Those Were The Days; 7th January 2003

[Les1949]

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
7th January 2003
Isthmian League (Ryman) Premier Division
Hampton 2 Ford United 3 Att; 144
Hall, Gardner

Andy Iga; David Cross, Ben Proudfoot, Tony Houghton, Alan Inns, Chris Rose, Richard O’Connor (Paul Read), Dave Cory, Wayne Cort, Dudley Gardner, Jesse Hall (Richard Thompson).
Unused subs; Lee Riddell, Sam Okafor, Luke Milner

It was a desperately cold night at Beveree, and this was the only game in the area to beat the weather. Twice Hampton came behind to draw level but the Essex side always seemed to have enough extra in the tank. Ford took the lead in the 17th minute, a free-kick by David Collis struck the nearside upright on the way into the goal. Hampton equalised immediately after half-time when the visitors defence were ball watching as the ball floated over, Hall took control and booted the ball high into the net. Unfortunately, Ford went ahead almost immediately through John Buffong. Once again Hampton came back to level. Hampton’s non-stop midfielder doesn’t score many goals but when he does, they are worth waiting for. In the 73rd minute Gardner struck a superb 25 yarder straight into the top right-hand corner. Three minutes later hopes were dashed as Ford regained the lead for the third and final time through Leli Bejada.


The Old Historian