Thame United 2-2 Hertford Town ( att : 112 ) – 2021/22 Southern League Division One Central

February 26, 2022

Today’s visitors to the ASM Stadium were Hertford Town, who had just under a 50 mile journey from Hertfordshire. This is their first ever season in the Southern League, having been level transferred from the Isthmian South Central Division as part of the usual shuffling of sides in the non-league pyramid.

Hertford started the day third from bottom with a 6-5-18 record, having scored a respectable 42 goals, but conceded 67. They had lost 6 out of their previous 7 games, conceding at least 2 goals in all of these matches, and last time out suffered a 1-4 home defeat to struggling Kidlington.

Their six league wins these season were against Barton Rovers ( 1-0 A ), Kidlington ( 5-2 A ), St Neots Town ( 4-1 H ), Aylesbury United ( 2-1 H ), Waltham Abbey ( 2-1 H ), with St Neots being the highest placed side, in 12^th place.

The 5 draws were achieved against St Neots ( 1-1 A ), Colney Heath ( 2-2 A ), AFC Dunstable ( 2-2 A ), Wantage ( 3-3 A ), Thame ( 1-1 H ), Ware ( 1-1 A ), with AFC Dunstable, Ware and Thame all being in the top 7 in the league.

Winger Obinna Ogbonna was their top scorer, with 12 goals, including the goal in the 1-1 draw with Thame in November, and player/manager Ben Herd made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League with Shrewsbury and Aldershot.

Since these diaries covered Thame’s win over Kidlington, they had lost 1-2 at second placed Berkhamsted but then won 2-0 at Didcot to remain in 7^th place, 4 points off a play-off place. A high scoring game looked in prospect.

It was a bright sunny day at kick-off, with a temperature of 10 degrees, but with a mild, but chilly breeze. Kit Brown was on the bench for Hertford, but unfortunately his side were playing in Yellow !

Hertford started brightly, and had a big appeal for a penalty in the 4^th minute when centre-forward Viadut Sighiartau went down after a challenge, and from 80 yards away, it wouldn’t have been a surprise had the spot-kick been awarded.

Thame stirred briefly, with a Pearce corner being met at the near post by George Gilmore, but his headed flick flew across the face of the goal and wide of the far post, and then Lynton Goss dispossessed one of the visitors’ centre-backs, played in Pearce who teed up West, but the shot from 12 yards was blocked. However, this was only a short break to the overall pattern of play as Hertford dominated possession with Thame looking disjointed and off the pace, with passes frequently going astray.

In the 14^th minute the impressive Ogbonna stepped inside full-back Thorne but sent a 20 yard effort a few feet wide, and a minute later Sighiartau robbed Lynn of possession, fed Ogbonna who headed for goal but then opted to make a return pass to Sighiartau, but the ex-FC Romania striker saw his shot blocked by Gilmore for a corner. Hertford appealed for another penalty when Herd went to the floor as the ball was played into the 6 yard box, but again the referee allowed play to continue.

A minute later Ogbonna went on another strong run, but his shot was weak and straight at Thame keeper Hill. Ogbonna was again in the thick of the action in the 24^th minute, when a Thame pass went straight to him and allowed him to run towards goal, but again Gilmore made an important block.

Hertford looked anything but a side third from bottom, but the visitors continued to be unhappy with the referee as a number of tackles were not punished, but the appeals were becoming increasingly comical.

The opening goal finally arrived in the 33^rd minute. After being awarded a free-kick close to the Thame area, as Thame prepared their wall, Hewitt took a quick free-kick to put left-back Max Hudson clear inside the area, and his cross found Ben Wayman to shot into the corner to give Hertford a well deserved lead.

Thame responded immediately, and with their best move of the match so far, moved the ball to Greg Hackett on the right just inside the Hertford area. However, with three team-mates waiting near the far post for a cross, Hackett’s chip went over the bar, and it was hard to tell whether it was a shot or just a poor cross.

