Sutton 2 Hemel 0

[localboy86]

Come on Bradford PA!

[sdavison]

finished 2-1 to kiddy

[markf2]

Shortwood knocked Aldershot out at Aldershot tonight, 2-1

[Andy K]

As already stated job done. There was a nervy 15min spell in the 2nd half where HH really got at us. But we weathered the storm.

Not much to add except MoM for me tonight by a country mile was Rivs - he was masterful!

Oh and HH are not leading the Calor league tonight...

[Amber Aleman]

Hemel gave it a real go again as we expected, but we were just that bit better than them and finished the job with an early nerves settler from Ali and a late result settler from Dundo. The match may have started late but at least we were spared extra time. We may yet renew acquantances with the Tudors in next season's Conference South.

And so to Aggborough on 9 November. It's curious how the 1st and 2nd rounds of the Cup keep reuniting us with teams we've met before in the competition.

[baboonfish]

Tough game, our ball retention and passing was not great today and 1st half we were lucky to go in 1-0, although second we always looked like getting another as things got stretched. Have to say Hemel's manager made a very poor decision to use his only remaining substitutions with 35 minutes left and possibly half hour of extra time. I notice BOTH subbed players refused their managers' (assume it was, could have been ass man or coach) handshake, not a good sign. I think if any of our boys snubbed Dos or his staff and they would be apologising or be on their way. Came back to bite him when another of their lads limped off midway through the half, and with ten men I think a win was well beyond them. Credit to Hemel though, very decent team and good support (although I heard a lot of whinging about the facilities - not sure whether it was just because they were upset at spending 3.5 hours on the motorway but word of advice for next time, get the train!). Dreadful 1st round draw but judging by Kiddie's struggles with Bradford we are in with a chance, although we will need to get back to our best, starting on Saturday as we will not beat Eastleigh with a performance of tonight's calibre.

[os]

I think over the 2 games we were by far the better team scoring 5 from open play in response to just the 1 from HH. We must have had half a dozen or so goal bound shots cleared by desperate blocking and off the line etc. In truth HH created very little over the 2 matches and rarely troubled a very alert Tom. Having said that you can see why they are top of their league, they are very busy in midfield, have a lot of energy but unlike others I think they would fall short of a serious challenge in the skrill. Defensively they are not the best and our 5 goals really could have been 8 or 9.

Like others I don't think we were at our best for most of the 1st half today but still created and scored, in the second and once Binnsy came on we creating almost at will but either lacking the right final ball or bodies flying in denying us. Dundo to the rescue as so often to deny any chance of a nervy final few minutes. Then maybe we saw some true colours from their players as they went about trying to mame ours, I hope Jamie's soulder is ok.

HH have a lot to learn about the way they conduct themselves from club through to supporters. From drinking on the terraces to arriving late, chanting about the oppos rather than supporting their team etc. Really good to see JS get his MOTM after being wrongly accused on Saturday by a diving Hutton who I enjoyed getting his yellow card.

Next up Kiddy, if Bradfird PA can hold them for 180mins then I don't see why we can't do similar.

Really good to see Matt Gray at the game tonight.

[salmonboy]

Here's my alternative set of pictures from tonight.

U's vs Hemel Hempstead - A Black and White Perspective

[bornatotter]

Motm for me Charlie clough. Solid as a rock and a real handful from our set pieces.

[garethl]

Oct 29, 2013 23:54:05 GMT os said:

I think over the 2 games we were by far the better team scoring 5 from open play in response to just the 1 from HH. We must have had half a dozen or so goal bound shots cleared by desperate blocking and off the line etc. In truth HH created very little over the 2 matches and rarely troubled a very alert Tom. Having said that you can see why they are top of their league, they are very busy in midfield, have a lot of energy but unlike others I think they would fall short of a serious challenge in the skrill. Defensively they are not the best and our 5 goals really could have been 8 or 9.

