Hobnob went into the game hoping to improve on the previous outing against the Cavaliers, which saw them lose 4-0 in a poor display in Mapledurham at the start of the season. There were a few forced changes from the previous side – the Robertson brothers were both gallivanting about in Mexico, so Daniel Cross was slotted into his familiar right-back role while Dan Hare lined up alongside Ian Pulfer in attack. The ever-present Warren Cheng was, well, not present, and an unavailable Dean Walker meant that Ed Bargent was relieved to see himself back in the starting eleven, pairing up with Mike Terry at centre-back. An on-going hamstring problem for goal-scoring dynamo Rich Paine resulted in a start for Luke Walker on the right wing.
Hobnob knew they had to start well against this side to get the upper hand and they did just that. Pulfer opened the scoring within the first few minutes, nipping in front of a defender to intercept the goalkeeper’s throw and lobbing him from 30 yards. Hobnob were calmed by this, maybe a little too calm, as some lapse defending let Mapledurham create a few chances, but they were unable to find the target. The equaliser did eventually come for the visitors and they added to it almost straight away. 2-1 down in the first half, it looked like another gloomy Sunday morning for the ‘Nobbers.
However, there was a spark of magic down the right wing as Walker, maybe spurred on by his appearance in the starting eleven, showed some silky skills and determination to make some darting runs towards the Mapledurham goal. It soon resulted in an assist for a Pulfer tap-in, an assist for Hare to score and a goal for Walker himself, tapping in a Davies cross.
At half time and 4-2 up, the Hobnob lads couldn’t wait to get back onto the pitch to finish what they’d started. Not long after the restart, a Hare cross from the right found Pulfer lurking at the back post who didn’t hesitate to nod it into the opposite corner for a perfect hat-trick. The calmness had definitely returned as Bolton helped himself to a goal, assisted by Tiltman.
This calmness again resulted in giving the Cavaliers a little too much time on the ball and they grabbed a scrappy goal to pull the scoreline back to 6-3. Soon, Terry found himself racing towards a free ball and, 40 yards out, hit it high into the air, much to the frustration of his surrounding players. With the ball looking like it was going nowhere, the ‘keeper came off his line, hesitate, flapped at it and watched as it bounced over him and into the goal. The Mapledurham defence couldn’t believe it and neither could the Hobnob players who could only watch on in amazement as their player-manager whipped of his shirt, revealing a ‘Why always me?’ t-shirt underneath. His players were asking the same question.
The game looked well and truly over, but a Mapledurham striker still found some space and hit a great shot past Chapman, into the top corner. It looked like Mapledurham might be able to fight their way back into the game, but they had already lost hope. Pulfer got his fourth goal of the game after a flick on from Bolton and the veteran striker hit a left-footed shot past the ‘keeper. Walker again showed some confidence, playing a neat one-two with Pulfer, who side-footed it into the net. It looked like Hobnob had pulled off an incredible victory, but they weren’t finished yet. A kick up field by Chapman was well controlled by Davies who coolly volleyed it over the ‘keeper from the edge of the box. It rounded off a great performance from Hobnob who felt they had finally shown the teams around them what they were capable of doing.
