AFC Hatfield  1-4  Whitwell  (aet - score at 90mins 1-1)

AFC Hatfield entertained Premier Division side Whitwell at Birchwood in the first round of the Aubrey Cup, a competition in which AFC reached the quarter final stage last season. Their opponents were promoted from Division One last season and Hatfield had only ever beaten them once before so it was likely to be a tough encounter against a strong and attacking side. However, in the event AFC gave their best performance of the season so far and were unlucky not to progress to the second round of the competition.

Due to suspensions, injuries and player unavailability, Hatfield made six changes to the team that played Bedmond the previous week with Dan Zienkowicz returning to the side and Steven Kealy, Tom Cowley, Phil Downton and Ricky Wallington all making their full debuts for the club. Former Welwyn Garden City goalkeeper Sunny Pal was also making his debut for AFC. On the bench for Hatfield were Kevin Durack, Lucas Thurgood and Ross Davidson.

Hatfield started the match in a confident frame of mind and eighteen minutes into the game, skipper Marc Arnott found some space for himself on the edge of the Whitwell penalty area and let fly a beautiful drive with his left foot which gave the Whitwell keeper Adam Mardell no chance of stopping it to send Hatfield 1-0 up. The visitors started to apply the pressure but could find no way through the Hatfield defence although half an hour into the match it was almost breached but Lee Brinkley made another of his trademark clearances off the line to keep AFC in the lead. At the other end the hard working Ade Hammill had a couple of opportunities to increase Hatfield's lead but one was saved by Mardell and the other driven just wide of the post. AFC went into the break a goal to the good and were holding their own against a very good Whitwell side.

Hatfield continued to battle hard in the second period and had Sunny Pal to thank for keeping them in the game early in the second half when he made two very good stops to keep the visitors at bay. The AFC defence of Dan Archer, Phil Downton, Tom Cowley and Lee Brinkley were playing well as a unit and resisting everything that was thrown at them by Whitwell. It wasn't all one way traffic in the second half though, as the non-stop running of Lee Brinkley took him into the Whitwell penalty area but his shot was saved by Mardell. Twenty minutes into the second period, AFC replaced Dan Archer with Kevin Durack who was making his debut for the club as a straight swap at centre back and fifteen minutes from time Ross Davidson who was returning from injury replaced Ricky Wallington.

Six minutes from the end of normal time, Sunny Pal pulled off a breathtaking save tipping the ball over the bar and it looked like Hatfield were going to creep over the line with a 1-0 victory. Four minutes later, Marc Arnott beat the offside trap and he raced towards the penalty area as Whitwell pushed men forward. Two Whitwell defenders blocked him off and he was fouled on the edge of the area as he raced between them but the referee did not give the free kick. Amidst a howl of Hatfield protests, Whitwell broke away at the other end and Aaron Harvey tucked away the equalising goal with two minutes to go. At full time it was 1-1 with the match going into extra-time.

The equalising goal had really broken Hatfield's hearts and it was Whitwell who came out for the first period of extra-time the stronger team. Sunny Pal made four great saves in the first ten minutes of extra-time as it was all one-way traffic but he could do nothing to keep out a Gavin Stevens effort on 100 minutes which gave Whitwell the lead. Two minutes later Ryan Foster made it 3-1 to Whitwell as Hatfield's hopes of winning the game faded completely. AFC brought on Lucas Thurgood for the second period of extra-time but two minutes into the second period Ryan Foster scored his second and Whitwell's fourth as AFC pushed forward looking to get something out of the game and were left outnumbered at the back. In the last couple of minutes, Lee Brinkley almost pulled a consolation goal back but put the ball fell just wide and at the other end Ross Davidson made a brilliant headed clearance over the bar following another good save from Sunny Pal but the game ended 4-1 to Whitwell.

Undoubtedly this was Hatfield's best performance of the season in which they had held their own in normal time against a strong and organised team from the division above. The defence was imperious at times and looked like they knew each other's game and had been playing together for years. AFC might easily have won the match but for a decision that went against them so it was disappointing to have exited the competition in these circumstances but every player gave everything they could to the cause and should be proud of their efforts. The Man of the Match award sponsored by The Galleria was Marc Arnott who was a handful for the Whitwell defence all afternoon.

 

Team: Sunil Pal, Lee Brinkley, Tom Cowley, Ricky Wallington, Dan Archer, Phil Downton, Steven Kealy, Russell Pugh, Marc Arnott (Captain), Dan Zienkowicz, Ade Hammill

Subs (Used): Ross Davidson, Kevin Durack, Lucas Thurgood. (Unused): None

 

Source: AFC Hatfield website