Give Us This Day Our Daily Greg - Sunday Review

Hendon 2-2 Lewes

Ryman League Premier Division

Vale Farm

Sunday 4^th September 2011

At the start of every season, I sit down with the fixture list and write down a ‘best case’ scenario and a ‘realistic’ scenario for each match based on a complicated logarithmic set of random equations that have no mathematical or scientific basis. Then, on the eve of each fixture, I check back and re-calculate using even more complex formulae and various statistical distributions to come up with a pair of revised results. The best I could do for the visit of Lewes was a point. Not really the confidence you’d expect from a supporter of a side that had won their first 4 matches of the season. Our visitors yesterday were on a decent run themselves though, winning their last three matches and had plenty of experience on paper running throughout their side. Looking at their players as they trooped onto the pitch, they looked what I like to call ‘typically Essex’. Every man among them looked tall and very powerful – something that we at Hendon have often struggled to match.

Unusually for such a powerfully built side, Lewes didn’t rely purely on power and strength to try and win the game, instead looking to build through midfield and to spread the ball wide to Aaron Watson and Nic Ciardini on either flank. They made 1 change from the side which beat Horsham on Bank Holiday Monday, former Crawley Down man Watson replacing the unfit Jamie Cade, thankfully from Hendon’s point of view as not even he was able to find his way to goal from behind the Lewes dugout. New signing from Harrow, Christian Nanetti was named amongst the substitutes. Gary McCann, for his part, named an unchanged XI for the third match running, Aaron Morgan and Kevin Maclaren replaced Isaiah Rankin and the injured Jerome Federico on the bench.

The grass was slightly on the long side perhaps as the two sides lined up in their nominal 4-4-2 formations, which meant that the pre-match downpour had given the surface less zip than it might have otherwise done. This didn’t deter the visitors from getting off to the dream start though with barely 2 minutes on the clock when they took the lead. Paul Booth got up well to meet a free kick that was swung into the box at pace. Berkeley Laurencin was able to block, but not hold the header and the ball fell at the feet of Michael Malcolm who needed no 2^nd invitation to squeeze the ball into the back of the net to the delight of the decent traveling support behind the goal at the Driving School end.

For the first time this season, Hendon found themselves behind and it was going to be very interesting to see what the response was going to be. With the end of last season and the number of times things caved in like a straw house under attack from a big bad mother of a wolf still very fresh in the memory, I doubt I was alone in thinking that we were about to witness a repeat of the 5-0 walloping Woking handed out to us at Vale Farm 2 years ago. The Greens did well to weather a tough 15 minutes or so before slowly getting themselves back into the game. Making their tackles count, winning headers and beginning to pass the ball better than they had. That said, Lewes looked pretty comfortable, with Steve Robinson, who I’ve never seen have a bad game, in particular excellent and giving Greg Ngoyi little change. Typical of the big centre half’s performance was when he was dispossessed by Elliot Godfrey and then slipped, giving the Canadian a good 3 or 4 yard head start. Robinson recovered quickly and as the Hendon midfielder looked to cut inside onto his right foot made a superb challenge to send the ball behind for a corner.

The first opening for Hendon came just after the quarter hour when a stinging drive was well blocked at his near post by Lewes’ giant goalkeeper Stuart Robinson. The delivery from corners was generally good from Scott Cousins and Godfrey and on more than one occasion, the Rooks defence were stretched, but remained unbreached. The equaliser came on the half hour and in slightly bizarre circumstances.

Stuart Robinson launched a monstrous kick downfield from his hands and it was only after a good 10 seconds or so that anyone, not just the referee noticed the linesman at that end flagging. It soon became obvious that the goalkeeper had inadevertantly carried the ball out of his penalty area before launching it towards Acton. The free kick was awarded a yard outside the penalty area and no caution was administered. Curiously, after arranging his wall to cover the right hand side of his goal, Robinson decided to take shelter behind them. Godfrey simply stepped up and powered the ball into his top left hand corner beyond his flailing dive to level things up. Given the overall performance of the officials came in for a lot of debate post match, the assistant deserves credit for spotting this. It’s the kind of offence that maybe happens two or three times a match but is very rarely penalised. There is perhaps an argument that Robinson was unlucky to have been caught out, particularly as there was no intent, but that doesn’t mean that play shouldn’t be pulled back as and when it is spotted.

