Ryman League Division One North
Saturday 24th March 2007
	AFC Hornchurch	2 - 1	AFC Sudbury
S Parker 51', K Lee 71'		H/T 0-1 Att: 444	Heath 31'

Match Highlights

AFC Hornchurch

AFC Sudbury

	31	GOAL - Heath
S Parker - GOAL	51
	57	BOOKED - Calver
K Lee - GOAL	71
Glozier - OFF Styles - ON	71
S Parker - OFF Foyewa - ON	81	OFF - Hammond ON - Noble
Lee - OFF Fiddes - ON	89

Match Report by Tony Middleton
 

Yay..let us mass tonight on the borders of that ungodly land that is Essex...let us feast and drink...and sing...sing till we can sing no more...for on the morrow, we march....march to that heathen land at the end of the district line that is Upminster.....where we will smite the urchins...and their tricked up Corsa chariots...then onwards to their temple...to destroy every last cask of their Bury made foul bitter....we will then partake of their strange golden Australian brew..Before marching to the colosseum...where our glorious gladiators will receive the blessing from the manic vicar before the glorious victory over the striped slaves, roared on by the trumpets and drums of the Suffolk hoards. After the feast of blood and gore......we must again march to the temple for feasting (more feasting?)and drinking and wine, women and song......to pay homage to General Morsley..."the large one" as he is known....and to celebrate the victory that is rightfully ours....

So quote the Sudbury sage on their forum. And the masses did come, with great difficulty owing to a very serious accident on the M25. Programmes sold out over an hour before the start, and team sheets were produced and handed to anyone who wanted them. Ryan Lee in for Alex Fiddes, otherwise unchanged, whilst Sudbury’s Ozie Foster made his debut.

A strong north wind influenced proceedings, and Sudbury started well, a long Boyland cross being cleared upfield by Fletcher. A Purdie free kick, into the wind, from the half way line, caught everyone out by sailing out of play at the other end and a long punt downfield by Wignall saw Brightly dash to the edge of his area to clutch the ball just ahead of Brothers, the appeals for hand ball being greeted with howls of derision from the East Side. Did Sudbury really want to win that badly?

Urchins briefly got into their stride, with Ryan Lee’s long pass being grabbed by Munson as Parker homed in, and a Parker flick to Kris Lee saw the visiting keeper dash out to smother the ball as Kris pounded goalwards. Sudbury enjoyed some steady pressure, Fletcher turning out a cross from Brothers, and Purdie conceding a corner in dealing with a long shot from Calver. Hammond took the kick and the ball swerved alarmingly goalwards and then drifted out of play. Hammond tried his luck again with a long shot from a free kick, the ball disappearing in the direction of the Ingrebourne behind the restaurant, and with Sudbury adopting a shoot-on-sight policy, a Foster first time volley went well wide of the goal. Brothers broke through and Fletcher tackled to give away a corner, which Hammond crossed and Southon cleared. Urchins came back with Kris Lee finding Janney, playing in midfield, and Mark almost broke through, with Wignall eventually clearing. And then it was so nearly a goal, when Kris Lee found Janney in his more accustomed position of outside right and Mark raced in, lobbed the keeper, and Boyland cleared off the line.

Back came Sudbury, Foster heading into the side net from Hammond’s swerving free kick, and then it was Foster again, heading wide from Brothers. The only goal of the first half came when the referee wrongly awarded a free kick to Sudbury. Remember the first match at Sudbury? Yes, it happened again. And this time it was Hammond who left the kick to GARETH HEATH, whose shot screamed into the net. A well taken goal, but why the free kick in the first place? And biggest surprise of all – cheering from the away supporters, something very rarely heard in this league. Urchins came back, Ryan Lee’s shot being well saved by Munson, but then McFarlane conceded a free kick with a tackle on Claydon, and Hammond saw Brightly save well. Brothers, on the left wing, won a corner, thanks to an excellent tackle by Fletcher, and Hammond again swerved the ball in, with Brightly holding under pressure. Urchins replied with Janney, who controlled a Southon pass and raced goalwards, where he was crowded out for a corner. Glozier’s kick forced Munson to punch clear, and back came the Urchins, with Parker being blatantly fouled as he went through, and Janney was again crowded out, with the East Side screaming for a free kick and a yellow card.

