The game was 5 minutes old when the first chance came along, and it fell to the hosts as the ball broke to Cawley inside the box but he fizzed his effort just over the bar. The hosts were attacking again five minutes later when a defensive slip allowed Cawley another sight of goal but he dragged his effort well wide so it remained goal less.
Hemel had barely been in Concord's last third in the first fifteen minutes but on 16 minutes full back Walker missed a long ball down his side of the field allowing Hemel's Parkes to get the ball in a decent position but his strike from the edge of the box flew over the bar. However two minutes later the visitors were to take the lead when a corner from Parkes into the box was hit home first time by Oshodi to make it 1-0 to Hemel.
This gave the Hertfordshire side confidence and they began to assert themselves on the game, not giving Concord an inch in the process. The only time the hosts had any sort of effort on goal was on 33 minutes when midfielder Gardner tried one from range but it was easy for Walker in the Hemel goal.
Hemel nearly made it 2-0 on 36 minutes when the ball popped up nicely for Oli outside the area and his first time volley produced a brilliant save from Vickers and then a minute later he had to make another superb one handed save to keep at a brilliant long range shot from Connolly as Hemel threatened to pull further ahead.
Four minutes before half time their was a clash between Concord's Collins and Hemel's Parker which resulted in a slight melee and saw each player booked. The frustration was clearly building for the hosts who were not having it all their own way at all. However two minutes later Hemel were reduced to ten men when the booked Parker inexplicably dived over inside the box and was dismissed for a second booking. It was a stupid thing to do and it meant Hemel had to play the remainder of the game a player short.
A minute before half time the ball broke to Fry inside Hemel's penalty area but he hit his effort horribly wide for the hosts which just about sumed up their first half performance.
Half Time: Concord Rangers 0 Hemel Hempstead Town 1
The hosts tried to assert their one man advantage immediately and they almost levelled within seconds of the restart as a corner from the left was headed back into the six yard box and Taafe somehow put his effort over cross bar from point blank range. You felt that Concord would continue in this vain but they struggled to get anything going as the visitors were more than comfortable with ten men.
There was a worrying moment on the hour mark when Concord's Fry fell heavily after an aerial challenge and looked more than dazed but did eventually get to his feet thankfully and continue after a minute or so. The hosts were doing there best to turn up the pressure on their ten man opponents.
Hemel had stood firm to any pressure put towards them and on 69 minutes won themselves a free kick in a decent position but Lee's free kick was very poor and bounced into Vickers waiting arms. As the game entered its final fifteen minutes the visitors made a couple of changes as they looked to slow the tempo of the game down which was frustrating the hosts somewhat. Concord still hadn'tt made Hemel keeper Walker really work thus far which was a credit to the visitors. .
With just over ten minutes left the visitors had two decent chances, firstly flashing an effort across the goal and secondly when a free kick from Gibson was deflected off the wall and inches wide for a corner, which came to nothing.
The last ten minutes saw the hosts really crank up the pressure as they looked for that illusive equaliser. On 81 minutes Miles free kick almost sneaked inside the near post but Walker was alert enough to beat away the effort and then Stokes burst into the Hemel box but saw his effort hit the side netting.
On 85 minutes Stokes saw another effort deflected wide as they put more and more pressure on the Hemel back line and then on 87 minutes Stokes again found himself unmarked on the far side of the area and struck an effort goalwards which hit defender Lee and went out for a corner. The hosts were adament it had struck Lee's hand in the process although it was hard to tell from were I was.
A minute later a fantastic dipping volley from Collins was brilliantly tipped over by Walker as the visitors were now holding on for dear life. It was frustrating for the hosts and this sadly boiled over in stoppage time when Ogilve and Oshodi clashed causing another Melee after Ogilve had attempted to pull Johnson to his feet following what he thought was play acting in winning a free kick.
Once it had all calmed down the referee booked Ogilvie and then sent off Oshodi for an apparent head butt in that melee. It was a sour way to end the game but Hemel won't care one jot as they held on for the win. Both teams now have three games to try and overturn a four point deficit on 5th place in order to get into that illusive play off position.
Full Time: Concord Rangers 0 Hemel Hempstead Town 1
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