Stuart Robinson: Enjoyed an eventful afternoon at Vale Farm

Moments later came the first really contentious moment of the game. The dangerous Malcolm, who gave the Hendon centre halves as torrid a time as they’ve had so far this season, exchanged passes with Ciardini and broke into the Hendon box. Dave Diedhiou, who didn’t enjoy one of his best afternoons, hauled the striker down what looked like just inside the penalty area. The referee blew, and to the amazement of most, awarded a free kick almost exactly on the 18 yard line. As the Lewes players argued that the offence had taken place inside the area, which to be fair I thought it had, I awaited the inevitable red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity. The card brandished was yellow to the general amazement of most and the utter bemusement of many. Relieved by this let off, the wall of Green blocked Paul Booth’s free kick and the rebound driven powerfully towards goal by Nic Ciardini was well blocked by a flying Hendon body.

I think there’s a bit of a grey area where the whole ‘denying a goalscoring chance’ professional foul is concerned. In this particular instance, there were Green shirts in the vicinity of Diedhiou when he fouled Malcolm but the fact remains that the striker had beaten Diedhiou and had a great opportunity to get a shot away, irrespective of whether or not a Green shirt would have been able to get across to make a challenge. There is nothing in the laws stating anything about being the last man, or covering defenders, simply that any player denying an opponent a clear goalscoring opportunity should be sent from the field. It’s my opinion that Diedhiou was lucky to remain on the pitch.

The two sides went in level at the break with Lewes perhaps feeling slightly aggrieved not to have been ahead, particularly after Malcolm forced a good low stop from Laurencin late in the period after doing well to get his way in behind the Greens defence, but any neutrals in the crowd had been served relatively entertaining fayre.

The 2^nd period burst into life 12 minutes in when a cross from the right was headed behind by the slightly hapless Diedhiou. Somehow, the big fella managed to nod the ball a couple of yards past the near post as he shaped to glance the ball away downfield. Quite which part of his head he ended up using is a conundrum I am still trying to solve. A modicum of justice was perhaps served when the corner was fired deep towards the far post. Laurencin went up for it, got nowhere near it (the ball simply sailed over his outstretched reach) and fell for Malcolm to lash home from close range for his 4^th league goal of the campaign already. Diedhiou’s afternoon was over as he was immediately replaced by the fit again Kevin Maclaren who immediately gave the Greens a bit more control in midfield where Matt Somner had been bossing things for Lewes.

Elliot Godfrey: Powerful free kick drew Hendon level in the 1st half

The Hendon defence were twice called upon to make excellent last ditch tackles on Malcolm and Watson inside the penalty area whilst Laurencin did well to recover after trying to shepherd the ball out of play whilst outside his penalty area and slipping on his behind. Before Watson could take advantage, the goalkeeper had got his foot in and cleared the ball form danger. Aaron Morgan then replaced the tiring Godfrey and went up front with Ngoyi, whose energetic performance hadn’t given Steve Robinson and Max Hustwick a moment’s peace. The young substitute had quite an impact on the game.

His introduction gave the Hendon attack a new dimension, a pacier, more direct outlet and he certainly looked very lively. The Greens forced a string of corners, and it was from one of these that they drew level again. The ball was swung in by Cousins and met powerfully by the head of Ngoyi or Morgan. Stuart Robinson beat the ball away and it was turned goalwards by a Hendon body. The ball didn’t have the required pace to beat Somner who hacked the ball off the line. Danger averted. Or so we thought. The ball was played in over the top again and this time, for once, Ngoyi had escaped the clutches – quite literally – of Steve Robinson. He calmly drew the goalkeeper (a slightly crude caricature in charcoal) and from a very tight angle slid the ball under his body. The ball almost agonised for a moment as it kissed the base of the far post before deciding to cross the line and Ngoyi wheeled away to celebrate well deserved reward for his excellent afternoon’s endeavours.

Any hope Hendon had of going on to take the 3 points were badly diminished with 12 minutes remaining when they were reduced to 10 men. Morgan chased down a long ball and slid in just as Stuart Robinson cleared it into the Sports Centre and caught the big goalkeeper. As Morgan remained on the ground Robinson jumped to his feet quick as a flash, grabbed the forward and dished out a slap before pointing aggressively at all and sundry as the referee appeared on the scene. After a minute or so, the official dished out a red card for Morgan, who eventually trudged off disconsonately whilst Robinson removed his gloves and motioned towards the bench. Had he been dismissed too? The referee had only brandished his red card once, but stranger things had happened. The fog of confusion became all the thicker when the goalkeeper sat down in his penalty area, removed his boot, tape and shinpad before deciding to do it all up again. He took a good four or five minutes to sort himself out during which point he shouted that 4 letter ‘c’ word that rhymes with ‘hunt’ at someone in full hearing of the referee and at one point was finally shown a yellow card by the official. Quite whether that was for retaliation, time wasting or foul and abusive language was unclear. What was clear was that he ought really to have followed Morgan down the tunnel.

