The 2’s made the long journey to Winchmore Hill missing 2 or 3 regulars, and of the ones that did travel more injured players than fit ones. Add the fact that the team had no goalkeeper, and I don’t think there were many players in the 2’s who were overly confident of picking up a result against a normally strong Winchmore Hill side. Things started to look a little brighter when everyone surprisingly made it to Kings Cross for the meet time. This allowed us to arrive at the ground with an hour before kick off, the first time this has been done for an away game all season. Unfortunately not everyone was as punctual and the game was delayed due to the referee not arriving at the ground on time. Despite the missing players and slight knocks being carried by a number of players, the 2’s somehow managed to field quite a familiar side, with the only notable changes being centre half Rhys Turner playing in goal and Tom Lawler comfortably dealing with the step up from the 7’s to slot in at the back

Once the game got underway, it was Carshalton who had the first chance. A Ryan Polley free kick was nodded back across the goal by Frazer Addo, and Dave Booth poked the ball over the bar. Hill were seeing a lot of the ball without really causing much threat to Cars goal, and anything that did get near the goal was dealt with comfortably by stand-in ‘keeper Turner. While Hill were enjoying the Lion’s share of possession, Carshalton were definitely looking the most likely to score, with Addo causing all sorts of trouble in behind. Addo should have really made it 1-0 when he got in behind only to lift the ball high and wide of the goal. Cars eventually took the lead after half an hour when Badgie created himself space in the box with some neat footwork (he tripped over the ball) and he slotted the ball into the corner. The remainder of the half was a rather scrappy affair, and the only moment of note was Cars scoring a second just before half time, with one of the most bizarre goals of the season. The keeper found himself caught under a long throw from Booth and, in his struggle to push the ball over the bar, pushed the ball into the back of the net. Cue Hill’s centre forward Phil Mitchell (I’m sure it was him) completely throwing his toys out of his pram over a “push” on the keeper. The sight of “Phil” bemoaning everything but his own performance would become a regular occurrence in the second half.

The second half saw a familiar pattern to the first, with Hill probably seeing more of the ball but Cars looking like they could almost score at will. It wasn’t long before a third was added with Polley getting in behind the full back, and unselfishly (and surprisingly) squaring the ball to Badgie to score his second of the game. After an hour a fourth was added when Addo instinctively dummied a pass from Polley to allow Booth through on goal. Despite the obvious solution being to just slot the ball home, Booth decided to follow the contemporary method of converting a one-on-one by deliberately hitting the keeper with the ball so Matt Dudley could come in and slot the ball into an open goal. At 4-0 the Hill goalkeeper did everyone at Carshalton a favour by pulling off two really good saves to effectively end Polley’s assault on the Golden Boot for the season. There have been rumours that Chris Wells was seen outside the Hill dressing room after the game with a brown envelope in his hand. The game was wrapped up when a corner fell to the feet of Badgie, who slotted home to complete his hat-trick. Badgie’s previous season best goal tally was 3, so to match that in one game was a big moment for him. He proved this by shouting “A hat trick!” like a big girl as he run back to his own half. A fantastic result for the 2’s, and one that proves the team are really starting to gel. Shame there are only 3 games left this season!!

Team : R Turner, T Lawler, C Tilley, N Denny, M Dudley, B Wood, D Lawler, Badgie, D Booth, R Polley, F Addo, J Breen, C Sinclair

Danny