Diamonds fell to a second 2-1 defeat after taking the lead in a few days after another harsh penalty decision gave Hitchin the victory in a close contest on Tuesday night.
Diamonds were bright in the first half getting in behind their confident opposition more than they had done in previous games and took the lead on 36 minutes. Connor Furlong and Nathan Hicks combined to get Connor Tee free into the right side of the box where his fizzed in cross was bundled into the net by a retreating defender under pressure from Jack Connor.
Hitchin responded within a minute as a shot across the rain soaked surface rebounded into the path of Stephen Cawley to stab home from close range.
Both sides had chances to open the scoring in the early stages with Jack Connor lifting a bouncing ball over the away keeper but just wide and turning on a loose ball in the box and seeing his excellent snapshot just saved by the Hitchin keeper.
Hitchin missed with a good shooting chance from inside the box and missed an open goal from 10 yards with just a Diamonds defender on the line.
Half-time: Diamonds 1 Hitchin Town 1
Despite starting the second half well Diamonds gradually surrendered the initiative and Hitchin started to largely dominate. The winning goal came from a harsh penalty award on 61 minutes as a free kick was fired into the wall and awarded as handball by the referee. Jack Morrell stepped up to convert.
Diamonds struggled to respond and were restricted to shots from distance by the impressive Nathan Hicks and when Miguel Ngwa tricked his way in behind the away keeper but saw his effort blocked by a retreating defender.
Final Score: Diamonds 1 Hitchin Town 2
A disappointing result for Diamonds after a decent first half in which they took the lead again. Hitchin improved in the 2nd half and probably deserved the win as Diamonds struggked but they were a tad lucky with the penalty decision.
Next up the trip to Alvechurch on Saturday.
Man of the Match: Connor Tee
Attendance: 366
Match Report: Paul Judd
