Hendon 1-3 Metropolitan Police
Tuesday 25th October 2011
Ryman League Premier Division
Vale Farm
Last night at Vale Farm, the Green shirted Hendonites fought the law and unfortunately, the law won, thus missing the chance to go into the weekend’s FA Cup tie at Luton on top of the division. I’ve been thinking about the game and the performance a lot since getting home last night and I cannot decide whether or not I am slightly heartened, despite the result, or a little bit worried. Perhaps this post will take the form of an essay with a conclusion at the end. Let’s see where we go.
Gary Mac made two changes from the side humbled at Canvey at the weekend with the fit again Ryan Wharton coming in for James Archer and Kevin Maclaren replacing the injured Greg Ngoyi. The Greens lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Dewayne Clarke partnering Elliott Charles up front, Casey Maclaren starting on the left side of midfield and James Parker moving to right back to allow Wharton to slot back in alongside Michael Peacock. Met Police lined up in a nominal 4-5-1 formation with Stafforde Palmer the lone striker, but with Sam Hurrell, Mu Maan and Tony Finn all breaking forward at pace to support him when in possession.
The game began at a pretty frantic pace with both the visitors looking to spread the play and get their two wide men Hurrell and Finn involved as much as possible, whilst Hendon were looking to hit Charles, in particular quite early and play off of him. It was Met Police who shaded the opening exchanges and were unfortunate not to have gone ahead after 10 minutes or so when a low drive from Hurrell who had beaten Parker quite easily for pace down the left was deflected towards goal instinctively by Palmer. Sean Thomas was beaten all ends up but the crossbar wasn’t and the ball bounced to relative safety.
The opening goal, when it arrived came from nowhere. The Greens had offered little in the way of cohesive attacking threat before Charles allowed a low ball into the box to run across his body and dumped on his posterior by a challenge from behind that appeared to get nowhere near the ball. I was in no doubt that it was a penalty, and nor was the man whose opinion really mattered, Gary Evetts who well positioned, blew his whistle and pointed to the spot with dour precision. Charles worked himself into a frenzy picking up the ball leading to shrieks from the Hendon bench of ‘BUZZER, GIVE IT TO BUZZER!!!’ The message eventually got through and Busby duly did the rest, powerfully dispatching the spot kick for his 6th goal of the season.
This sparked the Greens into life and they enjoyed their best spell of the half. Dewayne Clarke showed a few nice touches and bursts of pace and a couple of dangerous crosses into the box just eluded a Hendon attacker – one particularly superb clearing header by Daniel Gwyther drew applause from both sets of fans. Peacock headed wide from a Cousins corner and then came the swift double sucker punch.
Both goals were preventable. The first came as a result of a needless free kick conceded 25-30 yards from goal. Ty Smith stepped up and powerfully struck the ball over the four man wall of green. Thomas got a strong hand to the ball but could do no more than palm the ball into the top corner of the net. The ball was well struck, but Thomas may feel disappointed that having got such a good touch on the shot that he wasn’t able to keep it out of the net. A couple of minutes later, nine green shirts stood and watched as a low corner was swept inside the far post by an unmarked Duran Reynolds, the Met left-back to give the visitors a 2-1 half time advantage that on balance, they probably deserved.
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| His Name Isn't Rio - It's Duran. Promising left-back |
Half time came and went in a heartbeat, despite the best efforts of Jamie Butler, the Police custodian who arrived onto the pitch a couple of minutes after everyone else delaying what was an entertaining and at times, frantic second period. Both sides had excellent chances, the Met to seal the game and the Greens to get back on level terms. Sean Thomas made a superb save from Stafford Palmer by staying on his feet and narrowing the angle whilst at the other end Butler made two good blocks from powerful Charles efforts that whilst well struck, were quite close to the goalkeeper. He did make one outstanding save though from a Casey Maclaren header late on at full stretch, Clarke headed badly off target when well placed at the far post, Isaiah Rankin had a header blocked on the line and shot wildly high, wide and far from handsomely off target from inside the penalty area.
At the other end, Tony Finn in particular reveled in the space he was receiving, showing pace, awareness and skill to give both Hendon full-backs problems on the break. Palmer missed another one-on-one chance to seal the tie when he dinked the ball over Thomas but into the side netting after Ryan Wharton had made his only mistake of the evening in selling the goalkeeper short with a back-pass. With Palmer having fluffed his lines, it was left to his understudy Carl Wilson-Denis to apply the coup-de-grace for the away side as Hendon were caught by the fuzz on the break, Finn breaking down the left, squaring for the former Kingstonian who showed the kind of clinical edge that had been lacking from the home side’s strikers all evening by driving the ball into the bottom corner beyond Thomas.
