After six failed attempts, Steve Bateman's side have finally won a league game at home - their first victorious game at Vauxhall Road since the 1-0 defeat of Bedford back on August 19.

And though it wasn't pretty, Saturday's 1-0 win over Banbury United will surely count as one of the most important of the season so far as Hemel finally break their home hoodoo.

"It's almost as though at home in the league we have not had just the opposition to beat but some invisible force too," Bateman said.

"Even on Saturday it's finished 1-0 - we have dominated the majority of the game but it's taken us until the last 20 to get our noses in front.
"But maybe the game shows we are going to get a run of things at home in the league now."

The fans will certainly be hoping for such a run, but despite seeing their side triumph there will still be a few doubts as to whether this really is the turning point.

Chances were few and far between in a first half punctuated by an extraordinary number of injuries, including one to the referee which caused a 15 minute stoppage.

What half-chances Hemel did carve out were spurned - Chris Dillon, Steve Wales, Adam Martin and Paul Edgeworth all off-target.

At the other end Nick Gordon came closest with a rising shot just after the half hour mark.

The game came alive in the second period - Drew Roberts smashing the ball over from 10 yards before testing young keeper Joe Murrell's reflexes five minutes later.

The chances came and went for Hemel, as the curse of Vauxhall Road looked to have struck again.

Edgeworth and Wales both screwed shots wide of the mark, while Dillon brought out the save of the match from Burrell at the far post on 68 minutes.

But less than a minute later the Tudors were celebrating their first home league goal since August 30. And it was a fortunate one at that.
Having been so instrumental in keeping his side in the game, Murrell put it on a plate for Hemel.

He rushed out to retrieve a long ball he was never going to make, with Wales' lay-off leaving Dillon with the simplest of finishes.

Hemel's next attack saw Martin's header bounce back off the crossbar, but rather than go all out to increase their advantage the men in red sat back to defend their lead.

Chances for Lewis Travers and Scott Bridges came close while a succession of corner kicks put keeper Ian Brown under some pressure in the Hemel goal. Howard Forinton missed a final, golden opportunity to sneak a point when he pounced on Ollie Stanbridge's sideways pass, but failed to find the target with just Brown to beat.

The cry of relief from the home fans said it all at the final whistle.
"The main relief was to actually play a league game," added Bateman. "It was only our third league game in eight weeks and we got what we wanted out of it.

"We kept a clean sheet and were fairly solid. Now we will move on to two good sides we are looking to beat."

The two sides in question are Dunstable, who they played in the 2nd round of the SL Cup as The Gazette went to press, and Yate Town who they face away from home in the league on Saturday.