Report
‘It’s too hot for football’ was a phrase I heard several terms in relation to our current heat wave, and being an unusual event, it once gained the headline in a tabloid of ‘Phew! what a scorcher.’ But pre-season preparation goes on and today we welcomed Football League club Milton Keynes Dons who have the pleasure of playing in a superb new stadium that has a thirty thousand capacity.
For us at Hitchin we wait patiently for our first preseason goal, and we came so close in the first minute against a youthful Luton side. Today’s captain, at least for the first half, was Stephen Gleeson, who was once a player for the Buckinghamshire side, who brought a large squad to Top Field.
Now for an explanation. As the teams took the field, the visitors had no numbers on their shirts, which made identification for me impossible. Apparently, the squad numbers have yet to be allocated.
There was an early foray for the Dons, which was efficiently blocked. There was a free kick, wide on the right, gloriously over hit, and this was rapidly followed by an offside. But the visitors imposed themselves with the majority of possession and winning more fifty-fifty challenges.
We did not have to wait long for the opening goal, and I am grateful to the announcer who provided the name of the scorer, which was Aaron Collins. There was a cheer from scantily clad away supporters when a penalty was awarded to their team after eleven minutes and it was a second goal for Collins who found the bottom right corner.
Then, a woeful error from Tyrese Kamara allowed Collins to complete a hat-trick within a quarter of an hour. It is not pleasant to be on the wrong end of a rout, even in a friendly. The League Two side, like Barnet, were showing the difference in skill levels. There was a promising attack for Hitchin, their sole effort so far, and it was adjudged offside. Gleeson took a free kick that Kane launched a high cross that was held by keeper MacGillavary.
Kamara gathered a Dons’ corner, but the visitors were soon constructing more elaborate forward moves. With their comfortable lead there was a bit of showboating in evidence and a howl of disapproval at a penalty decision that was dismissed. The water break at twenty-five minutes was entirely understandable given the heat.
A brief Hitchin attack emanated on the left, but McDonald’s cross was too easy for the keeper. A quick tee kick from the Dons won a corner and Kamara gathered well. The wait for the first preseason goal for Hitchin seemed a remote prospect as the Canaries defended against almost unrelenting pressure.
But many forward moves from the Dons were undone quite neatly at times and a poor header followed a corner. Then there was a free kick following a collision challenge and this was sent over the crossbar. Hitchin forward attempts may well have been nullified but so were the Dons, who had plenty of passing but no end result. It was expected that they would change their team significantly for the second half.
But the first was to end with a Dons’ free kick that just cleared the bar. All the goals had come within the first quarter of an hour,
The second half saw an initial Hitchin chance followed by a decent shot from the Dons. A header was well saved by Kamara and deserved the received applause. Nevertheless, this was a dull part of the game with multi passing moves coming to grief and sometimes by a simple error. A corner from the Dons was of negligible worth and I noticed that multi substitutions were imminent. Hitchin defending was solid, and this experience was valuable for them. Then a fourth goal came following a corner and it was scored by Nathan Thompson after sixty-one minutes.
This heralded the onrush of MK substitutes. There was a bit of excitement when Dons’ player saw his shot bounce off the crossbar and Kamara saw to the following move. We still awaited Hitchin substitutes, and they soon appeared, a good half dozen of them. They injected a good dose of enthusiasm, which was welcome.
It did not translate into penetrating forward moves or even a shot on goal. This had been effectively prevented by an uncompromising opposition who began to look good enough for a fifth goal. It was never in when, after a fine move, the last player sent the ball into the trees behind the open terraced end. But there were some really fancy moves where a goal looked at least likely and the fifth did come, right at the end. The scorer was Jonathan Leko and the time was eighty-seven minutes. It is a source of wonder to me how the announcer was able to name the scorers as each white shirt was entirely blank.
A Hitchin goal was now out of the question and indeed a sixth goal for the superior Dons was netted just before the final whistle and the scorer was given as Leko, who thus bagged a second, and the League team ended with a flourish. It was a real work out for the Hitchin defence and a hapless occasion for our front runners who did not get even a sniff at goal.
The attendance was 730, which was excellent for a pre-season game, and we thank those supporters from MK Dons who made the journey.
Hitchin Town
Starting XI:
Kamara
Franklin
Kane
Tearle
Briggs
Syme
McNeill
Gleeson (C)
Rainey
Triallist A
McDonald
Subs Used:
Jones
Brooks
Coldicott- Stevens
Joy
Triallist B
Bomolo
Triallist C
Triallist D
Milton Keynes Dons
Players Used:
MacGillivary
Trueman
Jones
Troso
Tripp
Thompson (1 GOAL – 61 mins)
Sherring
Sanders
Tomlinson
Waller
Offord
Gilbey
Lemonaigh- Evans
Kelly
Collar
Thomson- Sommers
Mendez- Laing
Nemane
Collins (3 GOALS – 8, 11, 14 mins)
Hepburn- Murphy
Leko (2 GOALS – 87, 90 mins)
Hendry
Referee: Mr R Wharton, assisted by Mr T Burns and Mr J Burns. Fourth Official, Mr T Frost
Attendance: 730
Report by Pipeman, Photos from Peter Else