In the team talk before the game, all the Hawks were given a challenge. As we had a number of absentees for this league fixture, every player was asked to raise their game by 10%. That meant that you have to chase every lost cause, make the extra tackle, get in the way of a shot ... anything it takes. Today the boys were superb from back to front. The effort put in paid off and Hawks even managed to come out on top. Colebrook are a good strong team with some good players. They work hard, and pass well and look to work it out from the back. This was a challenge to the Hawks who had to set up with a combo of Bickles and Spelman at the back. The formation and tactics worked well in this one with a definite message of defending from the front. Sam Hobson led the line well and was very effective closing down and chasing lost causes. In the middle, Joshua Corcoran worked ever so hard and must have put in some serious KM today. Jesse Musson looked better in the second half with better positional awareness, whilst Davey Hirst won his battle in the middle. At the back, Jack Bickles was brave and Bobby Spelman did very well closing the ball down. Between the sticks, Edward Griffin made several worldies and certainly showed his value today.
The first half was a close affair with Hawks maybe having a few more chances, but in terms of play, it was fairly even. Hawks drove forward at every opportunity and went close several times through Sam Hobson, whilst a Davey Hirst driving run from one end of the pitch to the other was thwarted at the last second. Joshua Corcoran went close with a drive from the left that fizzed across goal, whilst Colebrook went close following a failed clearance from Bobby Spelman (probably his only mistake in the game), however Hawks managed to keep it out. Edward Griffin made some very good stops and going into the break, the score was 0-0.
The second half was again a very tight affair. In such games, its all about small margins and as such, Hawks came out on top. Hawks all worked their socks off and did the tough part of the game very well today. The teams were equal, but that desire to be first to the ball won it. Chasing, closing down and pressurising gave Hawks the edge as they restricted the opposition time on the ball. This was crucial. Sam Hobson went close several times with some neat turns and shots that he got away quickly. Most were half chances, however the striker was unlucky with a few that went very close. Indeed, one was cleared off the line when a Davey Hirst run and cross was hit by Hobson, half cleared and Joshua Corcoran put it just over. Hawks nicked it late on follwoing some neat passing on the edge of the box. This is pleasing as the triangles created here comes from much work in training. Jesse Musson then slid the killer pass to Joshua Corcoran who made no mistake firing low and hard into the bottom left hand corner. Hawks 1-0. That is the way it stayed as Hawks edged this close encounter.
This was an excellent team performance that was a result of hard work both individually and for eachother despite a draining game the day before. All players stepped up, raised their game ... superb ... well done to all ... COYH
Also, lastly, a big well done to Joe and Sam for hitting the 100 appearance mark.
