48 Hours of Madness - The Life of a Hendon Fan

On Saturday afternoon everything was over. Our play-off hopes were completely dead and buried, barring a miraculous run-in that would bring us maximum points from our remaining four league matches. That was very unlikely to happen particularly in view of our stuttering record against sides in the bottom four this season and indeed the fact that we still had to host Kingstonian. We were running on empty, just as we had been four years ago when we entered the last day of the season with our play-off destiny in our own hands only to see them slip through our fingers despairingly against Wealdstone.

I spent all of Saturday evening following the 3-0 reverse against an impressive Margate side wondering just what it was about being a Hendon fan that played so heavily on my emotions. Was it the fact that I always saw us as plucky underdogs, expecting to be disappointment yet daring to hope when things were going well? The end to the 2007/8 season had been a real kick in the goolies, yet the reality was that we had fallen just short. There could be no doubting the effort and commitment, we just didn’t quite have enough about us to make our season last a week longer.

This season has felt a bit different though. In 2007/8 I felt as if the players were almost as surprised as we fans were that we had been riding so high in the league. This time around, for the most part there has been a belief about the way we set ourselves up that we belong at the top end of the table and aren’t there due to a fortunate good run. And so with each impressive win against our rivals in and around the play-offs that belief has grown and filtered onto the terraces. I think it has shown with the number of times fans have come away from games disappointed because we’ve only had a point to show, when really, had we put in a performance as we did at Bury or against Lowestoft or Hornchurch, we would have come away with all three.

This all made getting up to go and watch the boys play in the miserable, blustery wet conditions that the bank holiday brought along a tiny bit tougher. Those five minutes of madness at Lewes were pretty hard to take. Yet three days later we had beaten AFC Wimbledon for the third time at Kingsmeadow in the London Senior Cup under Gary McCann. Elation. Of course, that was then followed by deflation as Margate turned us over with a worrying degree of comfort. What on earth was yesterday to bring?

The home match against Wingate had seen us draw 1-1 with Greg Ngoyi grabbing a second half equaliser. Although Murat Karagul had seen red for a foul on Ryan Wharton, we displayed a lack of guile on the day that would have brought us three points. At the time, I saw that as two points dropped. With the hosts requiring a point to guarantee Premier Division football next season, I expected a tough afternoon’s viewing.

The first six minutes were tough to watch. Wingate began the game with their customary powerful and pacy attacking, and the Hendon back four were put under early pressure. A skewed clearance by Berkley Laurencin did little to settle the nerves as the ball span away off the outside of his boot having fizzed off the greasy surface.

In the 7^th minute, began a sequence of events that wouldn’t have been too out of place in something like Groundhog Day or  Jesus, Don’t leave him unmarked on the Far Post again! as Scott Cousins’ excellent left-footed delivery from out wide, using full benefit of the wind was simply touched home by Isaiah Rankin for his first 1^st half goal of the season, and his earliest of any match by about three and a half hours.

The goal settled Hendon down and they began to assert themselves. Tom Davie and Scott Shulton were both fairly prominent, linking well with Carl McCluskey and Rankin whilst the back four dealt well with the increasingly limited Wingate threat. After Davie had returned a poor Bobby Smith clearance with interest from 40-odd yards out that bounced off the base of the post, the lead was increased in the 20^th minute when Cousins delivered a corner towards the far post for Casey Maclaren to climb highest and nod the ball home simply from close range for his first goal of the season.

Casey Mac - Superb effort this season so far.

At this point it is worth making a note of Casey’s efforts this season. He’s always been a player who has given 100% whatever role he has been asked to undertake and having begun this season wide on the left, all that is left for him to do now I think is to don the gloves at some point to complete the set. However, I have always had a nagging doubt about his ability to play at this level. Part of that comes from what I saw as a desire to try and play too much football at times rather than keeping things simple, and part of it was simply down to his temperament. The nadir of my ‘fan / player’ relationship with him, more so than his brother, came after the disgraceful brawl in pre-season at Chesham the summer before last. I really didn’t want him to play for the club again, particularly as this wasn’t the first time he had ‘got involved’. A stray elbow against Dartford, a headbutt against Tonbridge that went sight unseen, it was beginning to verge on the ridiculous.

