Hitchin Town Football Club

Hitchin Town 2 Needham Market 1

Sunday, July 31 2011

If this has been a competitive fixture, the Canaries would have claimed they had avenged their crushing defeat at the hands of Needham Market last season.

As it turned out, Hitchin turned in a good performance against strong opponents who will be among the front-runners in the Ryman One North.

It was a good start by Hitchin, Louis Lee shooting home after seven minutes. John Frendo (twice) and Luke Gregson both went close to adding to that lead before Jamie Arlick netted in the 18th minute.

A Tom Pepper free kick was headed against the bar by Luke Gregson and Arlick applied the finishing touch, heading into the net from close range.

Needham Market pulled a goal back in the 47th minute, Bradley Sloots scoring from the penalty spot after Pepper had fouled Scott Chaplin in the area.

The visitors almost levelled in the 55th minute when Chaplin shot against the woodwork and Martin Bennett almost miskicked a back pass into his own net as the Suffolk side applied some pressure.

The Canaries held on to earn their second pre-season win – against a team that will be comparable to some of their opponents in the coming months.

Hitchin: Bennett, Pepper, Bickerstaff, Stewart, Gilbert, Lee (Diedhiou 72), Donnelly, Gregson (Fehmi 65), Arlick, Frendo (Holland 77) Lewis
Needham: Plummer, Pemberton (Dugdale 68), A.Sloots (McFarlane 77), B.Sloots, De’Ath, Boyland, Napier, Foster, Wade, Chaplin, Evans, Fenn

Attendance: 126

Referee: S.Parkin

Assistants: G.Lewis and D.Ramsey

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