A late goal wasn’t enough for Hampton & Richmond Borough as they fell 2-1 to Hemel Hempstead Town after conceding from a damning mistake and an unlucky deflection.
A mishit pass from goalkeeper James Holden led to a long strike from Hemel’s centre-back Kyle O’Connor-Ajayi for their first, and Holden was left frozen as a deflected shot floated over his head for their second.
Ronan Silva bagged a late penalty and the Tudors missed their own even later, but the Beavers couldn’t find an equaliser.
The Beavers were looking for redemption just days after a heartbreaking last minute defeat at The Bev against Weston-Super-Mare.
HRBFC returned to a back five after Massey left injured against the Seagulls, with new signing Kai Willard-Innocent debuting at left wing-back.
‘El Tudoroco’ began quite evenly. Neither goalkeeper was tested within the first 15 minutes, but the ball crossed the goal line on either side of the pitch in the following five minutes – and only one went up on the scoreboard.
Centre back Harry Thomas found a streaking Soul Kader with a lovely ball. The striker brought it down with his chest and poked the ball past the ‘keeper, but he was flagged for offside.
Hemel went up just minutes later in the 20th when Holden’s drop kick went directly to Ajayi’s feet. Looking to launch a counter attack, his pass was intercepted by the Tudors captain who fired from around 30 yards past the recovering ‘keeper.
When Sam Deadfield found Kader at the top of the box in the 30th minute, The Bev erupted as his low driven shot grounded shot beat Hemel’s Michael Johnson, but it rang off the post.
HRBFC shifted to a back four as the second half resumed. Jude Mason moved to the right side of the defence as Paul Field was replaced by midfielder Ronan Silva.
Silva’s addition allowed the Beavers more attacking freedom, and they began to ask questions of Hemel Hempstead’s back line.
A lively second half followed, and an abundance of chances kept fans on their toes.
Looking to atone for his earlier mistake, Holden got himself in front of the ball in multiple threatening situations. He made himself big to stop Mathew Achuba’s cross-goal shot with his foot.
But just seconds later, striker Millar Matthews-Lewis found some luck to beat the keeper in the 61st minute. Running at the defence in the right half space, Matthews-Lewis’ shot took a nasty deflection and flew over a helpless Holden.
Now two behind, the Beavers created chaos in the Tudors defensive end but found no success. A free kick was bobbled around the box, Willard-Innocent put the ball just wide of an empty net and Deadfield found the ball after a miscued punch from Johnson, but couldn’t find the goal.
In the 86th minute – after positive play from the Beavers – Ronan Silva was felled in the box and converted the subsequent spot kick with a finish down the middle.
For less than 90 seconds after the goal there was the feeling of hope around Beveree Stadium, before a penalty was awarded at the other end of the pitch.
Luckily, Hemel midfielder Joe White sent the ball wide of the net, and that seemingly lost hope came back with a vengeance as the clock ticked closer to the 90 minute mark.
With four minutes of added time, the crowd was like wind behind the Beavers' backs as they searched for a second. Silva flashed a shot at goal but it was handled easily by Johnson, and in a last gasp attempt, Harry Gardner found Silva in the box with his back turned to goal. Despite having space behind him, the goalscorer was harried by Ajayi, the chance went begging, and the whistle was blown moments later.
It was an unfortunate loss for the Beavers, who now sit 12th in the league table standings.
One can hope history continues to repeat itself when the teams clash again in the new year.
By Nkele Martin.