Saturday 29^th March 2008

Kent League

Holmesdale 1-2 Hythe Town

Attendance: 64

Scorers:

Holmesdale: Hughes (68)

Hythe Town: Winfield (4) Cook (24)

The Dalers played host to Hythe Town on a blustery wet afternoon at Oakley Road. The home side having been in really good form and the visitors focused on staying in a fascinating and close title chase. Certainly the rookies were quietly confident of showing Hythe something they had not experienced before with three comfortable wins over the Dalers earlier in the season. The weather and pace of the game were two contributing factors to the opening of the game being very exciting and tense.

The first few minutes saw drama as Hythe broke down their right flank and played in Abel who was about to deliver across the box when he was brought down by Hardie. The ref instantly pointed to the spot however his assistant, less than 20 yards away didn’t even flag for a foul.

Winfield step up to beat Harwood from the spot, just the start the title chasers needed and the worst possible for the home side.

Both teams were trying to cope with the tricky conditions and the game continued on but  was interrupted frequently by the referee’s whistle. Holmesdale were certainly finding it the more difficult with Hythe on top in the early part of the half not to mention having that wind behind them. The pressure continued and inside half an hour the Reds were two up. Dale had forced a corner and had started to go on the offensive more but they quickly found themselves back in their half.

A free kick lead to the second goal and Hythe manage some how to keep the Dalers in their half after the first delivery was cleared. No one took control until Neilson brought the ball down and looked to shoot, he was force away from goal and yet managed to dink a ball to the far post where Cook arrived to have a free header.

The half finished with both benches having been spoken too by the officials and 3 yellow cards on the pitch and Holmesdale’s co manager being sent to the stand.

The second half saw the Dalers take the game to Hythe and test their defence’s resolve.There was a determination to show the game was not over and it was Hythe’s turn to be camped in their own half. The Dalers were more than competing in midfield and just failed to click in the last third to create clear openings. Read was sacrificed as he had been cautioned and Lawson was introduced pushing O’Rourke into midfield. Hythe tried not to play so deep however this exposed them to the potential pace of O’Rourke, MacDiarmid and Hughes.

On 68mins when trying to come forward the Dalers stole the ball. Hart’s pass split the defence and played in Hughes and he was always favourite to get there first. He took the ball in his stride and nicked it away from the out coming keeper. He brought Hughes down and the ref again swiftly pointed to the spot. Whilst the striker picked himself up strangely the ref decided to show the last man a yellow card and not first the first time in the game the official’s decisions were called into question. Hughes took the kick himself and confidently slotted home.

The come back was now definitely on and by now the Reds would have been clear they were in a game. Hythe were made to hold on and after they were exposed again Creasey set up Hughes in the box only for him to side foot his shot straight at the keeper. The visitors showed why they have been in the hunt for the championship as they managed to clear their lines and throw themselves in front of everything. The defence was organised and resolute and refused to give up. In truth with Hughes and Macca not able to take half chances they were able to secure all three points, although a draw would not have flattered Holmesdale. Positives for the rookies with enough games left to climb well out of the bottom three and Hythe are now hoping Thamesmead and VCD slip up in their remaining fixtures.