By this point, the officials had pretty well lost it. There was still time for Laurencin to make a good save at full stretch from a free kick and then tip over a fierce drive on the angle from Nanetti, who had much more impact in 20 odd minutes yesterday as he did in an hour or so for Harrow on Monday, as Lewes looked to win the game, but the Greens managed to hold out with a certain degree of comfort for a well fought point.

So, a point won or two dropped? Definitely a case of the former as far as I’m concerned. It will be a very good side that stops Lewes challenging for promotion this season, they look big, strong and play some really classy stuff at times. You get the impression that they’re still gelling, which is to be expected given the fact that most of, if not all of their squad came together in the summer. I really think they’ll only get stronger and more difficult to beat as the season goes on.

There were a number of plus points as far as I’m concerned for Hendon fans too. We are still unbeaten and showed a lot of character to come from behind twice against a good strong side. We weren’t overawed nor outmuscled and I thought we were good value for the point on that basis alone. Lewes certainly had more, and better chances, but this was far from a case of ‘snatching’ a point.

What the game has made me consider is how much football can be a case of ‘what if’. This was a perfect example. What if the assistant hadn’t spotted the handball by Stuart Robinson, what if the referee had awarded the penalty and sent Diedhiou off, what if Robinson had been sent off as well as Morgan? Would the game have ended 2-2? I suspect not. Football in that respect is much like History, and that dear reader, suits me just fine.

Player Ratings

1. Berkely Laurencin: A mixed afternoon for the Hendon ‘keeper with a couple of excellent saves mixed with a pretty big error of judgment that led to the 2^nd goal. 5/10

2. Ryan Wharton: Another very good showing, standing up extremely well to the challenge laid down by the lively and strong pairing of Booth and Malcolm. 7

3. Scott Cousins: Got better as the game went on and became very influential in the 2^nd period. Showed two or three touches that oozed class and went on one or two marauding attacking runs. 8

4. Michael Peacock: His partnership with Ryan Wharton is improving all the time. Another committed display at the heart of defence against difficult opponents. 6

5. James Archer: Continues to impress at right back. Happy to provide an attacking outlet when possible down the right flank and dealt pretty well with the threat of Nic Ciardini 7

6. Dave Diedhiou: Not the big man’s best afternoon in a Hendon shirt. Didn’t pass the ball well, fortunate not to be sent off and his error led to the corner for Lewes’ 2^nd goal. He’ll bounce back though. 4

7. Jamie Busby: Like Cousins, his influence on proceedings grew as the game went on. Was always busy in midfield, but wasn’t able to get forward as much as he might have liked. 6

8. Carl McCluskey: Nominally played as the 2^nd striker and worked well linking the midfield and Greg Ngoyi up front. Really looks at home at this level. 7

9. Greg Ngoyi: Excellent selfless performance from the number 9, grabbing a deserved goal. Gave Steve Robinson and Max Hustwick a real test, giving as good as he got physically. 8

10. Elliot Godfrey: Mostly played wide on the left and grabbed the first equaliser with a powerful free kick. Looked to pick up a knock and was replaced midway through the half. Good effort. 7

11. Casey Maclaren: Wholehearted, hard working, hard grafting performance as usual from Casey. His final ball still needs some work but put in a great shift. 6

Subs:

12. Kevin Maclaren: Replaced Diedhiou after the 2^nd Lewes goal and did well breaking up their attacks and knitting things together simply in midfield. Probable starter on Saturday. 6

14. Danny Dyer: Came on for the last 90 seconds or so of stoppage time.

17. Aaron Morgan: A tad harshly sent off, but an encouraging cameo who added focus and impetus to the Greens front line. Will most likely miss 3 matches starting after the FA Cup tie at AFC Hayes. 6

Match Rating: 7

Star Man: Greg Ngoyi

Verdict: A good point against a good side who I expect will be right up there come the end of April. The side showed good character coming back from a goal down to equalise twice and holding on well after the dismissal of Morgan. Definitely another positive performance to take into the game at Margate on Saturday