Hobnob pay the price for poor first half against Prince of Wales
In the six games that Hobnob have played against Prince of Wales (and their previous incarnation as Tilehurst Terriers) they had yet to register a point despite some very close contests. Despite this they should have had reasons to be optimistic going into today’s game after a run of four matches unbeaten. However with several players missing it was an achievement in and of itself for Mike Terry to field 11 players. With regulars Paine, Tiltman, Harris, Ed Bargent and Dan Robertson all missing with injuries, Dan Hare away on holiday and Davies serving the last game of his suspension, Terry was forced to call upon some players who had not around so much. Given the short notice, only Shawn Vickers was able to answer the call and so Hobnob went into the game knowing that they had only the bare eleven. Ironically, despite the sudden shortage of players, the only disruption to the starting XI was Terry returning at centre back and Vickers coming in for up Hare up top.
It became clear during the warm up that this was a game that was going to be heavily influenced by the weather, in particular the blustering wind that was sweeping lengthways across the pitch. Unfortunately for the Nobbers, captain Cheng lost the toss and in the first half they were forced to defend against the wind as well as the opposition. The conditions were clearly a factor in the madness of the first half an hour but it in no way excused it. With PoW able to use the wind to help the ball over the defence, Hobnob spent much of the half on the back foot. Before the inevitable opening goal PoW fired warning shots and should have perhaps scored sooner after firing wide on several occasions from good positions. The expected finally happened after a long ball was missed by Terry and Chapman was given no chance as the ball was despatched past him. This should have been a wakeup call but it wasn’t to be with the second and third goals coming shortly afterwards. A long throw was flicked on and with the striker free in the box he smashed in from close range. The third at least followed a slightly different pattern but the defending was still highly suspect. A free kick was curled towards the far post and with the entire Hobnob defence stood watching their markers run past them, PoW were afforded the luxury of forcing two good saves from Chapman before tapping in unmarked. It was a disastrous period from the visitors and it was beginning to look like the floodgates were opening. It wasn’t until the final ten minutes of the half that they exerted any pressure on goal. Hard work from Pulfer resulted in a corner and the referee awarded a penalty for a push on Bolton as the ball came in. Hobnob had their lifeline and Pulfer was more than happy to grab hold of it as he smashed in his fourth goal for the club.
Going into the second half Hobnob had the wind in their favour and buoyed by the late goal, they finally began to play the ball around. Plant found himself some space in the box and saw an audacious overhead kick go narrowly wide. Shortly afterwards Pulfer forced a great save from the keeper after Gale had put him through, only to see the linesman’s flag up. With PoW barely able to kick the ball out of their half due to the wind Hobnob were beginning to create the kind of chances PoW had in the first half. A Plant corner found Turner unmarked at the far post and he was only denied by a great clearing header off the line. Pulfer’s header from a Bolton long throw was instinctively saved by the keeper and it began to seem like a goal would inevitably come. It finally did and its fair to say that the wind played a major role in it. Turner had been creating more and more space on the right and his crosses were looking increasingly dangerous but perhaps not a goal threat in themselves. That was until a gust caught one in midflight, drifting it straight over the keeper into the top corner. It was no more than Hobnob deserved but still left them trailing. The attacks at goal continued but there was an increasingly sense of frustration creeping into the game; both teams picking up yellow cards for being a little too robust in their tackling. When Plant hit the bar in the final 10 minutes Hobnob began to feel like it wasn’t to be their day, something that was confirmed when Cross (making his 50th appearance) had a long range effort brilliantly tipped over the bar. In the dying moments of the game there was a rare surge forward from PoW and they could have made it 4-2 but for an athletic save from Chapman.
In the end it was truly a tale of two halves with each side able to claim a half each. Hobnob certainly created enough to win an even game but ultimately it was at the back that made the telling difference. Not for the first time this season Hobnob have paid the price for switching off in defence and it was the same story again here. Next week they face arguably the best side in the division in the form of Eldon Celtic and will know that they will have to up their game for it.
