Post by Dave on Apr 8, 2017 10:32:48 GMT
Match Preview
No worries this weekend about local games being called off due to water logged pitches as it feels very much like a summer’s day. There is a very personal reason why I choose to cover this match today as it is six years today my wonderful wife Carol passed away. Her grandfather lived in Harbertonford and she would spend every school holiday and weekends in the village as she loved it so much there and more importantly spending time with her grandfather.
When you think about Harbertonford FC the name Steve James first comes to mind, what a great man who typifies all that is good about local football. I had the great pleasure of meeting and talking with him the last time I covered a game at the Hams. Harbertonford are a wonderful club who own their own ground and is always a great place to watch a good local football match.
Buckland are also a wonderful club as we all know and one very close to my heart being a Buckland boy myself, so this is one of those games if it was possible I would want both teams to win. While my childhood roots might well want Buckland to win, I think today I might be happier with Harbertonford running out the winners.
Buckland 3rds are the current league leaders but Roseland’s with four games in hand over Buckland look slight favourites to end up as the Division One champions. To date Buckland 3rds have played eighteen games, winning sixteen, drawing none and losing two and are on forty eight points. Along the way they have scored fifty three goals, conceded just fifteen giving them a plus thirty eight goal difference.
Harbertonford FC have enjoyed a good season and are a team that seem to have plenty of goals in them. They are currently in fifth place in the table on thirty six points having played a total of twenty games, winning eleven, drawing three and losing six. They have scored an amazing sixty three goals along the way and conceded thirty three giving them a healthy plus thirty goal difference.
The two teams met in the league at Homers Heath on the eleventh of March this year with Buckland running out the winners with the final score of one nil to them, so Harbertonford will go into the game with nothing to fear and believing it is a game they can win
Carol in the street outside granddads house
Match Report
Wonderful, enjoyable and entertaining are just three words I could have used to describe my afternoon at the Hams at Harbertonford, this was local football at its best and what the game is really all about.
Yes Buckland won, but only just and I’m not sure how they survived all the pressure Harbertonford put on them during the second half. I do not think I have ever wished a referee’s watched would stop so much in my life as Harbertonford looked to get what would have been such a deserved equaliser.
The game got underway and neither side were really able to get on top and goal mouth action early on was not something we were being treated two as both sets of players cancelled each other out. The first real chance fell to Buckland when they won a free kick; the ball was fired high into the Harbertonford box and from close in, Nick Edmunds headed the ball home and put his side in front.
It was Harbertonfords time to win a free kick and get the ball into the Buckland box, Daniel Bovey got a good head on the ball but had to stand and watch his effort go just wide of the post and behind for a goal kick. Sadly for Harbertonford what would have been the goal of the match was disallowed for offside after David Mortimore hit a wonder shot from the edge of the Buckland box that few into the back of the net.
That was about it for the first half and the Buckland players headed back to the dressing room while the Harbertonford lads remained out on the pitch. The second half got underway and Harbertonford were very soon two goals behind. The ball was played into the Fords box from the left hand side to an unmarked Chris Newnham who hit a half volley on the turn into the back of the net.
Fords upped their work rate and greatly improved their passing game that kept Buckland mostly in their own half. Wave after wave of attacks came to nothing and surly there had to be some reward for all this hard work and effort? They were gifted a chance when the Bucks keeper Paul Sharples missed kicked a back pass to him and the ball went straight to David Mortimore. But David did not get a powerful enough contact on the ball and as a result was unable to get it up and over the Buckland keeper.
More and more pressure was applied by the Ford players and Scoot Troth went on a great run and got a decent shot away from twenty years that only just cleared the crossbar. Thomas Weymouth played a great low through ball into the Buckland box for Daniel Bovey to run onto, but Daniel had to hit the ball first time and it only just went wide of the left hand post.
At last such hard work and effort was rewarded when a ball was crossed into the Buckland box where Daniel Bovey was able to out jump everyone to head the ball home.
Buckland went on a rare second half attack but nothing came from it and soon found themselves having to defend deeper than they might have liked. Then came and went the chance of the match that was sadly for Fords not taken. The ball came rather unexpectedly to Fords sub number 15( will add his name if given to me) he had far more time than he realised and could have taken the ball down, controlled it and got a shot away. Instead he choose to just head the ball and missed the target. That was the last real clear cut chance for Fords and ended up with nothing when they deserved a point from the game at least. On their second half performance some will say they deserved all three points, but as we know in football its all about taking those chances when they come along.
A great game and thanks to both sets of managers and the match referee Martin Lewis for all your help today. Good luck to both teams in their remaining games left this season.
