Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Hitchin Town 1 Halesowen Town 1
Saturday, April 23 2005
The Canaries are safe! A tense draw with Halesowen, while Hemel Hempstead were losing to Merthyr, was enough for Hitchin to preserve their Premier Division status.
And didn’t they just deserve it. Hitchin worked their socks off, with Aaron Cavill industrious in midfield and the likes of Glen Lamacraft and Bilal Hassan snapping at the heels of the Halesowen midfield.
In a tense opening, Josh Sozzo tried to force his way past two defenders but the ball refused to run kindly for him. Sozzo went close to opening the scoring when a hooked a blind-side shot wide of the target.
Halesowen had their chances and for a while Hitchin lived dangerously, notably when James Kidd cleared off the line from Simon Forsdick.
It was Forsdick who netted the opener for Halesowen in the 52nd minute, coming after Richard Wilmot had dropped a high ball. But eight minutes later, Bridge headed home from Chris McMenamin’s inswinging free kick.
The goal settled Hitchin and for the rest of the game, they were on top, despite failing to create any chances of note. The best chance fell to Cavill, who spotted Chris Taylor off his line and tried to shoot home from 25 yards. But the Halesowen goalkeeper got back just in the nick of time.
A point was enough, and for Hitchin, their suffering was over. Stamford on the final day promises to be something of a party.
Hitchin: Wilmot, Baldry, Kidd (Lamacraft h/t), Ayres, McCulloch, Cavill, Hassan, McMenamin, Sozzo, Lewis, Bridge
