Wealdstone 0 – 3 Hitchin Town
Wealdstone2R
0 - 3
Hitchin TownHitchin a ride..
A disjointed Stones side, with the missing Tilbury and Holmes in midfield and Reeve and Norman at the back rarely threatened against a stronger and competent Hitchin side in this cup fixture.
Changes forced on the home team were always going to be a problem with such a limited squad and apart from three long shots Stones had little to show for their efforts.
Hitchin scored again through stones defensive errors, Joyce in the first half shielding the ball out of play only to see a lively visiting forward nick it – his cross resulting in the first goal on 38 minutes.
Five minutes into the second half and poor marking again allowed a free cross ably headed home for 2-0. The third came in the last seconds when a break away was foiled by Charlie Leary, 1 on 1 outside his box, only for the ball to squirm away to a Hitchin sub, who slotted home from twenty five yards.
Honest Opinion? The result was only as expected in the circumstances but the positives were good performances from Charlie Leary in goal, making three excellent saves during the match – it cant be long before he is the regular No 1 – and an impressive return from Marvin Morgan off the bench, showing more will and aggression than of late. Billy Amarteifio was cool as usual in defence before a hamstring injury forced him off. Otherwise it was disappointing.
Wealdstone: Leary, Joyce, Tucker, Amarteifio (b35 s65 Walker), Reed, Lamb (s70 Morgan), Carter, Jones, Dicker, Burgess, Butterfield (b54), Sub not used: Leenders,