30th October 2005 - Away 10.30am KO vs. Hemsby Hornets Cup Round 1

Lost - 9-1

A disappointing performance after last weeks 6-0 win over Waveney saw Mutford exit from the Cup with a 9-1 defeat to Hemsby Hornets.

Mutford lined up as last week with Harrison in Goal. Smiffy, Phil, Jack and Jervy in defence. In midfield was James, Josh and Jonny. AJ played just behind the front two of Jordan and Mikey. Jason returning from holiday took up a position on the bench.

Signs were good for the first 10 minutes, Mutford were stringing passes together and working hard for each other. But it was the Hornets who scored the first goal, somewhat against the run of play. A good passing attack and a shot to Harrisons right.

The second goal was disappointing, with some overplaying in the penalty area and failure to put the ball into touch, the Hornets striker stealing the ball and finishing well into the right hand bottom corner.

Although Hemsby had Mutford pinned back throughout the rest of the half it looked liked Mutford had weathered the storm and were going to be going in 2-0 at half time (with a good opportunity playing down the slope with the wind behind in the second half), but disaster struck. Hemsby stole 3 goals in a short spell just before half time which effectively killed the game off.

Half Time 5-0.

At half time Assistant Manager Mark (who was standing in for Paul for the day) voiced his disappointment at the effort that the team had put in and with 3 of the goals coming from mistakes, the team were sent back onto the field with instructions to win the second half.

Playing with the wind and slope did help a bit, but the damage was done in the first half and the boys had dropped their heads (maybe they had one eye on the shield).

Nothing should be taken away from Hemsby, who attacked with real meaning and had obviously worked hard on their set plays. The Mutford work rate did improve slightly in the second half but Hemsby were always first to the ball.

Hemsby scored another 4 times in the second half. The pick of which came from a well rehearsed corner resulting in a great headered goal. Again Mutford were to blame for a couple of the other goals highlighting areas that need working on in training.

Mutford did have the final say when they were awarded a penalty for hand ball. AJ stepped up and fired the ball passed the keeper into the right hand corner to give a final score of 9-1.

Mark said after the game "I was disappointed with the effort more than anything. As soon as we went 2 behind, the heads dropped. We are a better side than that, but you get days when nothing goes right. It was hard choosing a man of the match because everyone played below their best, but the award went to Jervy who kept working hard throughout the game and deserved the accolade".

Man of the Match - Jervy.

Posted 30^th October 2005