AFC faced a Hadleigh side containing three ex Sudbury players and fell behind inside the first minute. On 40 seconds Camillo Douglas broke down the right fast and turned and sent over a hard low cross that went in past Twinn after striking a defender; - disaster with Sudbury still half a sleep and apparently not aware of their ex team mate’s football prowess.

This put confidence into the home side who were well organised and had a good shape with Tom Driscoll (ex AFC), Daryl Alexander, Luke Waugh and Douglas all looking dangerous. Sudbury’s first real attack came in the fifteenth minute when Stepney Thurgood made a good break, his accurate pass found Lee Ifield in space but his ball in was well held by Heffer Thorpe in the Hadleigh goal. This was followed by two more good chances from Scott Hunt and Kent as the visitors began to settle, but Hadleigh were always the more likely to score and playing the better football, with Douglas as slippery and elusive as ever.

AFC were being restricted to breaks as Hadleigh controlled the midfield and their defence stood solid, with Twinn the busier keeper. In the twenty-sixth minute Ryan Kent chased a loose ball but the keeper came out to kick away to safety.  Just past the half hour Driscoll won the ball but his hard low shot was wide with Sudbury watching. However in the forty-first minute AFC could have been level but the ball hit the post instead of going into the net after the keeper had failed to collect a telling ball into the area.

In the dying throws of the first half Hadleigh could have increased their lead if  Steve Chisholm had not made to a great tackle to prevent Dricscoll getting in a shot when in a good position.

Half Time:     Hadleigh Utd Res 1  – 0 AFC Sudbury  Res

Five minutes into the second half Adam Holmes had to slide in to stop Waugh getting in a shot but four minutes later Hadleigh did score from a  Tom Driscoll penalty.

Hadleigh were controlling the game with Taureen Hamilton, another ex AFC player, having a solid game in the middle of the midfield and Driscoll, Waugh and Douglas threatening in attack. Sudbury could have got one back in the sixty-fifth minute when their was a rare defensive flap by the Millfield boys with a  fast attack from Johnny Moore and Kent.

To attempt to salvage something from the game Ian Manby made a double substitution sending on the two Lukes, Hinds and Nicoll, in the seventy-second minute replacing Moore and Thurgood.

It was Hadleigh who came closest to adding to the score when Douglas slipped past Holmes but Twinn was fast off his line to smother the ball. Then in the eighty-first minute it looked like the home side had scored again with a nice one-two  combination but the ‘scorer’ was adjudged just offside by the referee.  Back came AFC with minutes left, Kent making a jinking run but his powerful shot was well held the Hadleigh keeper and then a good run by Swain set up Hinds but their was no-one there for his good cross. As it begun the game finished with the Sudbury goal under pressure.

On the night the better side won so there cannot be too much wrangle but AFC will have to up their game to challenge for honours.

The Wizard Of Oz