There were a few changes for the ‘Nobbers after last week’s 3-1 defeat to AFC Earley. James Tiltman made his return at left-back, while James Phillips restored his place in the centre of midfield. Clifford Davies moved back to the left wing, and Mike Terry was forced to risk himself alongside Phillips, with Warren Cheng returning in defence. Rob Walker was dropped to the bench, with Dave Miles starting upfront. Dan Hare was absent for the first half, as Mike Terry sent him to church for a bit of help from the Big Man.
The Hobnob players made known their disgust at the state of the pitch – patches of long grass and an uneven surface meant the warm-up was riddled with bobbles. This never means good things for Hobnob, and possibly never will.
The game started scrappily. Neither team could get their foot on the ball, although Loxwood looked the strongest, causing problems for Hobnob’s back line, but failing to find a breakthrough. Hobnob looked like getting back into the game with a few long balls over the top, but this plan was scampered around the 10-minute mark, when Luke Walker limped off with a double compound fracture of the vagina. He was replaced by his brother and bestest friend forever, Rob Walker. Dave Miles moved to the wing, with Walker going upfront.
Hobnob’s back five were called into action an unbelievable [Jeff] amount of times, managing to hold off the countless attacks from Loxwood. Hobnob’s creative flair of last year seemed to have vanished, rarely causing the opposition a problem, if at all. Amongst a few tough tackles, square-ups and Pulf threatening to throw his lipstick at a member of Loxwood’s backroom staff, the solid Hobnob defence eventually collapsed, allowing a long pass to drift through from midfield, and the striker being left with an easy finish past Chris Chapman.
Hobnob never looked like getting back into the game and that’s how it ended. The final whistle was met with a mixture of frustration and possibly relief for the ‘Nobbers, as they all looked like they wanted to crawl up into a big sexy ball of despair. It was evident they were missing their shooting boots today, and this was confirmed later on when James Phillips found them in the changing room.
Man of the Match was deservedly awarded to Emmanuel Rimmpong, whose performance helped keep the score to just one goal.
