King’s United have enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent months as they put their poor start to the season behind them and have begun climbing the table. Hobnob on the other hand have been a bit of a mixed bag and came into the game off the back of being well beaten by SC United. They did at least have players coming back and Rich Paine, James Plant and Clifford Davies came straight back into the starting XI in place of Joe Hare, Matt Bolton and Rob Walker.
Maybe it was the kick up the behind that came with the previous week’s defeat but Hobnob started with much more intensity that usual and the message to press high up the pitch was immediately being heeded. Davies, Paine and Pulfer set the tone with some great battling and within the first 10 minutes they nearly got their reward. A wonderful ball forward by Phillips was nodded down by Pulfer for Paine to connect with a sweet volley that just flashed wide of the post. Hobnob came even closer moments later when Pulfer hit a beautiful turn and shot at the top corner of the near post. The King’s goalkeeper wasn’t to be denied though and showed fantastic reflexes to push the ball wide with the Hobnob faithful mid-celebration. The keeper proved that save wasn’t a fluke later on, this time denying Plant. The midfielder spun neatly on the edge of the box and his left foot shot was arrowing into the bottom corner only to see it brilliantly touched around the post. When Paine could only scuff an effort wide Hobnob began to wonder if things weren’t going to go their and that was proved correct. Plant challenged for the ball in his area, winning it cleanly but made minimal contact with his trailing leg that made the attacker fall over. That’s what the ref saw anyway, everyone else saw a clean challenge that nobody questioned. It was poor penalty decision that even had the King’s manager laughing. It was despatched and Hobnob found themselves going into the break a goal down despite having dominated the first half with some of the best football they’ve produced all season.
Inevitably there was no way that the intensity of the first half could be sustained and King’s made a good change, bringing on an extra forward to play off the last defender. Hobnob’s line was holding firm though and Cheng and Terry were dominant in dealing with any balls through. There was one scare though. With Terry down injured Hobnob were momentarily at sixes and sevens and the King’s forward broke clean through. He was totally unchallenged but could only hit the post with his shot, the follow up being bravely parried away by Chapman. It was the clearest chance they could muster with the only other effort of note coming from range and being well saved. Hobnob on the other hand were showing a bit more imagination in their attacks but we just struggling to find the final ball. Tiltman and Davies were linking up well but their crosses were being plucked out off the air by the domineering goalkeeper. It was set pieces that offered the best chances as Phillips headed over from Cross’s fantastic free kick hit deep into the far post. They kept banging away at the door but it wouldn’t open. With the midfield beginning to tire Mike Terry changed the formation to 3-4-3 to bolster them in the middle, bringing on Hare and it worked a charm. Suddenly Plant and Phillips had a bit more time on the ball. Paine drove towards the goal and was body checked. Pulfer had had a sighter in the first half but this time he made no mistake as his free kick was perfectly placed inside the post for his 10th goal of the season. It was no more than they deserved and minutes before the full time whistle Hobnob thought they had the winner only to see Pulfer’s effort ruled out for offside.
When it came to voting for man of the match there was a spread of votes that covered most of the team and that fact says all you need to know about the performance. The defence was rock solid, the midfield dominated despite being up against an extra man and the forwards only denied by some superb goalkeeping. On another day this could have been a 4-0 home win but it still required a lot of work to get the point and the whole side deserve a lot of credit for that fact.