Hertford comfortably saw out the rest of the half to take a 1-0 lead into the dressing room, but their lead lasted barely 20 seconds into the second half. Hertford had the kick-off but made a complete mess of it. Hewitt seemed to not be expecting Sighiartau to play the ball to him, and Blake nipped in to take possession. The ball was played to Goss on the right, and his cross found Blake in the clear 8 yards out for an easy headed finish. Player/manager Herd could be loudly heard accused his right-back Lichtenfield of playing Goss on side, and as Thame started to get on top a few minutes later the Hertford keeper was on the receiving end of more “advice” from his player/manager.

Thame had their own loud appeal for a penalty when Hackett went to ground after a challenge, but again the referee waved play-on.

As the breeze started to get stronger, Thame were getting on top, and Goss was able to turn his marker but shot well over. Hertford’s response was to move Ogbonna to the right wing, and he played in midfielder Charlie Payne, but again the shot was blocked by centre-back Gilmore at the expense of a corner.

Thame should have taken the lead in the 61^st minute when a fine low cross by Pearce was met first time by the on-rushing West, but the shot hit the legs of keeper Mewitt when it would have been a certain goal had it been a couple feet either side of him. A minute later Goss again turned and shot over, this time after Blake had won a header on the edge of the area.

A moment of bad sportsmanship occurred in the 70^th minute. With midfielder Gyamfi lying on the ground injured Hertford kicked the ball out of play. However, at the restart Thame did not return the ball to the visitors and started an attack, which was pretty poor.

The game became fairly even in the last 20 minutes. Hertford wasted a free-kick in a promising position by blasting it in the defensive wall, but Thame took the lead with 8 minutes left on the clock. One of the Hertford centre-backs dwelt on the ball and was robbed by West, who immediately put Goss clear, who drew the keeper and easily finished to make it 2-1.

Thame looked like they would the team most likely to score again, and Tompkins had a shot deflected just wide for a corner.  With 90 minutes gone, Hertford were awarded a fairly soft free-kick 25 yards out. This time it was crossed to the far post by Herd, but West won the header to partially clear. Hertford were able to work the ball to Ogbonna, now back on the left, and he jinked to make space for a shot, and his fierce effort from 8 yards was too strong for keeper Hill to keep out, and much to the delight of the 10 Hertford supporters behind the goal it was 2-2.

Thame had one last chance to win the game. A long throw was launched into the Hertford area, Goss headed on, and the ball fell to Tutton, but his shot was screwed a few feet wide from the edge of the area.

Overall, a draw was probably a fair result as Hertford were much the better side in the first half, but Thame had most of the second half. Thame remained in 7^th place, but now 5 points off the play-offs, Hertford stayed third bottom, but now 8 points clear of relegation.

Thame United : King – Thorne, Lynn, Gilmore, Mepham – Hackett ( Tompkins ), Tutton, West, Pearce – Goss, Blake ( Jones )

Hertford Town : Mewitt – Lichtenfield ( Ogundega), Herd, Gosling, Hudson – Weyman, Hewitt, Payne, Gyamfi ( Bunyan ), Ogbonna – Sighiartau ( Brown ) 

On-line programme : https://www.thamefootball.co.uk/news/thame-united--matchday-programme-2685418.html

Vejle BK 3-2 AGF Aarhus ( att : 7,121 ) – Denmark 2021/22 Superliga

February 25, 2022

With the resumption of the second week of the Danish Superliga after its winter break, much of the interest was the signing of ex-Arsenal and West Ham England international Jack Wilshere, who had signed for AGF and was expected to make a brief debut from the bench to-night. Wilshere was presumed to be the first English international to play in the Danish league after being capped by England.

Tonight’s match was streamed live on Onefootball and Bet365.com, with Vejle 3-1 outsiders, AGF 17/20 favourites, with the draw 11/4. It was a match-up between the bottom placed side in the Superliga versus the side in 7^th place, with AGF pushing for a place in the top 6 play-offs.