Like others I don't think we were at our best for most of the 1st half today but still created and scored, in the second and once Binnsy came on we creating almost at will but either lacking the right final ball or bodies flying in denying us. Dundo to the rescue as so often to deny any chance of a nervy final few minutes. Then maybe we saw some true colours from their players as they went about trying to mame ours, I hope Jamie's soulder is ok.

HH have a lot to learn about the way they conduct themselves from club through to supporters. From drinking on the terraces to arriving late, chanting about the oppos rather than supporting their team etc. Really good to see JS get his MOTM after being wrongly accused on Saturday by a diving Hutton who I enjoyed getting his yellow card.

Next up Kiddy, if Bradfird PA can hold them for 180mins then I don't see why we can't do similar.

Really good to see Matt Gray at the game tonight.

Overly harsh to criticise them for being late. I'm sure they left in good time, it's not the first and won't be the last time the M25 leads to a delayed start. We have been there oursleves.

Don't think anyone did suggest they would challenge in our league but they would certainly hold their own.

Finally we were the better side over the 2 games but I don't think the difference was as much as you have indicated. They certainly created enough on Saturday to win most games. Where I agree is that defensively they were not as strong as they'd need to be to be high in the conf south though that may be the way they play throwing numbers forward as they do.

Finally Clough mom for me. Composed performance, dominant in the air, didn't put a foot wrong.

[Stewart]

Oct 30, 2013 8:01:35 GMT garethl said:

Oct 29, 2013 23:54:05 GMT os said:

I think over the 2 games we were by far the better team scoring 5 from open play in response to just the 1 from HH. We must have had half a dozen or so goal bound shots cleared by desperate blocking and off the line etc. In truth HH created very little over the 2 matches and rarely troubled a very alert Tom. Having said that you can see why they are top of their league, they are very busy in midfield, have a lot of energy but unlike others I think they would fall short of a serious challenge in the skrill. Defensively they are not the best and our 5 goals really could have been 8 or 9.

Like others I don't think we were at our best for most of the 1st half today but still created and scored, in the second and once Binnsy came on we creating almost at will but either lacking the right final ball or bodies flying in denying us. Dundo to the rescue as so often to deny any chance of a nervy final few minutes. Then maybe we saw some true colours from their players as they went about trying to mame ours, I hope Jamie's soulder is ok.

HH have a lot to learn about the way they conduct themselves from club through to supporters. From drinking on the terraces to arriving late, chanting about the oppos rather than supporting their team etc. Really good to see JS get his MOTM after being wrongly accused on Saturday by a diving Hutton who I enjoyed getting his yellow card.

Next up Kiddy, if Bradfird PA can hold them for 180mins then I don't see why we can't do similar.

Really good to see Matt Gray at the game tonight.

Overly harsh to criticise them for being late. I'm sure they left in good time, it's not the first and won't be the last time the M25 leads to a delayed start. We have been there oursleves.

Don't think anyone did suggest they would challenge in our league but they would certainly hold their own.

Finally we were the better side over the 2 games but I don't think the difference was as much as you have indicated. They certainly created enough on Saturday to win most games. Where I agree is that defensively they were not as strong as they'd need to be to be high in the conf south though that may be the way they play throwing numbers forward as they do.

Finally Clough mom for me. Composed performance, dominant in the air, didn't put a foot wrong.

That will give PD a tough choice for Saturday.

I assume Eastleigh had us watched. I would love to see his or her report on the game

[hhtfc]

Well done Sutton, deserved winners.

Thanks to all at your club for the hospitality last night. Made to feel welcome at your nice ground. The only 2 issues which put a downer on the night had nothing to do with your club. Firstly the journey, sitting on the M25 isn't a nice way to spend 2 & half hours and then there was the power loving external security firm in the ground. They acted more like nightclub doormen rather than stewards. One of them offering to 'take his badge off and sort it outside' to someone who dared to question (reasonably without swearing) their tactics. After reading quite a bit of criticism as to how Hemel coped with the game Saturday, I think Sutton struggled last night with a crowd less than half the size of Saturday . I queued for 15 mins to get a cup of tea.

