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Sat 20th September, 2003 |
Dr Martens Premier League |
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Hinckley United 1 - 4 Newport County |
| Hinckley: |
 |
Whittle
 |
 |
Cartwright |
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Lenton |
 |
Murray
(Lyons 60mins) |
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Penny
(Goodwin 75mins) |
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Stone |
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Storer |
 |
Jackson |
 |
Lewis |
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Smith
(Jenkins
53mins) |
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Dyer
|
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| Newport: |
| 1. |
Roberts |
| 2. |
Evans |
| 3. |
Lloyd |
| 4. |
Stevenson |
| 5. |
Eckhardt
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| 6. |
Mumford |
| 7. |
Rose |
| 8. |
Shephard
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| 9. |
Dickeson
(Phillips 85mins) |
| 10. |
Davis
(Plant 75mins) |
| 11. |
Phillips |
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| Goals: |
| Eckhardt, 3 mins |
0 - 1 |
| Eckhardt, 23 mins |
0 - 2 |
| Shephard, 46 mins |
0 - 3 |
| Dickeson, 68 mins |
0 - 4 |
| Jenkins, 87 mins |
1 - 4 |
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| Half Time: |
0 - 2 |
| Full Time: |
1 - 4 |
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the Hird Dimension: |
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Hello my darlings, well from my stairlift in heaven I've been looking down on
you all, and in particular that lovely football team in red & blue. Me and
Jimi Hendrix love a bit of 'knitting' of an evening and we really can't wait for
Geri Halliwell to join us for a threesome. Knit one, Perl one, deary. So we
thought what better way to pass our time than to follow the Knitter's football
team.
There isn't that lovely, then. |
Are you well my darlings. Saturday came round again and today Newport County
were at Middlefield Lane. Up till this game Newport had played 10 matches and
not won in any of them. Jimi had told me that Newport were Hinckley's voodoo
team, and never seemed to beat them, especially not at Middlefield Lane. Then
realising he'd said the word voodoo he launched into a 15 minute guitar reprise.
So knowing the history between Hinckley and Newport one of those records was
going to be broken. Or it might be a draw...
After 3 minutes of the start I think we all realised which record it was going to
be. Newport got a free kick on the right and the ball came low across the penalty
area. With the Hinckley defence in deck chairs sipping their 'Pims and Tonic' the
worlds oldest man Jeff Eckhardt ghosted in at the far post and tapped the ball
into the net. Jimi, now having finished his guitar solo, turned to me and said:
"Voodoo man, voodoo!" Hinckley continued to put in a lot of good approach play but
couldn't get anything from Newport where it mattered. That lovely young man Neil
Cartwright put in one of his trademark crosses and Leon 'KoJack' Jackson headed
straight at Duncan Roberts in the Newport goal. Then the cynical side of ex-league
footballers shone through. Matt Lewis had the ball on the edge of the area and
completely bamboozled Jeff Eckhardt. Old Father Time's response was to try and
break his legs. Eckhardt rightly received a yellow card, though Jimi did point
out that he was the last defender and it could have been red, but Jamie Lenton
didn't have his 'lights on' and put the free kick over. Neil Davis forced a good
save from Tommy Whittle before the inevitable happened again. A Newport free kick
from the right and the ball came low across the penalty area. With the Hinckley
defence still lounging in deck chairs sipping their 'Pims and Tonic' the worlds
oldest man Jeff Eckhardt ghosted in at the far post and tapped the ball into the
net. Stop me if this sounds familiar. Jimi held his head in his hands, which is
no mean feat considering the size of his 'Afro'. The half time whistle went
looking like Newport would keep hold of their voodoo over Hinckley and break
their without a win sequence.
If Hinckley were to get back in the game they would have to get a goal back early
second half. There was an early goal but it went to the 'Voodoo' team. A cross
from the left was headed by Stuart Storer against his own crossbar. the ball
rebounded and bounced up right into the path of Gary Shephard who calmly headed
over stranded Tommy Whittle. How's that for bad luck? With the game now beyond
Hinckley the only thing left was to start a fight. A Wayne Dyer tackle from behind
won the ball, but put the player into orbit in 3 or 4 pieces. A 22 man melee
ensued with even Tommy Whittle running 40 yards to get in on it. Oh what awful
scenes, Harry Secombe would be aghast. Tommy Whittle, Mark Dickeson and Gary
Lloyd split off from the melee and were having their own personal scrap. However
when the referee calmed it down Wayne Dyer was rightly booked but then he chose to
book Whittle and completely ignore the Newport players involved. It was not his
first poor decision of the day and was not his last. Just to add to the injustice
Mark Dickeson added Newport's fourth goal not long after. With the game now dead
and buried, a bit like me and Jimi, Hinckley got a late consolation. That lovely
Neil Cartwright, who never gives up, was still putting in his right side crosses
and Justin Jenkins got onto the end of one to get a goal on his 50th appearance
for Hinckley. Scant consolation but Jimi informed me at least it didn't make it
the worst ever defeat at home. The game finished with Newport's voodoo over Hinckley
still intact and their own season was off the mark.
Jimi's opinion, Hinckley didn't pick up on the set pieces and didn't take the
chances they did have. With Newport having the tallest man in 10'5" Duncan Roberts
in goal they got sucked in to too many high balls into the box which were easily
collected. |
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