Reading Chronicle | Sport | Hungerford finish on a high

Saturday, 17th May, 2008

Published: Saturday, 3rd May, 2008 12:00

Hungerford finish on a high

In a fiery encounter which saw Almondsbury reduced to nine men following a mass second half brawl, Hungerford snatched a 90th minute winner through Mark McMeeking to finish end their season on a high.

Hungerford had to come from a goal down as they fell behind on the stroke of half-time as Paul Metheringham hooked the ball home after they failed to deal with a corner.

Town were unfortunate to be trailing at the break but they tied things up on 70 minutes when Ben Fitch volleyed home at the back post following a great cross from Shaun Terry.

Almondsbury, who had missed out on the Hellenic League Premier Division title on the final day of the season, then allowed their frustration to boil over as a tackle on the halfway line provoked a bench clearing mass brawl.

Punches were thrown and when the referee managed to restore order he dismissed two Almondsbury players and cautioned two Hungerford players.

Town made their two-man advantage count in the dying minutes when McMeeking showed tremendous persistence to fire home at the second attempt.

The victory was all the more impressive as Hungerford had been down to the bare bones following a series of late dropouts and had been forced to field three young reserve team players on the bench.

“We were really down to the bare bones and I had to draft in Danny Beck at right-back even though he hadn’t played a game for about three months,” admitted Town boss Alan Clark.

“It wasn’t the best game but then cup finals never are and it’s all about winning at this stage.

“I knew it was going to be a fiesty game as they don’t like it if things don’t go their way but I was really pleased with our discipline.

“It could have all boiled over and the game could have been abandoned but we kept our discipline while they let themselves down.

“They were almost too fired up after missing out on the league but I thought we deserved the victory and it gave us a great end to our season.”

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