Hallam FC

13/07/2019

Sheffield FC v Hallam FC

Pre-Season Friendly

Hallam’s first pre-season game of the 2019/20 season ended in defeat, as Sheffield FC ran out 4-0 winners in the latest edition of the World’s Oldest Derby at The Coach & Horses Ground. A convincing win for the home side, but a very good run out for The Countrymen nonetheless.

Sheffield FC started the brighter of the two sides, and their early pressure made the difference in the first half. A defensive lapse after five minutes saw a penalty awarded to the home side, which Hallam old boy Mitch Dunne made no mistake with, slotting home down the middle of Sneath’s goal to open the scoring for the afternoon. The home side were well on top during the early exchanges, and on fifteen minutes doubled their lead after a perfectly weighted cross from the right was met by the head of an unmarked Mitch Dunne who headed low into Sneath’s bottom right hand corner.

The Countrymen slowly began to get back on the ball and create chances of their own. On twenty minutes in, Hallam’s first chance fell to Tom Roebuck. After a marauding run and a weight ball over the top, he was able to lift the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, however his shot drifted wide of the post. This was followed up a few minutes later with one of Hallam’s best moves of the game. Kirumbi Mutamba’s good run was matched by his cross to the back post for Sam Smith to head the ball down in the direction of Richard Tootle, who was able to cut inside his man and release a shot. Unfortunately for Hallam, the shot was high and wide of the mark.

On the stroke of half time, Hallam had their third big chance of the half. Another cross, this time from the left and from the boot of James Colliver was put into a dangerous area, where Tom Roebuck was once again in the action. Roebuck was able to beat the keeper to the cross but saw his header loop over the bar, bringing the first half action to an end.

The second half saw Sheffield FC start the brighter once again, with Archie Sneath being called into action almost instantly to pull off a smart one-on-one to keep Hallam in the game. The home side got their third of the afternoon shortly after the hour mark. The Countrymen could not clear their lines following a corner, and the ball fell nicely for Lee Cooksey to hammer home from close range. Minutes later, the home side scored their second of the half and fourth goal of the game. Hallam were caught on the break and after a very impressive run down the right, which lead to a smart save down low from Sneath once again, the rebound fell to Oscar Seth who was able to guide the ball through the backtracking Hallam defenders.

Hallam rallied once again, and pushed hard to get what would now be a conciliation goal, and on another day their hard work would have been rewarded. Firstly Sam Smith had his appeals for a penalty waved away after breaking through the defence before being allegedly pulled back by the Sheffield FC centre half. Minutes later, Hallam appeared to have won a much more blatant penalty after Paddy Carrig got to a loose ball in the box ahead of his counterpart, before taking late and heavy contact, but to the players, fans and managements bemusement, the decision went missing. In the aftermath, Hallam assistant Wes Hill was shown a yellow card for his remonstrations.

There were few chances for either side late on as the game came to a close, with Sheffield FC running out comfortable winners. Good luck to them for the upcoming season, and we’ll have you at our place next year!