Report
If all games are like this one, we are in for a long, hard season – and if they are as good as this we are in for some real treats. The last time the teams met Hitchin scrambled a draw in stoppage time and today Nuneaton very nearly did the same and their supporters will claim with some justification that they deserved at least a point from this pulsating match.
We went from Premier League elaborate passing play to frantic hell for leather assaults on goal where finesse was dislodged by sheer earnestness and desire. Nuneaton has the distinction of being the birthplace of intellectual heavyweight and renowned novelist George Eliot and also has the dubious distinction of seeing comedian Larry Grayson into the world, the man who always wanted to see the door closed.
Well Hitchin shut the door firmly on the Nuneaton strike force, but were finally breached in the seventy-seventh minute and having secured that equaliser they set up a most frantic finish with accustomed controversy in the dying seconds that saw them denied three times and claim a handball and thus a penalty. Had the Warwickshire outfit not been so profligate in the quieter stages of the game they may well have not needed the concluding acts of desperation.
They began by stroking the ball around with a degree of nonchalance, which is all very well if you ultimately have a crack on goal – and a decent one at that. It also helps if you can exploit errors, forced or unforced. We had seen Callum Stead receive probably the fastest caution of his career after a collision with goalkeeper Tony Breeden, and not long after this a defensive error that saw the ball ricochet off a Hitchin player into the path of Marcus Kelly saw that player bear down on Charlie Horlock. We expected him to slip the ball home but – perhaps with a rush of blood to the head he only managed a comical miss-kick that sent the ball wide. Had that one hit home we would have seen a different type of game, I am sure.
As it was, with Hitchin still sorting themselves out and chasing for possession, Callum Stead found himself both unmarked and in receipt of an astute pass. So, Stead kept a cool head and put Hitchin ahead, and we had played just eleven minutes when it seemed that the Borough were going to grind their opponents down. It was the instinctive strike of a goal poacher – and he was not done yet but had to wait his time to beat the off-side .
Nuneaton responded with admirable patience. They again demonstrated that they can pass the ball and gain territory. Indeed they peppered the Hitchin penalty area with crosses galore but each time Hitchin defended with anticipation, making it look easier than it was. Borough knew how to probe but not as yet to finish the move successfully – but they always looked as if they had a goal or two in them, and that narrow lead was always in jeopardy. Thomas Armitage, as a pesky wing back was doing fine stuff on the left and Kelly was doing the best to atone for his incomprehensible miss, and there was good stuff from Jordan Goddard as well. A Kelly cross brought a corner, then another with Horlock punching clear. Ryan Smith and Daniel Akubuine made timely tackles that sent Row B of the stand into disarray as the ball took out one or two. This was becoming a game where no quarter was asked for or given but it was largely free of recriminations and disputes.
Alex Marsh, always at home in the thick of legitimately aggressive play had a crack but saw his effort defended. Another try saw Breeden punch clear, despite the addition of a good few pounds since he last faced Hitchin as the Leamington custodian. Alex Brown, settling in splendidly as a left wing back relished the prospect of getting forward and a cross from him to Alex Marsh culminated in a shot from Rio Dasilva that rippled the side-netting. Hitchin were beginning to ask more questions up front but they had lost the edge in the combative midfield, whereas Borough’s creativity, admirable though it was had failed to penetrate. But one fine shot from Goddard looked the business, needing Horlock to judge his save well.
With Nuneaton winning a corner from their next assault, we saw a beauty of an in swinger and with Horlock just out of position Dasilva cleared from the line. We are used to seeing Rio putting the ball into the net rather than keeping it out, but for this relief we gave much thanks – but it was not the last clearance from the line by a Hitchin player. Maybe Hitchin thought we deserved a bit of action at the other end as so it turned out that Stead the poacher had two bites at the cherry, (excuse my mixed metaphors), and on both occasions Breeden showed how effective he still is as he thwarted both attempts.
A central free kick at about twenty-five yards saw Horlock punch clear and at the other end Stead was wide again with his shot. Another Nuneaton free-kick saw Josh Coldicott-Stevens clear robustly, without dislodging his hair band. We also saw Alex Brown shape up for a spectacular over head kick but he was still shaping up when the ball was cleared. A Hitchin corner saw Furlong try one but it was over the cross bar. The half soon ended and I thought it had gone quickly and I had been delighted by the good football that had been played and at a fast pace. Hitchin still had the clean sheet but it was just a little fortuitous as Kelly really ought to have converted his gift of a chance earlier in the half.