However, for the first time since his long injury lay-off a few years ago, I have really seen Casey as a real asset to the squad. Not only for his willingness and ability to play in more than one position, but also because he has improved markedly as a footballer now. To be honest, I think the ‘number 6’ role suits him down to the ground, just as it does Kevin. Both have thrived this season in the holding midfield role so much so, that the player most physically suited to the role, Dave Diedhiou has been largely unable to get a look-in. (More of him later). Gary deserves a lot of credit for sticking with Casey through the bad times, his patience is now really paying dividends, and to be fair, Casey (who has always been approachable) deserves a lot of credit for the way he has knuckled down to concentrate on his football, and leave the bare knuckle brawling behind. At no point was that more obvious than yesterday when in the face of some provocation he kept his calm. Gone are the stupid, reckless challenges, gone are the stray elbows and more snidey elements to his game. He has benefitted hugely as a player from the change and Hendon have benefitted as a team.

The unlikely 2 goal hero (with thanks to hendonfc.net)

Back to on-field events and the more cynical members of the crowd may have begun to accuse the yellows (as the Greens were yesterday) as employing a game similar some exponents of the egg-shaped game by not so much playing for touch, as playing for corners. On 28 minutes, another corner was swung in by Scott Cousins to the far post were Dave Diedhiou simply prodded the ball in before wheeling away in celebration and within five minutes, yet another Cousins corner to the far post was taken down by Diedhiou, totally unmarked again, before smashing the ball into the roof of the net. The combined distance of the four goals was probably no more than 20 yards, but they all counted.

From a Wingate perspective, the simplicity of the goals was almost as bad as the repetitive nature of them. Hendon really hadn’t had to work especially hard to gain a lead that if not already unassailable by this point, certainly was ten minutes before the break when David Laird, who had scored four times in Wingate’s previous two matches lunged at Ryan Wharton. Behind the goal Wingate fans were vociferous in their disapproval for Wharton’s antics as the referee brandished the red card in Laird’s direction. I would agree that there isn’t really any need for the centre half to yelp as he goes down when fouled, but put quite simply, the challenge was late, reckless and unnecessary. It wasn’t as bad as Karagul’s in the return fixture, but it was worthy of a dismissal.

It had been a while since I had seen Hendon four goals to the good at half-time. In actual fact, it had been a while since I’d seen them manage that many in 90 minutes. Talk at the break was of how many we might go on to get after the break, but I was more concerned with making sure we didn’t do anything silly to undo all of our good work. We did that with a fair degree of comfort, although Wingate deserve credit for giving it a go after the break and forcing a couple of solid saves from Berkley in goal. At the other end we rarely looked like extending our lead before Carl McCluskey coolly made it 5-0 two minutes from the end to complete another good personal performance from him just behind the front man.

I couldn’t actually remember the last time I saw us scoring five in any game, never mind a competitive one. Having looked back through the website, it was a 6-0 win against Biggleswade United in the FA Cup back in September 2005. The last time I’d seen us achieve the feat in a league game? April 22^nd 2000 when Hendon beat Farnborough Town 5-3. Although we have of course scored five in matches since then, I had not been lucky enough to have been in attendance.

So, a point outside the play-offs, with Bury losing and having 2 men sent off in the process, there is still a glimmer of hope that this time around Hendon may just sneak into the top five. With three matches remaining, two against relegated sides the match on Saturday against Kingstonian takes on extra significance now. There would be no better time to lay to rest the ghost of our awful league record against them. And with the K’s having to play on Thursday in their London Senior Cup semi-final against Cray, one can hope against hope that they may be struggling a little with fatigue themselves. However, as we saw last season in the final of that competition against Wingate, sometimes fatigue just isn’t there.

