Hendon 1-0 Concord Rangers
Ryman League Premier Division
20th August 2011
Vale Farm
90 minutes and we were a little the wiser. Much like an hour and a half in the company of the popular wedding singer of the same name, Gary McCann’s Plan B left us with nerves shredded, thoroughly unentertained and yet, at the end of it all you were somehow left wanting more. Ok, that might be stretching a point where the singer is concerned, but the performance Hendon put on against Concord on Saturday was exactly what we were crying out for during much of the second half of last season. Ever since reading the manager’s quotes following the London Senior Cup Final defeat (see Pre Season Progress) I had been wondering just what he had up his sleeve. To be honest, what I saw in the friendlies gave little hint as to what we could expect. It wasn’t pretty, but it was very effective.
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| Not the gaffer's idea of Plan B - thankfully |
Concord lined up in an authentic 4-4-2 formation with two giant and pretty mobile centre forwards in Harry Elmes and former Barnet man Elliott Charles. Ex Hendon man Sam Collins started on the bench as Seb Dunbar got the nod for the Beachboys down their left flank. McCann included 3 debutants in his XI, Elliott Brathwaite partnering Michael Peacock at centre half, Carl McCluskey and Elliott Godfrey shared duties as the 2nd striker and right sided midfielder throughout out the afternoon. Berkeley Laurencin got the nod for the number 1 jersey, whilst Ryan Wharton was a surprise pick at right back for his first league appearance since the 2006/7 season.
The pre-match downpour had given the surface a nice bit of zip and encouraged both sides to get the ball down and knock it about. In fairness to both sides, the inclination was there, the quality of the passing, particularly in both attacking thirds was pretty poor. The best chance of the half came early on when Laurencin did a great impression of Devon Malcolm fielding at long on and dropped a routine high ball between his legs. Harry Elmes was lurking, as all good strikers should and was ready to pounce but Laurencin, to his credit, recovered quickly and smothered the ball. Hendon’s attacking threat was limited, Greg Ngoyi having to chase around pretty fruitlessly up front on his own to little effect. It certainly wasn’t for the lack of effort as when he was substituted in the 70th minute by Isaiah Rankin, he looked dead on his feet. He did have the ball in the net midway through the first half, but the effort was ruled out by an assistant’s flag. There was no disputing the decision, as he was ahead of the last defender when he got onto Casey Maclaren’s header on.
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| How Berkeley's fumble may have looked if he was Jimmy Anderson |
The only other incidents of note apart from a Casey Maclaren shot that was blocked by a defender wide for a corner was a flurry of yellow cards towards the end of the period. Richard Halle, Elliott Godfrey and the elder Maclaren were all booked by Paul Forrester for nasty looking challenges that a fussier referee may have deemed worthy of red cards. I thought the official had a good game overall, not dishing out cards needlessly and talking to the players throughout in an attempt to defuse any potential flashpoints.
The 2nd period began brightly with both sides looking now to take the game to their opponents. It was the hosts that drew first (and as it turned out last) blood just 3 minutes after the restart. Good work down the Hendon right by Godfrey saw the ball delivered in for Ngoyi. He smartly noticed the marauding run of Casey Mac to his left and fed the midfielder with a tidy ball. Casey drew the keeper (a rough sketch, certainly no oil painting), rounded him and was unceremoniously upended by Richard Halle. It was definitely a case of being upended rather than impeded and Forrester didn’t hesitate to point to the spot. The man in black decided the spot kick was punishment enough and decided against showing the experienced Halle (no relation to Gunnar) a 2nd yellow card. It was left to Jamie BUSBY to open his account for the season as he confidently beat Dale Brightly from the penalty spot.
To say the remaining 40 minutes were then one way traffic wouldn’t quite be accurate, but it wasn’t far wrong. The Greens were happy to sit fairly deep with two banks of four not getting forward ahead of Ngoyi and the second striker, usually the impressive McClusky or Godfrey, dropping in to make it a midfield 5 when not in possession and make it difficult for Concord to play through them. For the most part, Hendon dealt with the threat fairly comfortably but lacked any real attacking outlet when clearing. Peacock and Brathwaite in particular were outstanding, I don’t recall the latter losing an aerial challenge and one cannot help thinking that last season, the Concord front two would have bullied us out of the game. Concord stepped up a gear when Tyler Campbell and Sam Collins entered the fray with 25 minutes to go, both were impressive and whipped some dangerous balls into the box. Wharton in particular had his hands full in dealing with Collins and picked up a booking soon after his introduction for what one assumed was accumulation. He dealt with the threat well overall though and looks a much better player than the one that left us 5 years ago as not being up to the job. The jury remains out as to whether he is the long term answer to the problems at right back, but a very solid start from the former Hemel man.
