AFC GROUNDHOPPERS

League

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The season has taken a dip in the last couple of weeks after a positive start, so it was important that Hoppers reacted quickly against Woolwich Arsenal.

 

It didn’t take long for AFC GH to create the first chance, Sam Jacques released Tom Bolger down the right with a delicate through ball, but no one got on the end of his delivery. Jacques also came close with a good clean strike that was off target.

 

Hoppers continued to play out from the back, so the opposition tried to press and capitalise on any defensive errors. It was from good build up play that Hoppers managed to take the lead. Johnston Brown picked up the ball on the edge of the area before playing a delightful through ball to Marcus Black who side footed home in-off the post.

 

In spells Hoppers were in the ascendancy and Woolwich were unable to cope with some of our free-flowing moves. Once again it was a piece of quick play that opened the oppositions back line. Kavan Burton found himself in space on the wide right and his cross was turned in by the Woolwich defender who was hurried into a decision as Black lurked with intent.

 

With only seconds left in the half Hoppers gave away a silly free-kick that was headed in by the Woolwich striker - who looked more like a character from the ‘Game of Thrones’ then a footballer - to end the half 2-1.

 

Obviously, we were very disappointed to have let the opposition back into a game that we pretty much dominated without playing well, but we knew if we upped the tempo we would close the game out. Hoppers started the second-half with intent and should have extended the lead through Sam Dangerfield but, his lob was expertly cleared off the line. Another chance fell to Joe Willis who also managed to beat the on-rushing keeper but not the back-tracking defender who also cleared off the line in superb style.

 

It was the heroic defending from Woolwich that spurred them on and sucked the wind out of our sails. The turning point came when Woolwich broke from a Hoppers attack in similar fashion to Farnborough 2-weeks ago and after a few passes tucked in the equaliser.

 

Uncertainty and lack of concentration flooded through the Hoppers team and credit to Woolwich they took full advantage. Every mistake was being punished and every bad touch was jumped on by a resurged home side that looked well and truly beaten for most of the first-half.

 

Just before the inevitable finally happened Dangerfield was sin-binned for descent and Bolger went down with a dislocated knee. With 5 minutes to go Woolwich grabbed the winner which completely flattened Hoppers spirit and got Woolwich their first points of the season.

 

Once again AFC GH have contributed to our own downfall and have no one else to blame but ourselves. It’s incredible to think that only month ago we felt unbeatable and had a sense of optimism for the season. There is absolutely no doubt that this group can achieve great things this season considering the amount of talent we have at our disposal in all positions. We move on again to the next week…

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AFC Groundhoppers

Steve Spicer, Bradley Ladeinde, Ollie Spedding, Rob Biggs (c), Kadeem Wallace, Sam Jacques, Joe Phillips, Johnston Brown, Marcus Black, Joe Willis, Tom Bolger, Sam Dangerfield, Kavan Burton, Reece Anthony