On a sunny autumn afternoon, Baldock Town made the journey southwards down the A1 to in-form Hadley and their neat Brickfield Lane ground, hoping to continue their own recent good run of form.

Baldock were the better side in the early exchanges and there was only 10 minutes on the clock when they took the lead. Harry Holland put Kim Forsythe through on the left and from the return pass Holland drilled the ball home for an early advantage. A further 10 minutes on and a Lewis Barker shot flew narrowly over the bar after a Kieran Barnes corner, and at that time Baldock seemed to be pretty much in command. As the half continued the home side came into the match more, but at the break Baldock were well worth their slender one goal lead.

The half-time entertainment involved a competition where supporters could throw a numbered tennis ball towards the centre spot, with the winner being the one that ended the closest. Definitely an interesting variation to a raffle, that’s for sure!

Hadley made 2 changes at the break adding more height to their attack and Baldock were suddenly on the back foot. Around the hour mark from a corner on the right, the Baldock defence were unable to clear the ball and Stephen O’Hara shot into the roof of the net for the equaliser.

15 minutes from time, the home side took the spoils with what can only be described as a fortuitous winner. Bradley Marriott made a cross come shot attempt from the by-line and it appeared that Baldock keeper Jack Farmer was temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight, only for the ball to fly past his outstretched arms, strike the bar and bounce down ideally for top scorer Jeff Idemudia to nod it into an empty net.

Baldock continued to battle on for a deserved leveller, but sadly it wasn’t to be and in the end they could count themselves somewhat unlucky not to bring a point back with them.

Baldock Town: Farmer, M Lee. Furness, Gilbert, Kenna ©, Brooks (Priestner), Barnes, L Barker, Holland (Joy), Forsythe, Robertson (James). Unused subs: Gregson, Harpur (GK).

Scorer: Holland.

Results and reviews of all the day’s SSML Premier matches are available at inthestand.co.uk