Nuneaton have played at a higher level in former days and now are enjoying something of a renaissance after troubled times. We did not get to their place last season as the pandemic and the curtailed season put paid to that, and the tightness of this game reminded me of that last meeting, which ended in a scrambled draw for Hitchin.
When we resumed it was clear that the Borough were confident that the Hitchin defence could be breached – and it was, but it took some time and it almost relied on Horlock unwittingly diving away from the ball, being wrong-footed. Hitchin knew they would be facing some pressure and they met with it calmly and effectively. Their own efforts were defended well . Breeden’s lackadaisical clearance saw Dasilva try a lob but it was well wide. Dasilva had another go, following a smart piece of work and he sent it wide again.
There were a number of off-sides against Hitchin as they tried to play it over the top. Armitage and Goddard combined well in a move only bringing a corner. A Hitchin corner saw a splendid chance, set up by Lawrie Marsh who had a go and although Breeden parried this Dasilva followed up unsuccessfully. Horlock raced from his line to be a sweeper keeper and he was cautioned for ‘taking out’ a much aggrieved Messiah McDonald, whose holy forename did not keep him from receiving a yellow card a little later. The well-placed free-kick found no-one in blue and white to claim it. Gift Mussa, roundabout this time, received a card, rather than a present.
Nuneaton substitute Ryan Edmunds had a lively time and Gift Mussa also made his presence felt. I had the awkward feeling that an equaliser was becoming more or less inevitable, given the pressure on the Hitchin defence and it was claimed by McDonald, with, as I said, Horlock wrong-footed. Perseverance and patience had paid off and it signalled a frantic last period. The equaliser was timed at seventy-one minutes and it seemed that the initiative was with the visitors. But a few minutes later a robust header forward from Ryan Smith in midfield saw Callum Stead beat the off-side and head for goal with only Breeden to beat. The shot was neat enough but inches wide, A miss is as good as a mile eh? Amazingly, within a minute we had a replica of that with Stead given another chance and this time he side-stepped Breeden to restore the lead for the delighted Canaries. There were ten minutes of stoppage time to go and these were ten minutes and added time of fierce, uncompromising play in which the visitors will feel aggrieved that their last desperate push went unrewarded and they have not had a win in their three games, having drawn against Royston and losing to Rushall Olympic.
Hitchin substitute Tearle shot wide and a shot from Nuneaton was just over the cross bar. We had so much activity in stoppage time it was hard to keep up with. We even had a linesman pull up lame and then heroically continue with a pronounced limp, but of course, with little sympathy. That will teach him to keep flagging us off-side said one punter. Harsh. The bum-clenching moment came in stoppage time when a Nuneaton corner caused absolute mayhem. The gist of it was no fewer than three, or was it four attempts on the Hitchin goal with two, or was it three cleared from the line. There was a claim of handball, not granted and the last gasp equaliser was denied and Hitchin were glad of the points after the disappointment at Redditch, where, ironically, they had laid siege in stoppage time the way Borough did but also to no avail.
The usual cheer of relief went up and the Canaries had seen it through for their first win and are next in action away at Banbury United next Saturday (28th August). As I said, if all games turn out like this the spectators might end up as exhausted as the players. We can take it.
HITCHIN TOWN
Charlie Horlock, captain, cautioned, Daniel Akubuine, Alex Brown, cautioned, Ryan Smith, Lawrie Marsh, Darion Furlong, Alex Marsh, Josh Coldicott-Stevens, Callum Stead, MAN OF THE MATCH, TWO GOALS, 11 AND 80 MINUTES, cautioned, Luke Brown (Kye Tearle), Rio Dasilva, (Malachi Black).
Unused substitutes: Henry Snee, Samuel Okoye-Ahaneku and Urijah Gordon-Douglas.
NUNEATON BOROUGH
Tony Breeden, Callum Westwood, (Ryan Edmunds), Thomas Armitage, Damien McCrory, Joel Kettle, Scott McManus, Gift Mussa, cautioned, Marcus Kelly, (Ravin Shamsi), Messiah McDonald, GOAL 71 MINUTES, cautioned, Carl Baker, (Alex Tomkinson), Jordan Goddard.
Unused substitutes: Callum Smith GK and Harry Wakefield.
REFEREE: Mr M Fletcher, assisted by Mr A Jackson and Mr S Parberry.
ATTENDANCE: 452
REPORT BY PIPEMAN