Those Were The Days; 31st December 1988

[Les1949]

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
31st December 1988

Isthmian (Vauxhall-Opel) League; Division 1

Wembley 0 Hampton 0

Wembley;-
Jeff Fanner; Bryan Kearns, Glen Charles, Steve McGrath, Paul Janaway, John Walsh, Steve Smith, Derek Brown, Gary Dolling, Bobby Hutchinson, Stuart Palfrey.
Subs; Greg Phillips, Clive McLeod.

Hampton;-
Chris Vagg; Carlos Gibbs, Malcolm Dickenson, Gary Gerson, Gary Cambridge, Sean O’Connell (Clive Marich, 79’), Paul Lucas, Nigel Hatcher, Gary Jenkins, Mark Gill, Sean Rice.
Unused Sub; Razzo Beach

New Year’s Eve 1988. Away to Wembley. Bottom of Division 1. Outlook..…bleak. O’Connell was prominent as Hampton got off to a bright start, taking the game to Wembley. The match was developing into an entertaining contest. Rice went close with a header from a Gibbs corner. Vagg, playing in his first game since September, inadvertently won a corner for Hampton with his long goal kick in the 32nd minute, but nothing came of it. Rice almost converted Gill’s corner in the 38th minute. The second half began with Gerson releasing Rice but there was no one able to get on the end of his cross. The game then turned in Wembley’s favour as Hampton were forced to defend for long periods. Vagg was brought into action on several occasions. With almost fifteen minutes to go, Hampton almost snatched a win. Jenkins released Gill down the left, the resulting low cross was flicked on by Rice but the ball flashed inches wide of the far post. The point gained took Hampton off the bottom rung of the table, no mean feat as they were five points adrift at the start of December. The Beavers managed to keep the wolf from the door and finished 17th at the end of the season.
The Old Historian