Hobnob start the new year by ending their run of defeats with a hard fought 1-1 draw with RG Athletic.
With nearly a month since their last outing Hobnob may well feel that they’ve had a winter break and they started the new year with three enforced changes to the side that had lost to Arborfield. Clifford Davies was suspended and took the unusual step of refereeing the match, surely a first for a player on a charge of violent conduct! In his place came Dave Harris for a rare start and with Daniel Cross and Rich Paine missing with man AIDS and an iffy hamstring respectively, there were also starts for Adam Turner and Tom Robertson.
RG Athletic started the brighter of the two sides and it was evident very quickly how they wanted to play with an angled long ball aimed toward their two bulky centre forwards to run at. Given the state of the pitch this was probably a sensible approach as the top began to thaw and it got increasingly sticky. Both Terry and Cheng were proving more than capable of dealing with the long balls forward and the majority of the RG attacks were proving pretty fruitless. The first real chance of the game came from an RG corner that was cleared away but fell to the left winger who had enough time to have a go from range. The ball came cannoning off the bar onto the head of the forward who had the easiest of tasks to nod it in from close range. The celebrations were cut short though by the linesman’s flag as the RG striker had been stood offside when the shot was hit. Hobnob had perhaps got lucky but that luck was to run out shortly after the half hour. The same striker collected the ball from a throw in and was able to ghost past, first Harris and then Tiltman before nutmegging Cheng and squaring for an easy tap in. It was a sloppy goal from Hobnob’s point of view but one that sparked them into life a bit. Turner fired narrowly wide after Dan Robertson’s shot was blocked and some nifty footwork from Harris forced the defence to be on their toes. It meant that they went into the break feeling a lot more optimistic for the second half.
The aerial bombardment on the Hobnob defence continued but the defence were judging the long ball well with it either being headed clear or being allowed to run through to Chapman in goal. Hobnob were finding it hard to retain possession in midfield, with the ball seemingly always falling to an RG player, however when the ball was at their feet they were doing more with it. Pulfer, Plant and Dan Robertson were beginning to look threatening when they were able to run at the defence. It was from one of these runs that Dan Robertson had claims for a penalty turned down after colliding with the goalkeeper but Hobnob didn’t have long to wait for their equalizer. Plant was fouled on the corner of the area and picked himself up to smash the ball straight into the bottom corner. He’s making a habit of catching goalkeepers out with innocuous looking free kicks and is contributing greatly to him leading the club’s goalscoring charts in the league. Despite the goal Hobnob were still struggling to keep the ball, in part due to the decision of RG to move their big centre half into midfield. RG continued with their line of attack but again it was a set piece that created their best chance of the half. With the ball cleared to the edge of the area the RG player flung himself into a scissors kick that went millimetres over the bar. Hobnob responded by bringing on Hare and the change almost produced a goal with his run and cross finding Pulfer who forced a good save from the keeper. It was be backs to the wall for Hobnob in the last few minutes however as the defence dropped deeper and deeper as they desperately tried to avoid the kind of last minute goal that has dogged them the last few months. They defended resolutely and could have grabbed a winner right at the end when, on the break, Pulfer found Dan Robertson who’s shot was well saved. With the rebound falling to him and with the goal seemingly at his mercy he shot at the empty net. From nowhere a defender was able to throw himself at the ball and somehow kept it out.
At the full time whistle neither side could be too upset with a draw. RG may have dominated the game in terms of possession and territory but aside from a few long range efforts they rarely threatened Chapman’s goal. At the other end Hobnob will feel they could have won the game given the chances they created but considering the run they have come off and the pressure they were under at times today, they can’t begrudge a point. There is clearly work to be done but Hobnob have been losing from these positions and should be pleased to hang on.