Talking point at half time was whether the Urchins could come back, after a half controlled by the visitors. Was the Mad Vicar of Sudbury in attendance? Yes, he was. Max dished out £120 to a lucky Urchin, who won the 50 – 50 draw, and the teams took the field to light rain and a decreasing wind, with little doubt that the second half was going to be much more lively. And so it was, with Urchins signalling their intentions right from the start when Munson made a remarkable fingertip save from Cross to turn the ball against the post, and then out for a corner. With Urchins now in full flight, the visiting directors watched in awe, no doubt wondering not so much what was, but what will be, and the equaliser came when Ryan Lee took a pass from Cross, and played the ball neatly upfield for SIMON PARKER, who ran on and on and on, and poked the ball low past Munson to level the scores. Never has such a volume of noise reverberated around the stadium, so much so that the windmill swirled around in delighted celebration, and the nearby homing pigeons did a lap of honour.

Urchins now looked well placed to gain a play off position, and they settled back to control the game. With the wind screaming, and the East Side howling, and the RiverSide applauding politely, keeper Munson kicked wildly out of the ground as the visiting defence caved in. Glozier’s throw was cleared off the line, but a free kick was awarded. Janney was felled in full flight by Calver who was booked, and Glozier’s piledriver of a free kick was punched away by Munson. Glozier again, his volley being blocked, whilst a Ryan Lee cross was headed inches wide by McFarlane, up with the forwards. Sudbury came back briefly, Brothers seeing his centre headed out for a corner by Purdie, and Hammond’s corner being headed out by McFarlane. A Glozier free kick went out for a corner, which Janney played short to Glozier and Munson saved well from the cross. Then Parker was almost through but Hammond tackled.

With the Sudbury hoards now completely silent and biting what was left of their nails, as they gazed in awe at the sheer power of the Urchins, Parker set off on another run, the away defence in disarray, and Simon played the ball out to Janney on the right, and his centre was turned out by Wardley for a corner on the left. Janney touched the ball short to Ryan Lee and then sent the ball into the goalmouth where KRIS LEE netted, and was promptly submerged at the bottom of a red and white seething mound. With Urchins now well in command, Styles fed a through ball to Parker who was stopped by Brothers, and what could have turned into a very nasty incident was quickly over when the home side walked away and let the referee get on with it, although Brothers was fortunate to escape with a lecture. Sudbury won a corner which was delayed whilst the taker, Hammond, was subbed, and McFarlane headed out, but the ball was promptly hit back and Brightly tipped the shot over the bar for the best save of the match – a goal kick was awarded. Noble headed wide from a Foster centre, and then it was back to the other end, where Janney sent Foyewa away, and Amos won a corner, taken by Janney, and cleared by Head, and shortly afterwards a Styles free kick was also deflected for a corner, again taken by Janney and cleared by Head. Sudbury tried desperately for the equaliser, but despite winning two corners, they did not threaten the home goal, and three more points were gained.

It did not end there, for one Urchin raced into the club shop, and asked for a thong. Following a long period of negotiation, money changed hands, and the last remaining Urchins thong (red and white) left the shop – who is the intended recipient? We will probably never know. And the Sudbury hoards? A credit to their team.

Video clips by Rob Monger
- 31mins. Gareth Heath puts Sudbury in front
- 51mins. Simon Parker races through to equalise
- 71mins. Kris Lee nods in the winner
Post match interview with midfielder Ryan Lee
 

  Teams

AFC Hornchurch Dale Brightly Ron Fletcher Danny Glozier John Purdie (c) Jim McFarlane Ryan Lee Garry Cross Mark Janney Kris Lee Simon Parker Jamie Southon SUBS Amos Foyewa Alex Fiddes Elliot Styles Andy Tomlinson Dave Sadler

- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 * 12 14 15 16 17

AFC Sudbury Nathan Munson Phillip Boyland Shane Wardley Luke Hammond Jack Wignall David Head (c) Gareth Heath Neil Calver Andrew Clayton Ozie Foster Michael Brothers SUBS Tommy Noble Nicky Smith Brett Girling

Man of the Match Nominated by ... Simon Parker

Weather Conditions:  5 degrees, light rain in second half. Wind speed up to 25mph in gusts

Match Officials: R Whitton with I Hogg and R Wooding

Match duration: First half 44mins 59secs. Second half 47mins 40secs
 

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