Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Hitchin Town 1 Banbury United 0
Saturday, October 2 2004
Hitchin secured their first win in a month thanks to a well-taken goal by striker Mark Bridge.
The Canaries had the better of the opening stages with new signing Rory Hutton adding some energy to the midfield. Bridge and Josh Sozzo had early chances with the latter shooting into the side-netting after Bridge had headed the ball into his path.
In the 15th minute, however, Bridge opened the scoring (below) when he raced onto a long ball from Mark Smith and calmly slotted his shot past Simon Tricker.
Banbury responded with a blind-side effort by Howard Forinton that was parried for a corner by Richard Wilmot.
But Hitchin could have extended their lead in the 25th minute when Hutton’s cross was knocked back by Aaron Cavill and Sozzo’s header was well saved by Tricker.
Hitchin lost some of their impetus when Hutton (below) went off injured after 30 minutes, but Banbury failed to test the home defence. The visitors’ best chance fell to Forinton who headed wide after a cross to the far post by Andy Turner.
The Canaries had their opportunities to make the scoreline more comfortable, notably when Bridge glanced his header wide from Jim Duffy’s cross. And in the final seconds, substitute Tom Galvin sent a spectacular chip just a fraction too high.
Hitchin: Wilmot, Barr, Kidd, Smith, McCulloch, Cavill, Sozzo, Covington, Bridge, McMenamin (Galvin 82), Hutton