I enjoyed the game, if only to get an idea of how we would cope in a higher division. We have been scoring for fun all season, and I think the reason we only scored 1 against you in open play over 180 mins is more a testament to great defending on your part. Our defence definitely needs improving though as we was exposed at the back far too many times.

Congratulations, I wish you a nice profitable cup run and hopefully will see you in the league next season (unless you get promotion too)

[garethl]

Thanks. I agree tea services not to the normal level, don't think thy were the usuals and maybe caught out with timings. We have had far bigger crowds than that and dealt with them fine with no trouble, including providing extra catering. The security we hired seemed a little ott and external hires always cause more issue than club stewards. Unfortunately I think the recent flare issue and pitch invasion meant we took extra precautions that on the night seemed unwarranted. However the club leaves themselves open if they don't bring in that security and something happens. So in summary a difficult one.

[Andy K]

I do think the "arriving late" comment isn't fantastic os. There's been a few times where we've been caught out by traffic and it's something you can legislate for. Even Prem sides like Salisbury had it happen to them last season.

As for the stewarding - first time I've seen an "outside" company for a long time. It's a shame if the heavy handiness was the case, and something the club may need to address in future.

I was a little disappointed with one or two Sutton fans last night - including one who was overly aggressive in a response to Hemel fans leaving the ground. The Hemel support were a little "Kingstonian" with their taunts towards our fans but full credit to them for their enthusiastic support. And credit to their side who gave it a good go. Certainly better than, say, Staines were here earlier in the year.

[oohaah]

Agree with all that Andy, especially the 'outside' security. Hemel were asked not to bring their drum and didn't. Banging on the back of the stand has been going on for years (some of our own supporters do it). If people move to a house next to a football ground and can't live with the noise once or twice a month over a year - then they shoud move somewhere else!
I quote 'marc' from the Tudor's forum:
<<<< Well organised set up, stewards, ball boys, working tannoy, multiple refreshment bars... I said the stewards were well organised, I didn't say they did a good job. poor Longy. sweet innocent Longy, minding his own business, having a sing song, clapping, stamping his feet, banging on the back of the stand. that last one made him public enemy number 1 down there - two stewards approached and I thought they'd ask him to stop banging. instead, they said nothing, grabbed an arm each and proceeded to drag him away. Cue solidarity amongst the travelling Tudor fans; the old boys, the 1D, the recent bandwagon jumpers, all piled in to remove Longy from the grasp of the stewards and form a human chain around our man until they backed off. Popular fellas for the rest of the game, those stewards.
I spoke to one of the stewards at half time, civilly, and was told that banging wasnt allowed due to complaints by the homes that back on to that stand - which is fair enough, if those properties house people that pay a lot of council tax then it only takes a few complaints to get a ridiculous curfew or noise orders put on a club. But, I suggested that their first move should have been to ask Longy to stop banging, if he played up then maybe they'd be justified in first asking him to leave, then doing so forcefully if he refused. I was told that he'd been asked 3 times to stop - nonsense, I'd stood right next to him and the stewards grabbed him withing seconds of him banging on the stand. The steward I spoke to (who was not one of the ones who grabbed him but was present was the fuss escalated) was happy to talk about the circumstances which I appreciated and I hope he passed on the feedback which was not meant as a complaint, but as a suggestion of how to avoid so much confrontation next time. The rest of the stewarding was fine and I had no objections to being searched etc. One thing though - a steward was overheard talking to Sutton fans about Hemel's reputation for pitch invasions and flares. Bit of overreaction to suggest its a "reputation", but a consequence of the actions of a very few Hemel fans mentioned on other threads. We could do without this kind of greeting from stewards everywhere we go. >>>