In spite of all their possession and territorial advantage, Concord really only created one clear cut chance when good hold up play by Harry Elmes on the edge of the area enabled him to feed his brother James into the box. Berkeley was swiftly out to narrow the angle and did well to force the midfielder to loft his effort towards goal. Although he cleared the diving goalkeeper, he also cleared the crossbar leaving the Concord following frustrated. A couple of late balls into the Hendon box created scenes of mild peril amongst the Greens’ back four, and Rankin was foiled by a smart smother by Brightly at the other end during a rare Hendon attack. The referee brought proceedings to a close and unwittingly provoked another set of handbags at dawn. Scott Cousins and Steve West looked to be the main protagonists in the ‘drama’ that was defused by McCann conducting his post match team talk on the pitch.
Later on, a tweet by Concord skipper Nicky Cowley accused Hendon’s players of being disrespectful following the final whistle. It was a slightly unsavoury way to end what had in truth, been an intruiging 2nd half and hope that any unpleasantness was just a case of passions running high in the heat of the moment.
Concord looked a good strong solid side who will be difficult to beat this season. Once they get Tony Stokes back fit, they’ll have another dimension to their attacking game, but even then, Elmes and Charles will give most back fours a stiff examination. As for the Greens, a win and a clean sheet was exactly what the doctor ordered. It wasn’t pretty, but there were a number of positives to take from the afternoon – not least just how solid and difficult to break down we were. After the whistle I heard quite a few comments from Greens fans about ‘winning ugly’, ‘classic away performance at home’ and how that kind of performance was ‘what we were crying out for last season’. It’s hard to argue with that.
With two very tough away games coming up against Bury and Carshalton, who both recorded impressive wins away from home on Saturday, you can’t help thinking that anything more than 4 points on the board going into the Bank Holiday Monday clash with Harrow will be a fantastic achievement. Work commitments mean that I will not be at Bury tomorrow, and I am considering whether or not to boycott the Carshalton game in support of the ‘Carshalton 10’. More on that later in the week though. In the meantime, I will bask in the glow of a job well done.
Player Ratings
1.Berkeley Laurencin: Overcame a nervy start to put in a good solid performance. Made one good stop from a deflected right wing cross and a couple of other commanding claims from balls into the box. Justified his selection. 6/10
2.Ryan Wharton: A surprise selection but Ryan did well keeping Seb Dunbar relatively quiet in the first half and then getting to grips with Sam Collins’ threat after the break. A good start. Booked 6
3.Scott Cousins: A couple of uncharacteristic slips excepted, the skipper produced his usual solid performance at left back. Good use of the ball as ever, didn’t get forward as much as perhaps we’re used to. 6
4.Michael Peacock: Back to the impressively commanding form that he started his Hendon career with 12 months ago. Looks to have formed an immediate understanding with Elliott Brathwaite and dealt with the threat of Concord’s front two impressively. 7
5.Elliott Brathwaite: An excellent debut from the young former Boreham Wood man. Didn’t lose an aerial challenge all afternoon and stood up well to the physical challenge provided by Elmes and Charles. A standard has been set. 8
6.Kevin Maclaren: Starting in midfield due to the unavailability of James Fisher, the younger Maclaren broke things up well just in front of the back four and used the ball diligently as well. A steady effort. 6
7.Jamie Busby: Provided a threat from midfield as usual, but was more circumspect than perhaps we’re used to seeing. A disciplined performance in midfield, his passing suffered slightly. As nerveless as ever through from 12 yards. 7
8.Carl McCluskey: A very impressive debut from the former Bedfont man working hard in roles as both a 2nd striker and down the right hand side of midfield. Used the ball intelligently. Encouraging stuff. 7
9.Greg Ngoyi: Worked himself into the ground leading the line with little service, had the ball in the net and played an integral part in the penalty. Can be pleased with his efforts, but will hope for more support in the future. 6
10. Elliott Godfrey: Seemed to be on the periphery of things in the first half and was unable to dictate proceedings as he might have liked. Played a role in the build up to the penalty and booked for a stray arm. 6
11. Casey Maclaren: Worked very hard in an unfamiliar left midfield role and was always available to use the ball. Probably offered the most threat in the Concord box and was fouled for the penalty. Booked for a slightly dangerous looking challenge. 7
12. Isaiah Rankin: Came on for the last 20 minutes and worked very hard up front. Looked lively, showed some nice touches and was unlucky to be thwarted by smart goalkpeeping from Dale Brightly late on. 6
13. James Archer: Provided a bit of pace and drive down the right hand side upon his introduction. Hard to judge too much on this showing though. 5
Match Rating: 3/10
Star Man: Elliott Brathwaite
Verdict: A welcome 3 points and an encouraging defensive performance gives a lot of hope for the future. With two tough away games approaching, it’s nice to go into those games with something on the board. Concord will play worse than they did, particularly in the 2nd half and win this season, their efforts warranted at least a point.
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