Report
Another day, another dolour. Another game where Hitchin had played the better football but went down by the odd goal in three, battling nobly until the end for the equaliser that was deserved but stubbornly refused to come.
We cannot fault the team for effort and indeed the way they began the game seemed to augur well.
The pitch was heavy even though this bit of Suffolk had escaped the rain that persisted throughout the outward journey. Lewis Barker and Malaki Black were presumably unavailable, but the team that started did so with confidence and good intent.
Mention must be made beforehand of the sudden manifestation of the Canary Crowd, a goodly number of supporters who were carrying inflatable birds, and by that I mean canaries. There was a decent showing of yellow and green even if the team was in magenta and black. It is a pity that this large contingent, with their good natured exhortations did not witness a better result today. Among this number were Hazel and Alison, who, this time around encouraged the elbows of greeting, at the risk of spilling their beverages.
The first show of legitimate aggression came from a fine shot from man of the match Jack Green, which was held well by Sam Donkin. A set piece for the hosts, from the left was over hit, and from defending this Hitchin sent it forward with Cawley’s trade mark flick very nearly presenting Jake Hutchinson with a good chance. Leiston had a centre half of regal proportions got himself in the way and not for the last time.
A Hitchin free-kick fell teasingly for Cawley who was dispossessed, but the ideas were there, as well as a posse of seagulls who fluttered over the pitch. It was not a murmuration of course as we once saw here. Horlock held a free-kick. Stan Georgiou’s reliable play was again in evidence and showed a keenness to help forward moves as well as defend. With just a little more control on the ball, these Hitchin moves might well have been more successful, but already they were getting more of the possession, albeit with no further goals attempts as yet.
After a quarter of an hour it seemed that one or more of the probing moves from Hitchin would penetrate, but the hosts defended with precision. A cross from Dunbar won a corner for Leiston which Horlock claimed. Stephen Gleeson was mindful of the fact that referee Paul Quick had dismissed him at Needham Market, but I am happy to report that they worked well together with no robust exchanges.
A Cawley assistance for Hutchinson saw the latter stray off-side and we were hoping for a goal before Leiston were able to play themselves into this game. Bailey-Dennis made frequent appeals to the referee for unspecified and alleged offences, as if aware that his team were under a bit of pressure. One Leiston player has a number 20 shirt and I was at pains to discover that it should have been number two, with the shirt presumably mislaid. I did ask a home fan who number 20 was and was given the answer,‘search me, mate.’
I can reveal that it was a chap who rejoices in a Trollopean name of Baris Altintop.
As we approached the half an hour mark, some suggestive play from Dasilva brought a neat flick on from Coldicott-Stevens, but too close to the keeper. Jack Green’s effort had been the sole shot on target. Bailey-Dennis’s dodgy defensive header conceded a corner for Hitchin and Gleeson aimed for Hutchinson who was prevented from getting in his shot. Adam Mills’ shot was so off target it went for a throw-in, but still we urged Hitchin to make the most of their dominating play and there was indeed a really good shot from JCS that the keeper touched over the bar but was given the goal-kick.
Denied a corner, Hitchin fans congratulated Donkin on his touch, which he smilingly admitted.
Green’s cross aimed at Dasilva was cut out and half-time was just ten minutes away. Then, exactly after thirty-six minutes a cross from Mills was neatly converted by Finlay Barnes. Incomprehensibly, it had been the home side’s solitary shot on goal and they had maximised it. Against the run of play is the usual phrase and it was painfully true. Such. Moments can be so debilitating. Alex Brown was prevented from getting in a shot in the next attack, and Dasilva fired weakly in the next effort.
The search for an equaliser before the interval was in vain, despite the efforts. A later set piece from Gleeson, wide on the right nearly found its way through, with Georgiou having his effort blocked. There was still time but each time the efforts was painfully inconclusive. Hitchin went to the interval empty handed and trailing to a quietly snaffled goal. The irrepressible Canary Crowd had a odd mixture of ‘chants’, sometimes shouting ‘Seagulls’ and one person added at the end ‘we hate Tottenham’, adding further ‘and Ipswich’ to demonstrate his geographical awareness. The inflatable Canaries were drooping a little, a bit like the team. A crisp finish was needed to complement the generals effort, since it was expected that the hosts would play more aggressively in the second period. They did, but Hitchin kept up their pressure but gained nothing from it and indeed conceded a second goal.
This came after fifty-six minutes and marked by effective simplicity. There had been no substitutions as yet. Leiston began to get more of the ball, with Quantrell doing his best to set up a raid or two, but Hitchin thwarted all this only to see their own efforts fizzle out with touches that were too heavy. Mills was able to Ross and there was a flick on goal that did not trouble Horlock.
Georgiou’s sprinted run ended up with his winning a free-kick, defended by Bailey-Dennis. Dunbar was doing well on the left and Fernandes showed some good touches. Frustrating as it was in seeing moves come to nothing, a hope was nursed that the law of averages might permit one to buck this trend. Altintop did well on the right, connecting with Mills whose assistance permitted William Davies to double the score, which somehow seemed impertinent and some the Canary faithful chanted ‘Same old Hitchin’s always losing.’ But within two. Inures they were cheering for their team when Steve Cawley knocked in a rebound at close range, following an effort from Dasilva.
