Match Report

Hendon
1
Kettering Town
1
Date:
Saturday 29 November 2003
Competition:
FA Trophy
Attendance:
225
Venue:
TBA

Match Report

Hendon and Kettering Town will play each other for the third time in eleven days on Tuesday night at Rockingham Road following their 1-1 draw in the second round of the FA Trophy on Saturday afternoon.

Hendon made three changes to their starting line up, welcoming back Dave King, Andy Cook and Eugene Ofori to replace Dean Lindsay, Andre Delisser and Pat Gavin who were all on the substitutes bench along with Martin Randall and the returning Iain Duncan.

Kettering made two changes to their starting eleven with Martin Matthews and Eliot Paschalis returning to the starting line up in place of veteran defender Al-James Hannigan and midfielder Andy Lodge.

The conditions were much better than last week when Kettering won 2-1, although still wet underfoot following a couple of hours of steady rain during the morning. The pitch had dried out well during the week, and didn't cut up anywhere near as much during the game.

The first chance fell to Hendon in the 3rd minute when the ball was flicked on by Ricci Crace, but fellow striker Eugene Ofori was beaten to the ball by Kettering keeper Paul Pettinger who was able to clear the ball for a throw in.

In the 12th minute Kettering had a chance when a free kick was well taken by Gary Butterworth, but the Hendon defence were able to scramble the ball away. Eight minutes later Kettering had what appeared to be a clear cut penalty claim turned down after a Hendon defender's elbow appeared to catch a Poppies attacker. To be fair the referee was unsighted, but the linesman on the stand side had a clear view of the incident but gave no decision.

Hendon then had two good chances to take the lead, the first falling to Scott Cousins who shot wide after good build up involving Andy Cook, Ofori and Crace. The second fell to Eugene Ofori, who saw his shot on the turn deflected wide by a defender.

Kettering saw a good move end with Michael Boyle-Chong shooting just over the bar after an excellent knock down by Jason Turner. Ofori then had another chance but was only able to screw his shot wide, and as Hendon took control towards half time Dave Hunt had two long range efforts blocked by defenders.

Boyle-Chong had another chance shortly before half time but was only able to head a Turner cross straight at Hendon keeper Dave King.

Hendon were rewarded for their first half efforts in stoppage time when a corner was delivered into the box by Cousins and the ball was scrambled home by Mark Cooper for his first goal of the season. The half was brought to an end by the referee within a few seconds of the restart.

Kettering looked determined to get back into the game as they came out for the second period, but their plans were hit within five minutes after midfielder Ian King was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury. Stefan Dancy came on in his place.

Soon afterwards King made a good save from Richard Graham, but it was in vain as within a minute Kettering had equalised.

The ball was driven across the Hendon goalmouth by a midfielder and found its way to Eliot Paschalis who hooked the ball home having been left unmarked. It was the second time in two weeks that he had scored for Kettering at Claremont Road, having scored the winner last week.

Kettering were the better side in the second half, although neither side created much in the way of chances. Hendon did have one good chance in the 67th minute but Ofori was unable to make contact with the ball as he attempted a diving header.

A few minutes later the Greens made a double substitution, Randall replacing Crace, and Duncan replacing goalscorer Cooper, who had picked up a leg injury in a challenge with a Kettering player earlier in the half.

The changes seemed to spark some life back into Hendon and in the 77th minute a cross from Iain Duncan was well volleyed towards goal by Dave Hunt but Pettinger held the ball well.

Two minutes later Kettering probably had their best chance to win the game when some excellent build up play, which included a good advantage played by the referee following a clear foul, ended with Graham firing a fierce shot at goal, only to see King make a good save near his left hand post.

Kettering made a late change, introducing striker Michael MacKenzie to replace Jason Turner, but both defences continued to hold firm and the game came to an end after a couple of minutes of stoppage time.

Both managers seemed satisfied with their respective teams performances. Kettering caretaker manager Nicky Platanauer said "It was a good hard fought cup tie with both sides being evenly matched. We came back into the game well and did have chances to win the game. However, Tuesday is another game and we must now concentrate on that."

Hendon manager Dave Anderson agreed that both sides were evenly matched and said: "the game was very similar to last week with both sides cancelling each other out. Once again I can't fault the players workrate or effort and Tuesday is likely to be another closely fought game."

Report by Steve Rogers

Hendon

1
Dave King
2
Mark Burgess
3
Antony Howard
4
Mark Cooper
5
Steve Butler
6
Andy Cook
7
Ricci Crace
8
Dave Hunt
9
Eugene Ofori
10
Jon-Barrie Bates
11
Scott Cousins
12
Martin Randall
14
Andre Delisser
15
Pat Gavin
16
Dean Lindsay
17
Iain Duncan

Match Events

45''
Mark Cooper
Stefan Dancey replaced Ian King
50''
Eliot Paschalis
51''
73''
Iain Duncan replaced Mark Cooper
73''
Martin Randall replaced Ricci Crace
Michael Mackenzie replaced Jason Turner
87''

Kettering Town

1
Paul Pettinger
2
Michael Boyle-Chong
3
Craig Norman
4
Ian King
5
Brett Solkhon
6
Martin Matthews
7
Wayne Diuk
8
Gary Butterworth
9
Eliot Paschalis
10
Jason Turner
11
Richard Graham
12
Stefan Dancey
14
Michael Mackenzie
15
Delroy Gordon
16
Chris Difante
17
William Gourlay