Hanwell Town’s The Geordies continued their fine run of form at the Powerday Stadium on Saturday (21 September 2024), coming away with a draw against relegated Gloucester City, who came down from the National League North in the summer.
Chris Moore was forced to make changes to the line up that played last Saturday, Will Hall returning to the centre of defence in place of Dwayne Duncan, Leo Donnellan came in for Callum Woodcock in midfield, Rod Orlando-Young took over the attacking left midfield berth from Kameron English and Nathan Boayke slipped into the attacking midfield spot from Jordan Edwards. Duncan, English and Edwards sitting out with suspensions following the last week’s red card tally.
Before the game, Hanwell had only conceded a single goal at home and it took a while for Gloucester to pick their way through the Geordies midfield, with striker King Baidoo looking specially sharp.
The visitors had the best of the opening chances, with defender Jamie Reckord and midfielder Joe Hanks both hitting the target, but Hanwell keeper Sam Beasant was in a ‘they shall not pass’ mood and saved the opportunities easily.
Just after the half hour, the Geordies thought they had a good shout for a penalty, as Alfie Pendlebury appeared to be brought down on the edge of the box, but the referee decided in the opposite direction, showing the striker a yellow card for simulation.
The half time break was very close, just seconds away, as Baidoo broke through the centre of the Hanwell defence on halfway, but full back Joe Wilson showed his pace and made a textbook tackle in the Hanwell penalty area to deny the Gloucester player.
The second half was not that dissimilar from the first, the action never really getting going, but with just about 20 minutes to go, Gloucester’s Ed Williams struck a fine shot that forced Beasant to show his class, blocking the shot by his right hand post.
Although Orlando-Young thought he also had a shout for a penalty just after the Williams chance, the referee didn’t agree, and the game from that point just petered away into a solid point for the Geordies.
“Although we had players unavailable through suspension, injury and holidays, I was really pleased by the shift the lads put in today, and although I’m never happy with just a point, all things considered, it was a good, gritty performance.”, said Chris Moore, post match.
“Its really important that we make this a difficult place for clubs to come this season, and we have so far, we just need the away form to match it, then we could have quite a ride.”
Hanwell will be watching the FA website with interest on Monday, as the draw for the FA trophy will be announced at 1pm, the Geordies joining the competition at this point. Following that, they face Sholing on Tuesday evening, in another fixture at the Powerday.
Team
1 Sam Beasant, 2 Joe Wilson, 3 Dan Carr, 4 Leo Donnellan (Elliott Beynon 76′), 5 Harry Seabrook, 6 Will Hall, 7 Rod Orlando-Young, 8 Mat Mackenzie, 9 Alfie Pendlebury (Ezekiel Coker 86′), 10 Nathan Boayke (Luis Le Paih 61′), 11 Kyron Richards.
Substitutes
12 Rudi Pache, 14 Luis Le Paih, 15 EZekiel Coker, 16 Elliot Beynon, 17 Chris Regis.
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