This time things are no longer in our hands. All we can do is pick up nine points out of nine. Lewes still have to play Cray and one suspects that Wealdstone may well slip up somewhere with six matches remaining in just over a fortnight. There are likely to be more twists and turns between now and the end of the month, and it promises to be an entertaining ride full of ups and downs. For the time being, I’m laying expectations firmly to rest and concentrating once again on being the plucky underdog.   

Football –Sod you! 5 Minutes of Mayhem

Saturday 31st March 2012

Lewes 3-2 Hendon

Ryman League Premier Division

The Dripping Pan

Saturday and one of the few away days I’ve braved this season. And boy am I pleased I did. Well, yes and no actually. Off the pitch things were marvellous. On the pitch they began similarly so, before descending extremely rapidly into chaos and bitter disappointment. This was not how Gary Mac's autiobiography ghost writers would have had him marking 15 years a Hendon man.

Hendon marched down to the South Downs to meet Lewes in a match that should they come away victorious, would probably be very much favourites to snap up one of the play-off positions. Coming down the hill from the town centre and the very hospitable chaps and chapettes at The Brewers Arms (good selection of ales I’m told, good selection of Euro-lagers and very good selection of BURGERS!) I felt like I was going to a proper football match. Scores of people were descending the hill towards the ground, mostly bedecked in red and black stripes.

The Dripping Pan, for those who haven’t been before is fairly unique amongst Ryman League grounds. You enter the ground at the top of the terracing, which is high enough to rival the prefabricated one at either end of Imperial Fields, before descending downwards to pitch level. It made me imagine that I was watching a lower league match in Scandanavia or Central Europe. Don’t ask me why.

Team news had come through on various smart hand held devices, (they’re still no smarter than the average Premier League captain as far as I can see) and perhaps the most obvious thing to note was the absence of Greg Ngoyi or Elliott Charles from the Matchday squad. At a time when you need goals, to be missing your first choice centre forwards is a real blow. That said, Belal Aite-ouakrim, who got the number 9 shirt, has been resembling a footballer once more in recent weeks and Carl McCluskey has been thriving just behind the centre forward as well.

Lewes, who have had a fairly torrid winter off the park with the dismissal of former favourite Steve King for reasons unrevealed which resulted in a number of players leaving the club have in recent weeks steadied the ship under the stewardship of Simon Wormull and hauled themselves back into play-off contention. Before kick-off they stood a couple of places and three points behind the Greens. With Steve Robinson, and Paul Booth still very much part of the furniture at the Pan, this was likely to be a scrap. A big scrap in front of a very good crowd. And so it proved.

Hendon settled the quicker of the two sides, as the 20 or so travelling fans melted seamlessly into the hoardes of Lewes faithful who had stayed behind the goal they were defending to enjoy a pint of the local liquid gold, and it all made for a very pleasant atmosphere. The Glaswegian Four were in fine fettle having already witnessed Rangers overcome Motherwell in the lunchtime SPL meeting treating the locals to their unique brand of banter.

Jerome Federico began really well down the right flank getting Lewis Hamilton reversing rapidly (ho-ho-ho, F1 humour) on more than one occasion. He flashed a shot wide of the near post and sent a couple of dangerous balls into the box as well that were well dealt with by the Lewes back four. Belal, showing himself to be somewhere close to the form he was in at the beginning of last season, was causing Max Hustwick no end of problems and he was denied a first league goal of the season only by a wonderful save from Matt Ingram in the Lewes goal. The ball bounced nicely for the number 9 to strike from about 10 yards out, powerfully towards the roof of the net, yet the reaction from the Lewes custodian was superb, pushing the ball onto the top of the bar on its way over the top.

