Ewyas Harold 1-2 Hinton Journal Cup Semi Final 22/2/13

Hinton's ressurgence of form continued this weekend after securing their place in a second cup final of the season. Harold went into the game on the end of an 8 match winning run. Hinton, spurred on by their recent Charity Bowl semi final win and resounding 7-0 win over Bartestree Reserves in recent weeks, started the brightest and took the lead after 5 minutes when a Matty Myles corner was flicked on by Mike Marsden at the near post and then tucked away by Pete Myles who scored his 8th goal in 3 matches. Hinton continued to press and were rewarded when Dave McCutcheon crossed the ball from the left hand side of the box into Ryan Newton who bravely stooped his head to beat the keeper and take Hinton to an early 2-0 lead.

Hinton looked the better side throughout the whole pitch until a long ball over the top caught out the Hinton back line. Lack of communication and a bit of indicision saw Cuss and Hopkins collide and gift Harold a way back into the game after Lindsay finished the easy chance. Harold looked to push on for the rest of the half but the Hinton defence saw off the pressure.

Harold kicked off the second half and almost immediately gave the ball away and gifted McCutcheon a good opportunity to score but he was unable to punish them. Both teams looked for another goal but a combination of physicality and a bobbly pitch made this very difficult. Harold were awarded a freekick on the edge of the Hinton box. Lindsay stepped up and looked to have curled the ball into the top left corner only for Hopkins to pull off a miraculous save to fingertip the ball onto the crossbar. The ball bounced on the line and was then cleared away. As the ball was cleared the referee blew his whistle and contraversially sent off Marsden for an altercation with an opponent. The 10 men of Hinton withstood the remaining 10 minutes of the game under heavy pressure and booked their place in the final.

Man of the Match: Jon Hopkins

Bartestree 0-7 Hinton  16/2/13

Hinton secured their biggest win in a generation after a remarkble feat of goalscoring by striker Pete Myles. Hinton looked to be in good spirits after their 3-2 semi final victory over Kington last week and got off to a flyer when the ball was crossed for Jon Davies to finish inside the opening 5 minutes. 2 goals for Myles came very soon after and Hinton found themselves dominating the game. More chances were created throughout the half but none were taken until, towards the end of the half, the ball was crossed in for Ryan Newton to score his second goal of the season. Hinton's defence looked strong and it resulted in Bartestree failing to have an attempt on goal for the whole of the first half.

The start of the second half saw Bartestree create their first chance of the game and should have scored however, Hinton went up the other end and punished Bartestree's failure in front of goal with Myles hat trick goal. Hinton continued to push and created numerous chances including missed sitters from Marsden and Birch. Myles 4th goal of the game and 12th of the season and a brilliant 30 yard lob from Brad Matthews ensured Hinton were in good form going into the Journal Cup semi final against Ewyas Harold next week.

Man of the Match: Pete Myles

Kington 2-3 Hinton Charity Bowl Semi Final  2/2/13

Hinton returned to football after 4 weeks off due to the weather to book their place in the Charity Bowl final to play Westfields. Throughout the game Hinton dominated and created numerous chances but failed to finish the game off until the final minutes of extra time.

Kington started the game as the brighter team and pushed forward but failed to create any chances. Hinton then got on top of the game and created several goal scoring opportunities. One eventually was taken when a cross from the left side of the pitch was headed straight to Pete Myles who buried the chance from 12 yards. Hinton seemed to still be celebrating the goal when Kington immediately hit back. The ball was given away in midfield and Kington broke with a long ball that turned into a running race between striker and defender, which the striker won and finished the opportunity. Hinton continued to push but failed to score again until just before half time when Pete Myles turned pinball wizard after the ball ricochetted off numerous players and the post.

Early in the second half a free kick was awarded to Kington after Myles had held back a defender only for the defender to react by headbutting him in the chest. The linesman appeared to be the only person who saw it and, after consultation with him, the referee showed him the red card. This seemed to spur on Kington who pushed harder but for the majority Hinton defended it well. Then, not long before full time a ball forward was not dealt with by the Hinton defence and a opportunity was gifted to the Kington striker who buried his chance to claim his brace.

This took the game into extra time. Hinton looked the better team throughout but a mistake from Cal Ditchfield gifted the Kington striker with a chance for his hat trick. However, he was thwarted by a brilliant one handed save by Jon Hopkins then a last ditch tackle from Steve Cuss. Chance after chance came and, when a shot from Pete Myles was blocked on the line by his strike partner Rod Haslam, the game looked to be going all the way to penalties. Hinton finally got some luck on the 118th minute when a cross into the box looked to have been comfortably claimed by the Kington keeper only for him to drop it at Myles feet. Myles wasn't going to let this opportunity pass and buried it for his hat trick.

Man of the Match: Steve Cuss