‘The magic of the cup’ left Hitchin as quickly as it came, as a brilliant Heybridge Swifts side tore apart Town, currently sixth and a step higher.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It could have been a different story though, had Hitchin made the most of an opening quarter of an hour’s possession. A downpour as the players emerged from the changing rooms helped Town’s slick passing play, but they weren’t able to create any meaningful chances.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Perhaps a hangover from finishing 17th last season, Hitchin didn’t seem to have any significant support from any of the 350-odd home fans at Top Field. And when Darren Phillips put Heybridge 1-0 midway through the first half, apathy turned to frustration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Before kick off, there was a long announcement over the PA system telling people where and where not to smoke, and to behave themselves. That didn’t stop one of the Hitchin officials smoking a pipe in the 94-year-old wooden grandstand, nor the heavily inebriated Swifts fans from telling almost every Hitchin player to f**k off. Particular attention was aimed at Tiernan Parker in the Hitchin goal, who was repeatedly called a sex offender. Even the Swifts committee looked embarrassed by the behaviour of their “supporters”. One brave Hitchin steward did try and calm them down, but without much luck.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You would have thought that Hitchin would come out for the second half full of fight, but it was Heybridge who ramped up the pressure and killed the contest with a superb long-range dipping effort from Jack Adlington-Pile.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At this point the Hitchin fans gave up, and so did their players. It was one-way traffic, and if it wasn’t for Parker, it could have been double figures. Adlington-Pile made it 3-0 with a close-range finish to round off a fine performance from his side.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Top field is one on senior non-league football’s great grounds – full of character and gallons of green and yellow paint, and a the legions of volunteers made fora very warm welcome. But there seems to be a real disconnect between the club, the team and the supporters. Tickets we’re ‘online only’ using an overly complicated ticketing system – I’ve never been asked for my date of birth watching a non-league game before. The online ticketing issue took up most of the conversation around the ground, and a look at the Hitchin forum suggests this has been a sore point for supporters for bordering on two years. Hitchin’ volunteer army could drive the club forward, and they have a real captive audience in the town, but taking just one visit as an indication you feel the next eight months could be key in which direction the club goes in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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