Division One (East)
Finchampstead 2 Hounslow Borough FC 0
Saturday, 14 December 2002
Match sponsors S G Ray Gas Energy maintained their 100% record of sponsoring Finchampstead victories as the Hellenic Football League champions beat visitors Hounslow Borough 2-0 in the Hellenic Football League Division One (East) at Finchampstead Park on Saturday.
The lively Darren Kettle was unlucky not to put Finch ahead in the opening minute when his powerful low strike from ten yards out rebounded off Hounslow keeper Mark Phillpott for a corner after a glorious goal scoring chance had been created by a pinpoint Danny McCarthy cross from the right. The corner was driven across the face of the Hounslow goal by Danny Russell just begging for somebody to apply a finishing touch but sadly nobody was able to connect and the ball was scrambled to safety. Five minutes later Hounslow also had the chance to edge in front when Yoni Raeburn had a good effort cleared off the goal line by Marcus Pearce, as poor Finch defending from a corner allowed him time and space to fire in from the edge of the eighteen yard box. Finch heeded this warning a turned their attention to the other end of the park, going 1-0 ahead in the eleventh minute. Another good run down the right wing by Danny McCarthy ended with a ball squared in towards Darren Kettle, who shook off the challenge of Ben Payne before teeing up a chance for Grant Lewin that was thumped past Mark Phillpott in a truly quality finish. As Finch continued to pile on the pressure, in the sixteenth minute another well delivered corner from Danny Russell flew across the six yard box, just eluding the outstretched foot of Lee Goddard before being smashed out of play by defender John Sharman. A quickly taken throw saw the ball pumped back into the danger area, with the Hounslow keeper making a brave diving save under pressure from Darren Kettle.
The unrelenting Finch pressure soon paid dividends and they went 2-0 ahead in the twenty-fourth minute. In by far the best move of the game, good defending by Marcus Pearce just inside the Finch penalty area saw the ball played quickly out of defence and forward through midfield in a three man move to Darren Kettle, whose flick into the path of Grant Lewin was collected in his stride by the stand-in Finch striker, before sending a delightful chip over the goalkeeper that dropped into the goal under the crossbar, just ahead of a desperate lunging attempted clearance by Dean Duggan. Grant Lewin was unlucky not to complete a first half hat-trick when his well-struck thirty yard shot flew just wide of the left post with Mark Phillpott well beaten in the twenty-eighth minute, but that was the last worthwhile effort of the half, indeed sadly for the crowd, probably the last worthwhile effort of the game.
Half Time: 2-0
By comparison with the first half, the second forty-five minutes was as dull and gloomy as the weather. Apart from forcing two early corners that were easily dealt with by the Finch defence, Hounslow showed very little inspiration in their approach play towards goal, far too often giving the ball away before reaching the danger area. Their best effort on goal was a long-range attempt from Yoni Raeburn in the sixty-fourth minute that Stuart Harris took no chances with as he tipped it over his crossbar for a corner. That was about it for the second half, with Finch seeming content to hang on to their two-goal margin. To be fair, Hounslow tried hard to get beyond the resolute Finch defence by making some good runs down the flanks, and they enjoyed a fair amount of possession in midfield around the halfway-line, but they never posed any danger in their final approaches to goal, allowing Finch to play the more controlled football in this area of the park and snuff out any half-chances that the West Londoners created, with Stuart Harris mainly an observer as he paced around his eighteen yard box to keep warm.
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