There was a touch of desperation about it all, and there was an ironic cheer when Donkin had to overstretch for a back pass. There was time and again Hitchin sensed a lasting advantage intensity of pressure, forcing the hosts to defend deeply with the goalie and a defender often asking the assistant how long there was to go. Yes, they were rattled but the visitors simply could not produce that extra bit of class for what would have been a deserved equaliser. Jack Green was outstanding, as was Georgiou, particularly along the right flank.
Then, incomprehensibly, Mills with a free shot on goal screwed the ball wide instead of making it an unkind three-one. If Cawley had managed a headed flick in the next attack, Hutchinson would have been in the optimum scoring position, but the ball was inches too high for connection. Ben Stevens came on for Dasilva, and Green was a fouled on a run. Gleeson floated it in and both Steven and JCS went for it but neither connected.
Good moves emanated from defensive play from Hitchin, and the hosts’ nervousness was shown by time-wasting long before it normally does. Hutchinson’s shot brought a corner and Gleeson again obliged and this time it was Georgiou unable to connect. Mills on the left sent in a fair cross to Altintop – a move easily defended and back came Hitchin again. There was still over twenty minutes to play.
Leiston continued to frustrate their opponents with careful defending and notwithstanding the increased pace and challenge there were no cautions in this match that was played in the right spirit. Green sent in another cross that was sent packing by Bailey-Dennis. Jones had a fine run in possession but his pass to Hutchinson was intercepted. Canary chants were optimistic,’plenty of time for a win, Hitchin…..’ no there is not, I muttered, sensing this frustration would last until the final whistle that would put an end to another game that would see a deserved point dropped.
Hitchin free-kicks were generally good; the next one brought a corner and Donkin held it stubbornly. His clearances were sometimes held up by a fair breeze and, we hoped, might induce an error – not that we were desperate, but it would have been nice to have a ‘rub of the green’. Jones’ throw saw Gleeson knock it into the penalty area, only to be cleared again. Green was bundled over for a free-kick, with Mills complaining to the referee, who stopped his watch to administer the usual reprimands. We had a blocked shot from Green and another corner. We were getting closer. The corner was cleared and Green’s backward header went just wide.
Georgiou gave way to Kye Tearle whose recent action has been limited but he was typically involved. There were ten minutes remaining. A rare Leiston attack was ruled off-side. Horlock got the ball forward at every opportunity and we had a stoppage for Fernades who had taken a knock on the head- as did Jones a little later. Both were fine. Webb sent another forward ball aimed for Stevens who conceded the goal kick. Another chance gone, but not the late pressure. A cross to Hutchinson was too close to the keeper who was harangued by the referee for being too leisurely at keeping the game going.
Hutchinson managed a shot on the turn but the accuracy did not match the accuracy. Donkin, before he took a goal kick, espied me standing nearby and asked me how long. Five minutes, I said, but the referee did add a further five for the stoppages, which proved not enough. Hitchin ended the game as they had begun, on the attack, but for all this a effort there was just the one goal- and that from a rebound. We could have done with some fierce free shots, but I will say that the final corners caused some excitement with one or two casualties in the melee.
It was just not our day, but I stress the effort was there and each player gave his all, but the team that Hitchin had seen off 4-1 at Top Field in the corresponding fixture held on to the whistle which drew the loudest cheer from the home faithful. It was a bitter disappointment, and although Lowestoft also lost, they have a game in hand over Hitchin, who stay in the bottom three.
We thank Leiston for their normal cordial welcome and I heard more than one Hitchin supporter comment on the friendliness of their supporters.
Eyes are fixed on next Saturday when there is the tough prospect of defeating Peterborough Sports. But a glance at the fixture list shows that every game will be a tough one and the search for survival points continues apace.
LEISTON
Sam Donkin, Baris Altintop, Sebastian Dunbar, captain, Oliver Saunders, Adam Bailey-Dennis, Jake Hutchings, Finlay Barnes, GOAL, 36 MINUTES, (Oliver Godbold), George Quantrell, William Davies, GOAL, 56 MINUTES, Iuri Fernandes, Adam Mills, (Joseph Marsden). Unused substitutes- Spencer Keller, Olu Odelusi, Harrison Podd.
HITCHIN TOWN
Charlie Horlock, Jack Green, this reporter’s man of the match, Alex Brown, Stephen Gleeson, Dan Webb, captain, Ciaren Jones, Stan Georgiou, (Kye Tearle, Josh Coldicott-Stevens, Jake Hutchinson, Steve Cawley, GOAL, 58 MINUTES, Rio Dasilva, (Ben Stevens). Substitutes not used- Michael Conlon, Malaki Black.
Referee- Mr P Quick, assisted by Mr A Shipp and Mr K Reeves.
Attendance 285
REPORT BY PIPEMAN