Given the cosmopolitan nature of the Superliga, Velje only had one Danish player in their starting line-up, whereas AGF had 4 Danish qualified players in their XI. From the players who represented their sides in the last round of fixtures before Christmas, Velje had lost midfielder Hallur Hansson who had returned to Iceland to join KR Reykjavik, as well as keeper Grytebust, who had signed for FC Kopenhagen, but ex Derby County and Dinamo Bucharest centre-back Raul Albentosa and AIK Stockholm midfielder Ebenzeer Ofori had signed to strengthen their squad in their bid to avoid relegation.

A large number of AGF fans had made the short 70km journey to Vejle, and soon had plenty to cheer about when a swift counter attack saw them take the lead in the 3^rd minute, with Icelander’s Thortstenisson’s ( 17 caps) cross being met Sierra Leone international Bundu for a close range header to give AGF the lead. Sierra Leone international Bundu is on loan from Ajax and initially made his name at Hereford and the Craig Bellamy Institute.

Vejle were quickly back on level terms though, with Spanish centre-back Albentosa powering home a header from Babayan’s corner in the 9^th minute. However, in a pulsating opening period, AGF quickly re-established their lead, when a free-kick from the left-hand side was flicked on by a defender for Poulsen to bury at the back-post to make it 1-2 after 16 minutes.

Vejle fought back but Ponce’s header went wide from a good position and the intensity of the match was indicated by a number of strong tackles from both sides, and a Vejle free-kick sailed narrowly over the bar. However, the home side were back on level terms 4 minutes before the break, when after a scramble in the AGF 6 yard box, Mucolloi poked the ball over the line for the equaliser.

AGF thought they had regained the lead on the stroke of half-time, but Mortenson’s effort was chalked off as Bundu, who had been the most influential player in the first half, had been off-side earlier in the move.

After just over a minute of play, the second half was delayed due to a floodlight failure, but fortunately, play was able to resume after a stoppage of 12 minutes.

AGF’s Thortstenisson then delivered a corner than sailed across the 6 yard box with no contact, and Bundu regularly had the beating of his marker but without any end product. The packed crowd continued to generate a great atmosphere and in a pulsating game played in a good spirit, AGF looked the most likely side to grab a winner but the referee ignored a penalty appeal from Bundu after falling to the ground.

Wilshere was eventually introduced by AGF in the 89^th minute but despite a couple of nice touches, it was Vejle who pressed for the winning goal, which arrived in the 91^st minute when Drammeh was on hand to finish an assist from Albentosa’s header to give Velje the three points.

Vejle BK : Brunst – Da Silva, Albentosa, Kolinger, Grundelund ( Hollsberg ) – Babyayon ( Opoku ), Oferi, ( Hetemi ) Drammeh – Mucolli ( Emmanouildilis ), Ponce ( Djordjevic ), Sousa.

AGF Aarhuis : Hansen, Kahl ( Munskgaard ), Hausner, Bisseck, D’Alberto – Anderson ( Wilshere ), Poulson, Grondaek ( Brandhof ) – Thortstenisson  ( Links ), Mortenson, Bundu ( Kurminowski )

Highlights : https://superliga.dk/kampe/2021-2022/vejle-boldklub-agf-25-02-2022

Review : Croatia 1.HNL 2021/22 – Week 24

February 18, 19 & 20, 2022

Friday February 18, 2022

HNK Gorica 0-3 NK Slaven Belupo ( att : 285 )

Caimacov ( 2 ), Zvonarek ( 10 ), Marina ( 56 pen )

Saturday February 19, 2022

NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac 0-3 HNK Hajduk Split ( att : 1,650 )

Livaja ( 32 pen, 74 pen & 79 )

NK Istra 1961 2-3 NK Osijek ( att : 762 )

Beljo ( 57 ), Galilea ( 84 ); Caktas ( 27 ), Zaper ( 40 ), Mance ( 96 )

Sunday February 20, 2022

HNK Rijeka  4-2 HNK Sibenik ( att : 3,084 )

Selahi ( 16 ), Vuckic ( 34 & 66 ), Muric ( 62 ); Curic ( 70 ), Attys ( 84 )

GNK Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 NK Lokomotiva Zagreb ( att : 1,886 )

 

Hadjuk overcame a potential banana skin with a comfortable victory at resurgent Dragovoljac, thanks to a hat-trick from Marko Livaja, who moved to 18 goals for the season, and maintained a 100% record from the penalty spot, being now 9 from 9.

