FRANTIC ANTICS BUT NO GOALS

Hampton & Richmond Borough 0 Bognor Regis Town 0
Att; 430
Blue Square South Tuesday 12th August

Lots of frenetic activity at the MM Cox Beveree Stadium on Tuesday night, but no goals so Hampton and Bognor had to settle for a point each. No doubt the gusting wind made things difficult for both sides but the ball needed to be played on the ground and then maybe the Bognor defence might have been outsmarted.

Hampton sent out the same line up that started the opening game at Basingstoke with the same end result, a draw. The Beavers have opened their 2008/09 season unbeaten in their first two games with two draws that sees them placed exactly halfway in the table.

In the 4th minute Lawrence Yaku got onto the end of a Shaun McAuley through ball but his shot was blocked. Hampton`s Ian Hodges had the ball in the net in the 37th minute after excellent play from McAuley had created the chance for Hodges, but despite the fact that his shot squeezed past a couple of defenders Hodges was given offside by the Assistant Referee and the `goal` was rubbed out. Moments later Hodges got onto the end of a Graham Harper cross but couldn`t direct his header on target.

Bognor had two good opportunities in the second half, Ryan Lake headed one effort off the line and then Bognor had a good shot blocked on the line by a Bognor forward, quality defending!. Earlier John Scarborough had sent a header across the face of the goal and past the far upright and Stuart Lake also went close with a shot that whistled past a post. With five minutes left, Bognor`s keeper Dominic Behcet spilled a shot from Ben Wright but a Bognor defender came to his rescue.

Team Line-up;-
Matt Lovett; Graham Harper, Ryan Lake, Orlando Jeffrey, John Scarborough, Dean Wells, Stuart Lake, Shaun McAuley (Ben Wright, 6, Ian Hodges, Lawrence Yaku (Glenn Harris, 79), Robbie Kember.

Subs not used ; Steve Tyson, Elliott Brathwaite & Marcello Fernandes

Must disagree Les, I was bang in line and Hodges look at least a yard offside. The lino was slightly behind the play so I was hoping he'd missed it, but unfortunately he got it dead right. The comments of some of our fans at the time (who were in no position to see what was right or not), and at the end of the game, all aimed at the lino, left a lot to be desired.

The thing that confused me was that there was a player on the six yard box but hodgey seemed to get the ball way before then and also the freekick was taken about 6 yards away from the six yard box.

That's interesting coz Lee Dev came behind the goal and said he was in line and it wasn't even close to offside. It looked a shocker from behind the goal but as Morleys points out, you are in no real position to judge from there. At the end of the day it was chalked off. End of.

_________________

In Dev We Trust

Fair play.

I was level with the offside and I have to say I thought the linesman got it correct.

Re offside.

I haven`t said anywhere that I disagreed with the offside as I wasn`t in a position to judge. Just commented on the end result and what appeared to be. My only thought at the time was that possibly Hodgey had come back from an offside position to get the ball, but again, I couldn`t tell.

Beg to differ again Les:

"...but despite the fact that his shot squeezed past a couple of defenders Hodges was given offside by the Assistant Referee and the `goal` was rubbed out."

Sorry mate - on hols - bored...suppose I could change the subject and talk about the bar prices...

It was offside...queue Hodges whinging and moaning for the rest of the match and doing very little else.

der zwerg wrote:

It was offside...queue Hodges whinging and moaning for the rest of the match and doing very little else.

Sounds like you're having a pretty good whinge yourself zwerg. Whatever you say about Hodgey, you can't fault his commitment. Bognor had a very organised back four and quite often the ball was been punted up to our front two, one of whom doesn't appear to know how to head a ball. You'd be frustrated too! Hodges is one of the best additions to this club in recent years.

yeah maybe your right and I am having a bit of a whinge. The goals he scored two seasons ago clearly showed what he is capable of and whilst he was solid for most of last seasons I felt he was not at his best in the last 10 games including the final. Also Yaks tends to come in for more criticism but I feel he tends to make more chances for himself with some great touches that IH does.

On thing I did not appreciate was the whinging at Ben Wright in the last 15 mins when he came on. He is young and inexperienced in terms of this team but does not deserved to get whinged at by somebody who had done very little himself in the preceeding 70 mins

That was all... heres to him scoring 3 on saturday

My opinion on Hodgey and Yaku is they are a partnership. Big man/little man the perfect foil for each other.

Comparing them to two professional players I would say,

Hodges - John Carew/Emile Heskey style - battles hard throughout the game, causes no end of trouble to the centre backs who will know they have been given a game. Very strong, hold the ball up well to bring team mates into play, good in the air. Sometimes criticised due to lack of goals, but if you view the workload without them the team would miss alot.

Yaku - Michael Owen/Kevin Phillips - Can go through games seemingly doing next to nothing, maybe chase a couple of balls, may frustrate fans, but can wait 85 minutes give them a mere sniff of a half chance and they are likely to stick it in the bag of the net, albeit sometimes from 2 yards, and secure a couple of extra points.

The best way to look at it is a combination of the two works well and complements what the team needs.