The breakthrough came on the quarter hour mark and it was no real surprise. Belal and McCluskey linking up extremely well with an exchange of passes that ended with Belal stretching just inside the penalty area to get to the ball before Ingram and send it rolling into the back of the net. Scorer collided with keeper and needed treatment, before lasting another five or so minutes and being withdrawn. One wag (me) suggested cruelly that he was suffering a nosebleed after finding the target, on in his place came Isaiah Rankin, about 50 minutes earlier than we would have liked.

I felt that we were still on top for much of the half, without ever really threatening to take the game by the scruff of the neck and kill Lewes off. The closest anyone came to doing that was Rankin who turned Robinson smartly and sent a powerful drive no more than a yard wide with Ingram beaten. However, at the other end, Chris Breach in an unfamiliar midfield role headed home a free kick on the stroke of half time only to see the goal disallowed for a linesman’s flag up. I was in no position to see who, what or indeed when was offside but I wasn’t going to argue with the official unlike a number of those behind Rikki Banks’ goal. This should have provided the Greens with a warning, and if it did, it went totally unheeded.

I was behind the dugouts on my way around to the far end when the scores levelled just after half time. Chris Breach once again heading home from a set-piece to bring the home side level. This seconds after the same player had been denied by an excellent Banks save. Amusingly the Lewes bench were imploring the same assistant to raise his flag to disallow the effort, a genuinely amusing moment. However, any smile was wiped off my face not 60 seconds later when Nathan Crabb ended a game of pinball in the penalty area by slotting the ball home. The place erupted, and those in green looked utterly shellshocked.

Shell shock turned to abject horror as I finally arrived at the far end, Banks did very well to deny Crabb low down, but Paul Booth was the quickest to follow up ahead of any green shirted don and fire into the empty net. 3-1. It was 3-1. I checked the electronic scoreboard which confirmed that it was indeed 3-1. How had that happened? I could see our play-off hopes disappearing over the chalk-pitted hills and way off into the Sussex distance. This was like that match against Tonbridge yet a thousand times worse.

Undettered, Lewes continued to force the pace and look for more. Banks denied Booth with a smart block when the Rooks number 10 looked odds on to increase the Hendon misery. Somehow, the storm was weathered and we’d only had the roof blown off, windows smashed in and the walls decimated by the onslaught. Last season certain players would have lost their heads at this point, this time they kept them and plugged away.

Jack Mazzone came on for his debut having been a deadline day signing on loan from Woking and looked quite lively, forcing Ingram into a good tip over late on. Booth had another effort ruled out dubiously for offside at the other end and Banks who had spent the first period largely unemployed would have delighted our wonderful government with his work-rate in the second half. The scoreline was given a dash of respectability as the game moved into time added on when Scott Cousins picked out the top corner with nonchalant aplomb, but it was too little too late. Led by the ever impressive Steve Robinson the home side saw out the remainder of the four minutes in relative comfort to record a vital win.

It’s a long time since I’ve felt as deflated as I did at the final whistle. So many ifs and buts, yet ultimately, nothing. Credit Lewes for that second half, I haven’t seen anyone take us apart like that for quite some time, and if they are able to channel that kind of performance in their remaining five matches then I wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish in the top 5. It was extremely impressive yet I still feel the defeat was partially down to ourselves and the way we began the 2^nd half. At least we’re not out of it completely, but we cannot afford any more lapses like that again. Our run-in looks favourable on paper, but paper and grass are vastly different surfaces.

What I do know is that if we happen not to go up this season, and if Lewes happen not to go up this season, then I will be hoping with every sinew in my body that we meet in August next season. They’re everything I like in a Non League club. Well run, extremely good hosts and look set-up to take themselves (and this is an important point being a Community run club) forward strongly in the medium to long term. Good luck to them, a thoroughly good bunch.

For another view of the game, I would urge you to have a look at the excellent Ball Is Round site for their take on proceedings.