After the defeat against Leatherhead a few weeks ago I said that the next five matches, all against title and play off challengers could end up making or breaking our season. At that point, having lost at home to the Tanners, Met Police and only drawn with Horsham, anyone offering me a return from those five matches of 7 points would have received a warm hug and maybe even a little peck on the cheek. By and large, the performances since the first whistle against Canvey Island have shown a vast improvement on what we witnessed prior to that. It is perhaps telling that in these last five matches, Gary Mac has by and large been able to field a pretty settled XI. The injury situation seems to have settled down a little and the additions of Mauro Vilhete, Frank Sinclair and Darren Currie does seem to have had a slightly galvanising effect on things.
As a result, we see ourselves going into December sat in 5th position having played 18 league matches already. Barring a winter of epic proportions, fixture congestion ought not to be an issue this term. We have two cup competitions to come and ought to be able to fully concentrate of making progress in each of them so quiet optimism has been renewed, particularly when you consider Aveley, Tooting & Mitcham and East Thurrock United make up our next run of league fixtures. I am hesitant to start setting targets and making predictions because as we’ve already seen this season, the league table means absolutely nothing on the pitch.
Our week began with a solid performance at Cray Wanderers whose season up until now had largely matched ours. A great start followed by a slightly rougher patch and then some signs again of life. Remarkably, Cray were able to name 3 players in their starting XI with hat-tricks to their names this season already, and a fourth on the bench. They promised a stern test of Hendon’s back four and to their credit, they responded excellently. Indeed, the Greens had the better of proceedings after the break and could have taken home the three points had Andy Walker, replacement for Dave King in goal for Cray this season, produced an outstanding save from Vilhete, who himself had struck the inside of the post minutes earlier in pursuit of his first goal in a Hendon shirt. He won’t come any closer than that. In the end, a point apiece was a fair reflection of an absorbing encounter and the clean sheet was a big boost.
52:45 hours later and it was back off East of St. Pauls to Upminster to take on the in-form Urchins of Bridge Avenue. Unbeaten in their previous 9 matches in all competitions and with their front two of Martin Tuohy and Lewis Smith having scored 19 league goals between them (Hendon’s entire total for the season stood before the game at 22) everything pointed to a home banker. Admittedly, and perhaps inexplicably considering the fact that two of the architects of Thurrock’s dominance over everything Hendon in Jimmy MacFarlane and Colin McBride are heavily involved at AFC Hornchurch, our record against the Urchins is good, unbeaten in our previous four meetings.
It wasn’t backs to the wall stuff by any stretch of the imagination, but a performance full of defensive discipline and threat on the counter attack. The only goal of the game came at the end of the first quarter when Elliott Godfrey’s low drive from 20 yards skidded past Joe Woolley in the Hornchurch goal. Try as they might, the home side were unable to break down the visitor’s defence and Berkley Laurencin was able to enjoy his 7th blank sheet of the season in his 14th match. Sinclair in particular drew many of the plaudits amongst the 3.14159265 away fans trying in vain to make themselves heard above the 500 home fans thronging amassed in the crowd of 187 as Hendon completed what was probably their best result since the victory at Carshalton. When the report on the Urchins website grudgingly concedes that Hendon deserved the three points, you know you’ve done well. (Thanks to AFC Hornchurch for the video below)
Tomorrow we welcome struggling Aveley to Vale Farm. The corresponding fixture last season saw the Millers pick up their first points against Hendon at the fourth attempt with an impressive and committed showing winning 2-1. It was one of the least impressive performance by the Greens that I witnessed last season, and the hope is that tomorrow is very different. Having received the annual reprieve from relegation regularly handed out to the side finishing 19th in the division, Carl Griffiths was looking forward to a season away from the relegation zone. Unfortunately for the former Leyton Orient man, things didn’t work out and the end of October saw the end of his tenure. Replacing him is former West Ham, Billericay and Thurrock man Lee Hodges and his first game in charge saw his charges pick up a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Horsham. He has been quick to bring in his own players with Danny Smith, Joe Keith, Jamie Richards and Rikki Burbridge all making their debuts against the Hornets. However, a surprise 2-1 defeat in the Essex Senior Cup to Witham Town will have provided a quick reminder as to the size of the job on hand. However, the Millers currently sit in 18th place, 3 points ahead of 19th placed Concord Rangers but having played more games than the three sides immediately below them in the table. They will be scrapping for everything tomorrow and we will need to make sure we match them for commitment first and foremost if we are going to come away with anything. 3 more points would do us very nicely.
In sadder news, it was announced that regular Hendon fan Steve Cheesewright passed away earlier in the week following a 2 year battle with cancer. I didn’t know Steve well, but he was a familiar face on the terraces at Claremont Road in particular. Clearly his illness restricted his attendance over the last couple of years but he was still able to come when he was able to, even to the match at Luton only a few short weeks ago. Aged just 30, the following excerpt that was posted on Facebook pays tribute to him better than I ever could.
"Steve passed away peacefully yesterday after his 2 year battle with cancer, his family were with him when he died and he was comfortable. Steve was a very much loved son, grandson, friend, brother and daddy and will be missed by so many."
My thoughts are with his family at this very difficult and sad time, I know his huge smiling face will be much missed on the terraces behind the goals by all who came into contact with him in the common pursuit of Green glory. RIP Steve.
3 points in his memory tomorrow would be a fitting tribute.
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