Penn draw a blank against fancied Newbury

The players "greet" prior to kick off

Saturday 28^th August 2010
Hellenic League Division One East

Penn & Tylers Green        0

Newbury                          2

Madden 9, Benham 41

Attendence: 45

Confidence was high in the home dressing room after Penn recorded their first win of the season last Saturday. However Newbury were looking to maintain their 100% start to the new campaign. This was going to be a hotly contested battle between two greats of the modern game.

The game started slowly with little chances for either team but in the 9^th minute the deadlock was broken. Newbury’s Kalief Madden broke free of the Penn’s defence and used his strength to lose his marker. He buried the ball past John Harding to make the score 0 – 1 to Newbury. In the 11^th minute Penn’s centre forward Jamie Hunt was booked but this only seemed to spur him on as just 2 minutes later he produced and inspired run through several Newbury defenders and got his shot away. Unfortunately for the home support it was blocked for a corner. From the resulting corner Penn’s captain Wayne Booth got a nasty head injury which forced a stoppage, luckily he was alright to carry on.

A very uneventful 20 minutes was to follow. A hand glider was maybe the most exiting spectacle. Many fans were resorting to cheap apps on their phones, occasionally lifting their heads to see a shot spewed wide. However the game burst into life when a bobbling ball in the Penn box was fired into the roof of the net by Russell Benham. With four minutes remaining of the first half Newbury were 2 up. Right on the stroke of half time Penn’s tireless midfielder Jack Dean was booked for persistent fouling.

Savage collects his booking

The second half started brightly for Penn when Ollie Woodhall’s driving run produced a powerful shot across the face of goal just missing the far post. 4 minutes late Kalief Madden broke down the right wing and cut in on John Harding in the Penn goal. Harding did well to spread himself and smother the ball at the second attempt. On 53 minutes Andy Savage came on for Penn’s James Louison and Mark McCombie replaced Thomas McLean for Newbury while Penn’s George Coyle came on for the already cautioned Jack Dean. Andy Savage was booked in the 58^th minute the referee having clearly counted 4 separate fouls which warranted the yellow, seeing as Savage only came on 5 minutes before that must be some kind of record.

Newbury’s Robert Collard was booked for a foul on Chris Hurst just outside the box however Hurst struck the free kick into the wall. In the 71^st minute Penn’s George Coyle was booked for strong language after a debateable decision from the ref. Andrew Tingle came on for Darren Jones soon after. In the 80^th minute Jamie Hunt was replace by Penn’s Dean Munday. This substitution took immediate effect when Penn were awarded a penalty after a hand ball in the box. Chris Hurst coolly stepped up hoping to score his fourth in three but Richard Stewart guessed correctly, diving to his right and saving the penalty. Mark Green replaced Kalief Madden with 5 minutes to go. This was the final talking point and the referee soon blew for full time. A disappointing result for Penn & Tylers Green but Newbury continue their 100% start and are looking good as early title contenders. Penn now need to pick themselves up from this and try to force a result away to Henley Town on Monday.

Report by Cameron Sturrock