Malvern Town 2-2 Hanwell Town: Geordies take a point on opening day
Hanwell Town led twice but were pegged back on both occasions as they returned from their opening day fixture at newly promoted Malvern Town with a point.
Sam Clark’s own goal had given the Geordies a 42nd minute lead but the Hillsiders equalised from the penalty spot three minutes later through Joe Tumelty. Hanwell, though, retook the lead soon after half-time as Henry Snee headed home from Jordan Esprit’s inch perfect cross.
Malvern pushed Chris Moore’s side back and snatched an equaliser their play deserved as Clark atoned for his earlier own goal by tapping home with three minutes remaining. Hanwell, though, finished the game with 10 men as Harvey Bradbury received a straight red card after an argument with the referee.
Since winning promotion to the Southern League Premier South in 2022, Hanwell have lost three of their opening day league fixtures. The fourth was abandoned at half-time due to torrential rain with the Geordies losing 3-0 at home to Chesham in 2023 – Chris Moore’s side won 3-1 at Basingstoke in their first completed fixture.
A trip to Malvern, who won promotion via the play-offs in May, had all the recipes for another difficult opening day with the Hillsiders making their debut at Step 3.
The momentum their promotion win gave them continued as they made a strong start, pegging Hanwell back into their defensive third as the Geordies adjusted to the artificial pitch. Malvern, though, were unable to seriously test Sam Beasant in the Hanwell goal.
The west Londoners grew into the game, cheered on by their travelling fans who were never once outsung, and should have taken the lead midway through the first half as Esprit burst clear on goal but his effort was well blocked by Charles Binns.
Hanwell had another chance to take the lead as an Esprit corner caused chaos in the box with the ball blocked on the line. Another corner did the damage as Dwayne Duncan’s header crashed against the bar and, as he attempted to clear, Clark could only hook the ball into his own net.
The Geordies, though, handed their goal advantage away as Ade Olumuyiwa brought down a Malvern attacker in the penalty area. Tumelty gratefully sent Beasant the wrong way with the sides going into the half-time break level.
Hanwell were not to be denied and, three minutes into the second half, were back in front. Roberto Nditi’s throw was controlled by Esprit who sent an early cross into the middle for Snee to head into the far corner to open his account for the season.
The Geordies looked to try and control the game as the clock started to tick down with Malvern pushing bodies forward to try and rescue an equaliser.
Chris Moore tried to make changes to see the game out but Snee fell foul of the new substitution laws seven minutes from time. Referee Benjamin Gudger deemed that the striker had taken more than 10 seconds to get off the pitch and prevented Bradbury from coming on to replace him. This meant that Hanwell were forced to play with 10 men for at least a minute with the substitute only allowed to come on at a subsequent break in play after the 60 seconds elapsed.
Moments after Bradbury came on, Malvern had their equaliser as Clark went from villain to hero as he turned the ball home with three minutes on the clock.
Bradbury’s eventful afternoon came to an end three minutes early as, after only around eight minutes on the pitch, he saw red after an argument with Gudger. The Geordies saw through the rest of stoppage time to claim their first opening day point in the Southern League and immediately went to thank the supporters who had made the trip from west London.
Hanwell Town: Beasant, Sankoh, George, Nditi, Duncan, Olumuyiwa, Cooper, Knight, Esprit (Oke-William 90), Joseph (Turner 62), Snee (Bradbury 83)
Subs not used: Wilson, Seabrook