An entertaining game was brought to an end by the referee and it was the away side who were able to celebrate a well earned 3 points. I felt the man with the whistle had done well trying to let the game flow and not needlessly booking players, instead relying on a word to calm things down when they could have got out of hand. The two bookings he did hand out were spot on, Jamie Busby receiving one for cynically stopping a Met counter-attack in the centre circle and Sam Hurrell for catching Parker high up late. I suspect the fact that the Met number 11 led with one foot rather than two saved him from a worse fate. Both sides had penalty claims waved away, and certainly from my vantage point, none looked anywhere near as clearcut as the one that was given.
For Hendon, going into the game at Luton on the back of three straight defeats isn’t what anyone would have wanted. Not only that, but the defensive solidity and organisation that we’ve shown up until last week isn’t there at the moment and we look more vulnerable. Whether that is linked to a more permanent move towards having two centre forwards is a point of debate, certainly I think there could be an argument for reverting to 4-5-1 to give us the extra solidity in midfield against most sides. With so many strikers on the books though, it’s going to be hard to keep them all happy. Additionally, I’m struggling to see the value in a few of the signings Gary Mac has made. They’re all good quality players, but is Dewayne Clarke best deployed as an out and out striker, winger or just off the front men? Does Belal offer anything more / that different to Greg or Elliott. This isn’t meant as a criticism of the manager at all, he will know in his mind what his plans are and how the players fit into any system which is why he’s in the hot-seat and mine is considerably cooler. Of course, added to this it is easier to be picking holes in systems and personnel just after a defeat, or in a little run of disappointing results. The most important thing is that after the Luton game, whatever the result, we get back on track as quickly as we can against Horsham and Leatherhead.
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| He's Pleased - And so he should be. |
And the Met? For all the scorn they attract for the way they may or may not be funded and just how many of their squad are actually policeman (it is a definite misnomer in my humblest of opinions), they looked a decent side who could possibly push for the play-offs with a bit of luck. I was particularly impressed with Duran Reynolds at left-back, I’d go so far as saying he’s the best opposition player I’ve seen so far this season, and if Tony Finn is in the mood, there are few better wingers in the division either. They didn’t look altogether secure defensively, particularly from set-pieces and with better finishing, Hendon could well have come away with a share of the points. Relegation is certainly not an option on last night’s showing.
Player Ratings
1. Sean Thomas: May be unhappy with the first goal, had no chance with the other two and made an excellent stop in the 2nd half from Stafforde Palmer. 6/10
2. James Parker: Moved to right back and had his hands full all evening with the lively Sam Hurrell and Tony Finn. Did ok, and used the ball well enough, but was caught for pace on a few occasions. 6
3. Scott Cousins: Lost out in the battle of the left-backs, but not by much. Rarely gave the ball away and did well against Finn in the first half. 7
4. Michael Peacock: Pretty commanding in the air again and proved a threat at attacking set-pieces. Did ok. 6
5. Ryan Wharton: Considering he’d been out for quite a long while and was clearly feeling some stiffness in the 2nd half in his back, he fitted back in very well. One mistake but he atoned for that on more than one occasion with some important challenges at the back. 7
6. Casey Maclaren: Stuck out on the left flank which is clearly not anything like his best position. Gave it everything as always, but hindered by his weak left foot. 6
7. Jamie Busby: Not at his best either, particularly when passing the ball. His radar was somewhat awry. Two powder-puff free kicks from shooting range as well in the 2nd half, but took the penalty as reliably as ever. 6
8. Carl McCluskey: Looked leggy again on the right flank. Showed a couple of glimpses of his quality but slightly off the pace. 5
9. Dewayne Clarke: My first viewing of Clarke in the green and white and like most of his team-mates, showed flashes of quality. Missed a great chance with a header in the 2nd half, and needs time to show an understanding with Elliott Charles. 6
10. Kevin Maclaren: Did well breaking up Met Police attacks, but use of the ball was sometimes poor, attempting the spectacular when simple would have sufficed. Substituted before he belted Ty Smith. 6
11. Elliott Charles: Again our biggest threat going forward, if he could work on his first touch and staying onside, he would be a hell of an asset. Worked himself two openings in the 2nd half only to be denied by good saves. 7
Subs
12. Isaiah Rankin: Had two or three decent chances and showed good touches after coming on for Clarke. Maybe worth a start before long alongside Charles if we remain 4-4-2. 6
14. Belal Aite-ouakrim: Came on for a couple of minutes, didn’t have time to affect the game.
15. Byron Bubb: It wasn’t until I read the team on the website this morning that I remembered he’d come on! 4
Star Man: Ryan Wharton
Match Rating: 7/10
Verdict: On the balance of play I think the right team won, even if the two goal margin was perhaps a shade flattering. There’s plenty to work on for Hendon ahead of Saturday but the number of chances created was certainly encouraging. Next step is to take them again.
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