‘A tremendous achievement – there’s not a lot of loyalty in football’ – Horndean boss praises Sam Hookey on milestone day

Hookey celebrated his 250th Deans appearance in a 3-0 win at Portland that took the Deans level on points with second-placed Bemerton in the Wessex League Premier Division.

He is the only player left at Five Heads Park who was there when Birmingham took over in the summer of 2016, having been given his debut by previous boss Craig Pearce.

Hookey did spend a brief period with Moneyfields in early 2019/20, but returned to Horndean where he has remained ever since.

‘That’s a tremendous achievement,’ said Birmingham regarding Hookey’s 250th outing. ‘There’s not a lot of loyalty in football these days.

‘Sam’s made 250 appearances and he’s still only 24, and he’s had two seasons which have been a write-off (due to Covid).

‘I can’t speak highly enough of the boy, he suits the style we try to play, he likes to get the ball and dictate play.

‘He should be scoring more goals, though - he’s not the best in front of goal. He keeps on telling me at training he’s going to score a hat-trick, but I’ve yet to see it and I’ve been here seven years.’

One man who the manager does see scoring often is Zack Willett, who took his seasonal tally to 15 with a double strike at Grove Corner.

Only two Wessex Premier players have scored more league and cup goals than the former Paulsgrove striker - AFC Portchester’s Brett Pitman (28) and Duarte Martins of AFC Stoneham (21).

Willett dispossessed a defender for his first goal, before rounding the keeper and scoring, while he cut inside and lashed a shot into the top corner for his second.

In between, Hookey set up Rudi Blankson to score his seventh goal of the season.

At the back, keeper Cameron Scott kept another clean sheet and has now conceded just six league goals in 13 appearances.

‘It was a great performance, especially in the second half,’ reported Birmingham. ‘We played extremely well, kept the ball extremely well, the last half hour was like a keep-ball session.’

Further good news came with the late appearance off the bench of last season’s 41-goal top scorer Connor Duffin.

He had been sidelined since suffering a knee injury during the first half against Hamble Club on October 11.