Hoddesdon 0 v 2 Wodson Park

From the opening whistle Wodson Park dominated this local derby with Anthony Anstead frequently hustling Hoddesdon defenders on the ball ensuring a shaky start for the home side. For all their possession Wodson only created 3 half chances which you thought they might rue as for the opening twenty minutes Hoddesdon were poor, failing to create any notable attack or gain a fair share of possession. With seventeen minutes gone, Wodson Park came close to opening the scoring when a free kick hit towards the far post was headed just wide. The first attempt on goal from the home side came with twenty-one minutes gone when Luke Smith’s through pass opened up the Wodson Park defence and Tony Neilson latched onto the ball wide on the left. Neilson then managed to get deep into the penalty area but left himself too much of a tight angle, and off balance he drove the ball well wide of the near post. Even so, it was an encouraging sign for the home side, and they appeared to be getting over what was for them a torrid opening to the game. However a minute later, a lazy piece of defending allowed Ally Waldren to race into the home penalty area where Tom Bullock brought him down. The referee awarded the visitors a penalty and had no option but to send the Hoddesdon keeper off. Hoddesdon’s problems were further compounded as they had no regular ‘keeper on the bench. Tom Cowell volunteered to take over the gloves. Ashley Wacker dispatched the penalty that put the visitors into a deserved lead.22 minutes, 0-1. Hoddesdon were now really up against it, but they should have been level with twenty-seven minutes gone. Tony Neilson smartly nipped in to pick up the ball from a poor back-pass and with only the advancing ‘keeper to beat put the ball inches wide of the upright. A minute later, Craig Hinton made a superb run deep into the Wodson Park penalty area, ghosting past a couple of defenders before a timely tackle from Kieron King dispossessed him. 
The ten men of Hoddesdon raised their game as the half time break approached, and it was credit to them that they had kept their heads high through what was an extremely difficult period for them. A couple of minutes before half time, Craig Hinton once again showed some great skill wide on the right and beat his marker with ease before cutting into the penalty area and driving in a shot on target. Although the Craig Walker could only  parry the ball, their one man deficit meant there was no Hoddesdon player on hand to convert the chance, and the ball was eventually cleared. The second half was only a minute old when Wodson Park doubled their lead, again from the penalty mark as Tom Cowell brought down Ali Waldren with a trailing leg as he attempted to get the ball off him. It brought him a caution and Ashley Wacker converted his second penalty of the game. 46 minutes, 0-2. With such a disjointed look to their side, and down to ten men, Hoddesdon could not take control of the game and stage any kind of fight back. Neither side showed any real cutting edge up front in the second half and chances were at a premium. Tony Neilson took responsibility for a twenty-yard free kick in the fifty-sixth minute and saw a great effort palmed away for a corner by Craig Walker, and four minutes later Tom Cowell made a great save diving low to his right when a speculative long range effort from Louis Rose took a deflection and changed direction. The game drew to it’s rightful conclusion as Wodson kept the ball against the 10 men of Hoddesdon with ease and with no need to chase the game limited the home side to chasing shadows to earn a well deserved 3 points.