Those Were The Days; 13th February 1988

[Les1949]

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
13th February 1988
Isthmian (Vauxhall-Opel) League Division 1

Hampton 5 (Walkes, Harmsworth, Hollands, Shafique, Nelson) Stevenage Borough 1 Att;142

Hampton;-
Chris Vagg; Gary Cambridge, Gary Gerson, Tim Hollands, Jim Wigmore, Gary Ewing (Horace Nelson), Mark Harmsworth, Sean O’Connell, Ricky Walkes, Sean Rice, Zarak Shafique (Paul Duncalf)

Stevenage Borough;-
Clive Kemplen; Lawrence Honey, Dave Cooper, Denny Tyler, John Templeton, (Graham Cox), Andy Slade, Dave Watkins (Neil Madden), Doug Pirie, Geoff Mills, Paul Cumberbatch, Kenny Dixon.

Hampton hadn’t scored a goal in four matches and as Stevenage took a 15th minute lead when Paul Cumberbatch seized on a poor back pass, no doubt a few Hampton fans thought seriously about taking refuge in the Bar. If they had they would have missed a goal-fest! Three goals in the 30th, 34th and 37th minutes would have dragged even the most pessimistic fan out into the cold. A cross from Rice was met perfectly by Walkes; Harmsworth, 30 yards out, unleashed a bolt from the blue; Hollands met a Harmsworth free-kick with a perfectly placed header. Vagg was then called upon to save a long-range effort from Doug Pirie. Within a minute of the second half getting underway, Shafique headed in the fourth goal, getting on the end of a pin point cross by Rice. It took some excellent goalkeeping by Clive Kemplen to keep Hampton out but even he could do nothing about substitute Nelson side-footing the fifth goal thanks to yet another good run and shot by Rice. He may not have appeared on the scoresheet but it was Rice who was undoubtedly the man of the match.


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