Match Report

Hendon
3
Wembley
0
Date:
Saturday 28 July 2012
Competition:
Friendly
Attendance:
Unknown
Venue:
TBA

Match Report

Hendon's annual friendly against landlords Wembley saw the Greens stroll to a comfortable 3-0 win at Vale Farm on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams played almost two entirely different teams in each half, with 19 changes made at the interval. Both starting goalkeepers played 25 minutes of the second half and only Lions player-manager Ian Bates was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.

Hendon made the perfect start, scoring after barely two minutes. Isaiah played the key pass and Kevin Maclaren finished without fuss.

The Greens passed the ball around busily, leaving Wembley often chasing shadows. When the Lions did get possession, they didn't respect it and the Hendon defenders, especially full-backs Scott Cousins and James Parker, were essentially wing-backs as they got into forward positions so frequently.

Just before the half-hour, Hendon doubled their advantage. A partially cleared corner was returned by Parker. Lee Pearce came for the ball but couldn't get any power into his punch.

He also stumbled on landing and Michael Peacock, aware of the situation, deftly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and past the covering Conor Carroll on the goalline.

Rankin and Lewis Rolfe were actually quite well marshalled by Carroll and Chris Korten, but Dave Diedhiou, Dean Cracknell and Scott Shulton coming from midfield, had the rest of the defence at full stretch for long periods.

Adrian Dinham did had one chance for Wembley when he beat Sean Thomas to a short headed backpass. However, although there was no goalkeeper between him and the goal, Dinham tried to make a better angle for himself, by which time Parker had got in front of him and Wesley Beckles and Peacock were manning the goalline, so the chance went begging.

On the stroke of half-time, Bates tried his luck with a 25-yard free-kick. It may have been bending just inside the near post, but Thomas, at full stretch, pushed the ball out for a corner.

Although there were essentially two new teams out for the second half, the pattern of the game remained the same with Hendon in control. If there could be one criticism of the team it was that they weren't clinical enough in front of goal.

The only goal of the second half came from Casey Maclaren, making it the very rare occurence of the Maclaren brothers scoring in the same fixture. Casey's goal was the result of a poor backpass to Pearce, which he latched onto and then he drilled the ball across the exposed goalkeeper and just inside the far post.

Both Eddie Munnelly and Michael Lewis came close to extending the Greens lead. Munnelly, in a one-on-one with Pearce, couldn't get the ball out from between his feet and a combination of the goalkeeper and Gary Linton were able to dispossess him.

Lewis struck a super curling 25-yard drive that flew past Pearce, but struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced away to safety.

Former Hendon forward Daryl Atkins, who scored more than 30 goals for Wembley last season, was kept very quiet, James Fisher being particularly good in some covering challenges.

Paul McCoomb had a curling shot on target, about five minute before Casey Maclaren's goal, but Thomas was not unduly troubled as he stretched to make a catch.

In stoppage time, Brian Marsh arrived late on the scene and drove a good chance over Mo Maan's crossbar.

Hendon manager Gary McCann said, "This was another excellent workout by all 22 players.

"There are going to be some tough decisions on players for me over the next week. I have to cut the squad to a more manageable number."

Report by David Ballheimer

Hendon

1
Sean Thomas
2
James Parker
3
Scott Cousins
4
Wesley Beckles
5
Michael Peacock
6
Kevin Maclaren
7
Scott Shulton
8
Dean Cracknell
9
Isaiah Rankin
10
Lewis Rolfe
11
Dave Diedhiou
12
Sam Grayley
13
Ben Gill
14
James Fisher
15
Casey Maclaren
16
Mo Maan
17
Howard Hall
19
Michael Murray
20
Michael Lewis
21
Bradley Ambrose
22
James Burgess
23
Eddie Munnelly

Match Events

2''
Kevin Maclaren
31''
Michael Peacock
46''
Sam Grayley replaced James Parker
46''
Eddie Munnelly replaced Scott Shulton
46''
James Burgess replaced Michael Peacock
46''
Casey Maclaren replaced Kevin Maclaren
46''
James Fisher replaced Wesley Beckles
46''
Michael Lewis replaced Dave Diedhiou
46''
Howard Hall replaced Scott Cousins
46''
Michael Murray replaced Dean Cracknell
46''
Bradley Ambrose replaced Isaiah Rankin
46''
Ben Gill replaced Lewis Rolfe
Toby Webb replaced Ty Edun
46''
Gary Lenton replaced Chris Korten
46''
Kristian Hale replaced Conor Carroll
46''
Paul McCombe replaced Kristian Hale
46''
Brian Marsh replaced Jason Finnegan
46''
Jomo Mitchell replaced Kwame Sabron
46''
Roy Byron replaced Adrian Dimhon
46''
Daryl Atkins replaced Paul Shelton
46''
Unknown Trialist replaced Chris Hazell
46''
57''
Casey Maclaren
70''
Mo Maan replaced Sean Thomas
Ini Amaegbe replaced Ini Amaegbe
72''

Wembley

1
Lee Pearce
2
Chris Hazell
3
Ty Edun
4
Conor Carroll
5
Chris Korten
6
Jason Finnegan
7
Ian Bates
8
Kwame Sabron
9
Adrian Dimhon
10
Paul Shelton
11
Myron Ramsey
1
Ini Amaegbe
10
Daryl Atkins
11
Kristian Hale
12
Unknown Trialist
14
Toby Webb
14
Paul McCombe
15
Gary Lenton
15
Roy Byron
16
Jomo Mitchell
18
Brian Marsh