This was the game that almost had it all! Turnford battled back from seeming to be dead and buried at 0-2 down, Old Herts played the last 30 minutes with only ten men when they had a man sent off for handling on the line (He didn’t even wait for referee to show him the red card, he just walked off!) the match was clinched in the final 8 minutes with a spectacular winner and Old Herts went top of the league as Buntingford Wanderers could only draw their fixture!
There were two changes to the Azzurri’s regular line up with Scott Brinkley bringing his physical presence to midfield and Matt Gentle standing in for either of the two “Rob’s” at full back. Brinkley was quickly into the game when he was put through by Cutbush, but Turnford came straight back with firstly Stebbing required to cover and then Djemal forced into conceding a corner.
Want made a strong run along the right wing for Old Herts with the ball being played over to Konnor Smith he took on and beat his defender delivering the ball straight into the path of the advancing Chris Burman, who unleashed a fierce shot from the edge of the penalty box only to see the Turnford Tiger keeper make a fine save pushing the goal bound rocket against the post and away!
It was one way traffic for a while as a Brinkley cross was just about cut out by the Turnford keeper, a Stebbing pass was flicked dangerously on by Smith and a Gentle long ball set Cutbush away.
However the Tigers came into the game with a neat one-two of their own in the Old Herts penalty area that saw their shot go just narrowly wide of Bolton’s post.
Stebbing, Burman and Smith were now combining well, turning defence into attack and a through ball to Dylan Potts set him off on a determined run and cross that was only halted by more than a suspicion of handball. Then a well won header in midfield by Burman set Potts off again for his pass to set Smith up for a powerful shot that was instinctively saved by the keeper on 12 minutes only for Cutbush to slide in onto the rebound on the far post for a real goal poacher’s goal!
Old Herts Athletic 1 Turnford Tigers 0
Old Herts kept the pressure up and from a free kick given for a push in the back on Want, Smith’s shot was scrambled away, but this was followed by some good play from the Tigers and Bolton was forced to shuffle a shot, that he could have only seen late wide of his near post.
At this stage the blues were not quite finding their stride due to lack of accurate passing. Green and Burman played a one-two to get them going again and a pass to Want and then onto Smith, allowed the big forward to lay the ball back to Potts for his powerful shot to go wide of the far post.
A long ball from Turnford required Burman to sweep up and his long ball in turn was controlled by Smith giving Brinkley the chance to force a corner with some close control. This resulted in a collector’s item as the corner was flicked on to Djemal, whose fierce shot was brilliantly saved, so denying the defender a rare goal!
The Azzurri pressure increased though with a Cutbush volley blocked, a Burman header saved and a Potts shot saved from 6 yards, before the first half came to a close.
The second half commenced with total domination from Old Herts, Brinkley sent Want through on goal and he was unlucky not to convert the chance, Cutbush sent in a hard low shot from 25 yards that hit the post and the pressure finally told on 47 minutes with Cutbush controlling the ball and turning in one movement on the edge of the six yard box to hit his left foot shot high into the net.
Old Herts Athletic 2 Turnford Tigers 0
From this seemingly dominant position however the advantage was immediately pulled back. A free kick from the left wing flew straight over Bolton, who could only get a soft hand onto the ball as it went into the back of the net.
Old Herts Athletic 2 Turnford Tigers 1
Stebbing then needed to leave the pitch due to injury to be replaced by Christian, which entailed moving Green to left back and giving Burman the coveted captain’s armband. Green’s good control brought Want into the game as he became increasingly influential in midfield and he orchestrated a fluent move involving Burman and Christian.
A long throw for the Tiger’s was flicked on for a shot on goal competently dealt with by Bolton, followed by a powerful Brinkley run to relieve the immediate pressure, but the tide was turned as Turnford used their physical strength and their desire to run harder to their advantage. A long cross from Turnford into the Old Herts penalty area was hit goal bound for an inevitable goal before Green’s instinctive reaction led him to parry the ball on the goal line, before swiftly departing the field of play.
Bolton correctly guessed which way the spot kick was going and managed to get a hand to it, but it was too powerful to prevent the ball hitting the back of the net.
Old Herts Athletic 2 Turnford Tigers 2
Smith was now replaced by Reeves as with 10 men some experience of holding the ball up was required and immediately Reeves had an opportunity which went too high. Mayhew had to replace the injured Christian and the pressure now inevitably came from the Tigers.
Cutbush had a good run but his cross went wide before Want, Burman, Reeves and Cutbush started to bring the blues back into the game and a Reeves header hit the post.
Now Turnford were struggling to take advantage of their numerical superiority and the pressure swung back to Old Herts with a good throw from Want to Mayhew giving Burman the chance to shoot.
Scott Brinkley who after all the changes that had to be made was now playing at the back but he took possession of the ball on 82 minutes, strode into the Turnford half and struck the ball over the Tiger’s goalkeeper’s head to score a spectacular goal from all of 40 yards!
Old Herts Athletic 3 Turnford Tigers 2
This piece of individualism along with Turnford’s tactic of playing into the Old Herts defence hand by hitting inaccurate long balls rather than keep possession effectively settled the game.
So all in all, this leaves Old Herts top of the tree and masters of their own destiny again. However they now have two challenging away games against teams determined to end their own seasons on a high note so there can be no hint of complacency.
