Holmesdale 0-3 Hythe Town

Attendance 48

Scorers:

Holmesdale:

Hythe Town: Brazier (40), Hayes (70), Smissen (77)

Holmesdale (The Dalers) Played host to Hythe for the third time this season. The home side were hoping to give a better account of themselves than the comfortable wins for the visitors in the previous two encounters. Starting with one up front this was initially quite cautious however it did prevent much space for Hythe to try and exploit. In fact the first half was not really that eventful certainly the away side struggled to really open up The Dalers, Daniel MacDiarmid worked tirelessly across the line trying to keep the defence honest and Hughes made a few runs forward that looked promising only to get crowded out by experienced Kent defenders.

Certainly not much to choose between the sides and Holmesdale were persistent in their efforts however they were limited to a few half chances by one of the Kent leagues fittest and most organised sides. The half was drawing to a close and the frustration of neither midfield being able to keep the ball and hurt the opposition must have frustrated both benches as well as supporters. In the 39^th minutes the Dalers conceded a free kick in their half which gave a chance for Hythe to try and pack the box. A delightful delivery saw Brazier arrive in front of his marker to head home unchallenged, a momentary lapse in concentration and it cost the rookies again.

0-1 40mins.

This was the half time score and a few would have been scratching their heads as the away side had not really threatened. It seemed an all too easy way to get a firm grip on the game. The same theme was true of the second half, at least over the opening period. The Dalers now had even more incentive to push on now and leave a few spaces in behind.

Holmesdale were not able to find anything in the last third, with players lacking either a bit of confidence or composure to make the attacks count. The game was far more open now and in truth might have gone either way however a crazy 10-15 minutes spell saw Hythe able to put the contest to bed. First of all they took advantage of poor marking again after the first bit of sustained pressure saw substitute Hayes arrive at the far post to put Hythe 2-0 up. (70mins).

The defence and midfield had switched off and a miss judgement saw Smissen in one on one against Primey. The keeper showed his experience and got down quickly to prevent what looked like a certain goal.

Sadly the quality of this stop was somewhat in vain as on the next attack the home side failed to clear and the ball dropped to Smissen who fired it low in to the far corner from inside the box. 3-0 (77mins). The game being over, a final mistake by debutant Elliot saw a soft back pass go nowhere near the mark. He tried to cover the striker’s run but only managed to give the centre forward a chance of a brace.

Again a top draw save from the veteran keeper. He stayed up big and left it all for the striker to do; when he drilled the ball expecting to score he only found the keeper’s legs as he sharply got down to make the stop.

Overall this was not just a disappointing result, in truth the visitors should have been made to work much harder for what appears another comfortable win.

Holmesdale: Prime, Read (Major), White (Elliott), Nicoli, Tolfrey Jnr (C), Simon, Greenslade, Baker (Creasey), MacDiarmid, Hughes, Hatt. Unused: Strotten.