The first penalty was awarded for handball when the defender didn’t need to extend his arms to block a cross, and the second for a naïve challenge. With his Jorginho style, Livaja never looked like missing. Hajduk’s third goal came when Biuk’s first time flick put Livaja clear and a cool finish gave him his hat-trick. One consolation for Dragovoljac though was the massed traveling support from Split providing their highest home attendance by some distance, and increasing their average attendance from the previous 238.

It looked as if Osijek were on course for a routine victory when they took a 2 goal lead into the interval at Istra, thanks to a lovely square pass from Mierez that left Catkas with a straight forward finish, and Zaper’s back post header from a corner. However, they were rocked by Istra’s second half come-back, where ironically on loan forward Beljo, who wouldn’t have been allowed to play against his parent club in England, knocked home a rebound in the 57^th minute, and Galilea’s bullet header from a corner brought the scores level with 6 minutes to play.

With the clock ticking into the red zone, Osijek laid siege to the Istra goal, and after several chances were blocked, the ball was worked so that Mance, who had only been on the pitch a couple of minutes, could flick into the roof of the net.

Rijeka stayed in the title picture with a home win over Sibenik, at one point holding a 4 goal lead before two late goals gave the score a bit of respectability for Sibenik.

Rijeka took the lead in the 15^th minute when Selahi’s 25 yard piledriver into the top corner left Sibenik keeper Rogic rooted to the spot. Sibenik thought they had equalised soon after, but after a VAR review Bacelic-Grgic’s shot was ruled out for offside. Vuckic’s guided header from 15 yards doubled Rijeka’s lead in the 34^th minute, and the home side went into the break two goals to the good.

Muric further increased Rijeka’s lead after a surging run from half-way from Ampem, and it was game over in the 66^th minute when Vuckic’s 20 yards shot was deflected into the top corner of the net. However, rather than being the start of an avalanche, sloppy play gave Sibenik a 5 on 2 break and Curic swept home a consolation goal, and substitute Attys thumped a swerving, 20 yard effort past the Rijeka keeper to give the small band of travelling supporters something to cheer about.

Lokomotiva again significantly raised their game against Dinamo, and brought to an end the champions’ run of 6 consecutive wins with a fully merited draw. Lokomotiva were the better side in the first half, and it took a fine save from Dinamo keeper Livakovic to thwart Pivaric after a strong run through the heart of the Dinamo defence to keep the scores level at the interval. Livakovic was again called upon midway through the second half to make another important stop to deny Cipetic.

Despite one eye on their Europa League second leg against Sevilla, Dinamo brought on captain Ademi at half-time in attempt to turn the tide, but unfortunately for them, a serious looking leg injury forced the North Macedonian to be substituted after just 13 minutes on the pitch and meant he would miss the match against Sevilla.

After having created very little of substance, Dinamo nearly snatched an undeserved three points with two minutes remaining, but Lokomotiva keeper Nevistic’s diving save pushed away Sutalo’s header. Dinamo remained top of the table, but the two dropped points meant the gap to 4^th place reduced to just 4 points.

Having last week sold mercurial winger Kristijan Lovric, arguably the best player in the 1.HNL, to Osijek for 2m Euros, Gorica discovered that life without him could be much harder, slipping to a 0-3 home loss to struggling Slaven. Their cause wasn’t helped by shipping two goals in the first 10 minutes, Moldovan international Mihail Caimacov’s long range short seemed to catch Gorica keeper Kotarski unsighted as it sailed into the corner of the net, and 18 year old Bayern Munich loanee Zvonarek was left unmarked to sweep home a second from 10 yards. The third goal came from a harsh penalty decision which saw a red card show to Jovicic for a 50/50 challenge where the attacker tumbled to the floor. In the closing stage Slaven missed a couple of chances that could have extended the margin of victory.

