Ware’s approach to this game was to avoid a high press, let Hitchin enjoy possession in their own half and work to keep their front men at bay. Blues would rely on rapid breaks and mistakes by the Hitchin defence for their goal chances.
It worked for a while and Ware took an early lead. They might have gone two up but Reece Beckles-Richards’ shot was steered just wide of a post. After that play slowly turned in favour of the home side as they got to grips with the game.
By the time they were into their stride Hitchin looked a good side, worthy of their promotion hopes. They played the ball around well, found their men with short or long passes as the moment dictated and shut Ware down. In that last respect their defence eventually became almost faultless. Through balls were anticipated and intercepted whilst fifty-fifty tackles were mostly won by the Canaries.
Hitchin were faster too. Even when it came to throw-ins, they were quick to restart play and kept Ware on the hop. This in turn forced Ware into quick responses to avoid being closed down, passes too often went astray as a consequence.
It had looked quite different in the early minutes. As Ware probed, Beckles-Richards turned to shoot after five minutes only to find the ball cannon clear off an unsuspecting defender. He did better three minutes later. The Hitchin defence failed to clear Sami Moutawafiq’s free kick despite more than one opportunity. Eventually it fell to the Ware number nine who shot low into the corner of Tyler McGregor’s net.
A Hitchin corner shortly after was cleared and fell to Max Granville making only his second appearance and first start since December 13th. He took it forward before releasing it to Beckles-Richards just inside the penalty area. McGregor came out to narrow the angle and the ball went safe beyond his left post. With hindsight, that was it. By the time Ware had any such chances again the game was beyond them.
Hitchin meanwhile started to click into gear. The first warning came not long after when Callum Kane’s diving header was just as narrowly wide. Hopes that this was the start of a frustrating afternoon for the home side, frustration that would undermine them, proved ill founded.
There were moments in the Ware six yard box that were two close for comfort not least when first Taylor Rhiney headed over when well placed from Kye Tearle’s cross and then Liam Brooks hit the cross bar in attempting to convert a ball from right in front of goal.
An equaliser began to look inevitable but it came from a corner after Jack Taylor appeared to be pushed and knocked into the ball to take it over the line. Only those in blue saw it that way however and when the corner came over Ciaren Jones ran across the six yard box to rise above the Ware defence to head it home at the far post.
Hitchin now scented blood and in the dying moments of the half it was Rhiney’s pass that caught the visitors’ defence wrong footed and gave Lewis Franklin an opportunity to shoot beyond Fred Burbidge for the lead. There was still time for Ware to win a corner. That it was their first of the match tells something of the disparity that had grown between the teams.
There was not much change after the break and whilst Ware were holding their own they conceded a third ten minutes in. It was another Callum Nicolson corner from the Hitchin right and this time Jones, initially walking nonchalantly in from the edge of the area forced his way into the mix to head his second goal of the day.
Hitchin looked content to keep Ware at bay after that with the result that the visitors had more of the game than for some time. Even so the home defence remained in control and it wasn’t until Gabriel Chapps fired a shot just wide of McGregor’s post in the 94th minute that they looked in much danger.
By then Hitchin had scored their fourth. This time it was a Nicholson free kick from the left that dropped in front of goal for Jones to head past a wrong footed Burbidge for his hat trick goal. Quite a day for the Hitchin captain.
Line-ups and cards.
Ware: Fred Burbidge, Gabriel Ward, Finlay Titchmarsh, Sami Moutawafiq, Josh Okotcha, Jack Grosvenor (C), Max Granville, Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo (Rechan Esprit 72mins), Reece Beckles-Richards (Gabriel Chapps 79mins), Jack Taylor, Josh Hutchinson. Unused subs: Leigh Rose, Sam Mayuma, David Sota.
Yellow cards: Reece Beckles-Richards 25mins, Max Granville 34mins, Finlay Titchmarsh 86mins.
Hitchin Town: Tyler McGregor, Kyle Tearle (Josh Jackman 83mins), Callum Kane, Brett Longden, Toby Syme, Ciaren Jones (C), Liam Brooks (Kavan Cotter 77mins), Josh Coldicott-Stevens, Taylor Rhiney (Blue Joy 95mins), Lewis Franklin (Diogo Freitas-Gouveia 89mins), Callum Nicholson. Unused sub: Stephen Gleeson
Yellow cards: Callum Kane 25mins, Taylor Rhiney 52mins, Callum Nicolson 68mins, Lewsi Franklin 85mins.
Red card: Stephen Gleeson 66mins.
