Hobnob made the long trip to Padworth (not sure what part of East Reading that’s in!) for the second time this season after their initial game had been called off after a last minute pitch inspection because of a frozen pitch. No such problems second time around though on a lovely sunny day that was only marred by the yapping of the dog training on the adjacent field. Luke Walker got himself in trouble with some al fresco urination but after five consecutive games at Palmer Park, maybe he was just pleased for a change of scenery. Hobnob made just the one change to the starting lineup to face league leaders Burghfield Reserves as the returning Rich Paine started in place of the absent Dan Hare. There were a couple of familiar faces on the bench who hadn’t been seen in a while as Adam Turner returned for his first game since December and Ed Bargent for his first since early January. In fact with 190 Hobnob appearances between them, Turner, Bargent and Daniel Cross were probably the most experienced bench the side has every had!
Hobnob began the game with the 3-4-3 formation that had served them so well in recent weeks and all seemed rosy when they opened the scoring with practically the first attack of the game. Paine’s shot looked like it was flying miles over but it dipped wickedly and cannoned off the crossbar. With the defenders stood agog that the shot had come so close, Pulfer reacted quickest to tap in the rebound. The opposition seemed stunned to have gone behind so quickly and they soon rallied. Their natural game was clearly to use their wide players and they were trying their upmost to exploit the space in between the narrow defenders and the two wide midfielders. However both Tiltman and Walker did a decent job early on of restricting them to big cross field passes that were easily dealt with. At the other end Hobnob nearly doubled their lead when Plant’s freekick was well saved and it was a stroke of misfortune that gave saw the next goal go the other way. On one of the few occasions that the right winger was able to find space to cross into the box there was nobody there to meet it. Unfortunately it didn’t have to as it somehow found its way into the tiny gap in the corner of the goal. So surprised were Hobnob that some initial doubts were raised over if it had actually gone through a gap in the net but the goal stood. From then on it was backs to the wall for the visitors as the league leaders began to gain some confidence. They began to double up on the flanks and more crosses were coming in. Bizarrely though they still didn’t commit too many into the box and nothing really came of them. There was a late scare before half time when Terry was very fortunate to have a foul called in his favour. It seemed to everyone else that he had tripped over his own feet with their attacker one on one with him but the referee saw it differently. Chapman still made an excellent save but no doubt the Burghfield player will claim that he heard the whistle.
At half time the sensible decision was made to revert to 4-4-2 in order to try and close down some of the space on the flanks. This worked to a degree but I soon began to become clear that everything was coming from the opposition left back. After working some space quite cleverly he whipped in a great near post cross that had to be defended. Terry got a perfect and thudding connection to it but unfortunately for him and for his team it went the wrong side of the post. Hobnob responded well though and Burghfield we perhaps a little lucky to keep 10 players on the pitch. Paine chased Robertson’s through ball down well and after a neat touch to keep it on he was scythed down by the defender. There was a strong argument that it was two footed but the referee opted to only show a yellow card. The resulting free kick was headed out for a throw in and substitute Bargent and Terry were quickly alert to a quick throw in. Bargent hurled the ball back for his manager to unleash a massive throw. Burghfield were all over the place and when Walker’s flick was handled in the box the referee pointed straight to the spot. It was a little bit soft as penalties go but Hobnob certainly weren’t complaining and Pulfer slotted away his 6th penalty of the season. Both teams now had their tails up and neither were going to settle for a point. Unfortunately for the Nobbers it was they who blinked first. Robertson failed to cut out a through ball from the impressive left back and the winger had enough time to pull his pass across goal. With the defence going the other way their player had enough time to take a touch and fire a vicious shot into the bottom corner to restore their lead. That’s how it would remain. Pulfer went close with a header late on but despite a lot of hard work it wasn’t meant to be and Hobnob suffered only their second defeat in six.
For the second week in a row Hobnob came up against a good team in an honest and very hard fought game. Just as with the week before, despite being out played in terms of possession and territory, they probably came out of it having had the better chances. However, what certainly isn’t in doubt with either game is the amount of effort. Both Chalfont last week and Burghfield this will be right up there challenging for the title in the next month and are good teams. As was remarked after the game, there is some pride to be taken when you’ve given your all and just come up short. The side continues to frustrate though as you can’t help but feel it is so close to be a really good one! At least a week off now for the boys as we await the final two fixtures of the season.