Dinamo Zagreb faced an unenviable tie in the Europa League, facing a Sevilla side who possess a phenomenal record in the competition, winning it and the UEFA Cup 6 times. Dinamo faced an uphill hurdle in the second leg after losing 1-3 in Spain, where veteran Croatian international Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Gomez’s theatrical fall over the goalkeeper. Orsic equalised for Dinamo 5 minutes from half-time with a chest-control and finish from 8 yards but two goals inside a minute, the second from Manchester United loanee Anthony Martial, gave Sevilla a 3-1 lead at the interval. Dinamo created several good chances in the second half but were unable to reduce the deficit.

Dinamo put up a brave effort in the second leg, but ultimately their 1-0 win was not enough to progress to the next round. A 66^th minute penalty awarded by VAR for handball was rifled into the top corner by Orsic to give Dinamo hope, and despite Sevilla being reduced to 10 men after a red card to Dane Thomas Delaney in added on time, the Spanish side held on to go through 3-2 on aggregate.

Review of Azerbaijan Premier League 2021/22 Season – Round 16

February 19 & 20, 2022

Round 16

Saturday February 19, 2022

Gabala 2-0 Sabail ( att : 800 )

Isgandarov ( 79 ), Alimi ( 97 )

Neftchi Baku 3-1 Kesla ( att : 500 )

Meza Colli ( 21 ), Stankovic ( 26 ), Nasirli ( 44 ); Silva ( 93 )

Sunday February 20, 2022

Zira 2-0 Sabah ( att : 600 )

Keyta ( 63 & 93 )

Rescheduled to May 12, 2022

Qarabag vs Sumgayit

With Qarabag’s match against Sumgayit being postponed until May, the three sides immediately below them took the advantage to close the gap at the top, as all three of them won their fixtures.

Gabala bounced back from their 0-3 loss at Sabah the previous week to dominate their fixture against Sabail, but were unable to create too many clear-cut chances in the first half, the best of which fell to on-loan from Admira Wacker Brazilian, Patrick, whose effort slammed back of the crossbar.

Muradov and Utziq then missed good chances for Gabala but they eventually took the lead when Mammadov’s precise pass 12 minutes from time released Isgandarov to fire into the roof of the net for his 6^th goal of the season. Gabala had several chances to secure the points, but the second goal only arrived in added on time when Alimi’s finish from the edge of the area wrong footed the Sabail keeper.

Kesla could have taken an early lead in their match at Neftchi, but Mbodj’s tremendous sliding tackle prevented Santos from having a tap-in and then Aliyev’s strike rebounded off the post with the keeper beaten. However, Neftchi soon took control of the match and Laval’s incisive pass was finished at the second attempt by Paraguayan midfielder Meza Colli in the 21^st minute, and the lead was doubled 4 minutes later when Stankovic finished at the back post after a free-kick was parried out in his direction.

Despite being two goals behind, Kesla responded strongly and ex-Tottenham, Colchester, Peterborough and Dundalk striker Kelede Oduva missed two good chances. However, Netfchi soon re-asserted their dominance when Nasirli bundled Macedo’s cross over the line to extend their lead a minute before half-time.

In the second-half Mahmudov clipped the bar with a free-kick for Neftchi, but after that Neftchi took their foot off the gas,  Oduva and Maharramli missed good chances for the visitors. However, after pressure from Neftchi in added on time, a quick counter-attack freed Silva for a consolation goal for Kesla.

The first half between Zira and Sabah was a cagey affair, but Zira come out fired up for the second half, and nearly took an immediate lead after a lovely move put Volkov free down the left and his pull-back found Hamidou Keyta, but his first time effort rebound back from the far post. However, the ex-Botosani, French marksman, who has previously featured in these diaries in its coverage of football in Romania, made amends in the 62^nd minute with a fine finish across the face of the goal into the far corner.

Sabah had a decent appeal for a handball penalty 10 minutes from time, but the referee waved play on, and with a minute left to play a Sabah corner sailed over the Zira area and hit the post to rebound to safety. Pressing for an equalizer, Sabah were caught on the break and in the second minute of added on time, Volkov broke and crossed for Keyta to head home an easy second to secure the three points and Zira’s second consecutive win since the winter break.