagons for 4 men (hommes) or 8 horses (chevauux)… 

It’s what I do, toodle-oo, goodbyee…  

TEAMS:

BERKHAMSTED FC:

CARL TASKER, GERARDO SMALDONE, TOM CARTER, JACK STEVENS, JIM BALDRY (CAPT), LEWIS RODRIGOE, ASH LEWIS, MAX FARRELLY, ASHTON CAMPBELL, ALEX CAMPANA, DAN JONES.

SUBS:

CALLUM WILSON-McCLOUGHLIN, DAN EDWARDS, ADAM MEAD, TERRY DIXON, IKEM ODEH.

HULLBRIDGE SPORTS:

JAMIE MERRALLS, AARON HUNWICKS, SAM TAYLOR, HARRY SKINNER, KIERAN OFFORD, JOE TURPIN, MAX BRINKLOW, DEAN WALLACE (CAPT), ASH PIBWORTH, BEN PERRY, YVAN KOMBI.

SUBS:

CHARLEY ALDIS, JIMMY COX, CHARLIE GERADA, TOM DANCE, ROB HODGSON.