Rotherfield Utd 4 FC Holyport U13 Hawks 6
An injury ravaged Hawks took to the field looking to avenge their earlier league defeat, missing regulars the Hawks had to call up Jude to boost the numbers to 12. The Hawks started brightly with Jake escaping down the right only to see his cross blocked for an early corner. Jasan was then forced to a smart save and then had to rely on an astonishing open goal miss to keep the game scoreless. Rotherfield’s striker hitting the post with the goal his mercy. A lovely flowing move down the right saw the Hawk’s take lead. Harry A, Ewan and Jacob kept possession , before Harry A delivered a deep cross which was flicked into the on rushing Bobby by Jude, He made no mistake as the Hawks led 1-0 . Rotherfield quickly levelled after the Hawks were caught flat footed at the back but as usual this season they quickly bounced back. Jake released Bobby down the left and Bobby unselfishly squared the ball to Michael. Unfortunately Michael appeared to be wearing Turkish slippers for the day and chance went begging. The Hawks took the lead after yet another slick piece of play ,Jacob laid the ball into Ewan and ran in behind the defence for the return pass. Ewan duly delivered a lovely flick over the top and Jacob let the ball bounce before smashing home a left foot strike. Jake then put 2 chances over bar before Ewan also went close. Harry R , now in midfield sent Ewan scampering through but he was muscled out by the defence. Bobby then played the ball of the game as he sent Jake through on goal and despite his first attempt being blocked , he was not to be denied., scoring the rebound to make it 3-1 to the Hawks at HT.
The second half started in a similar fashion as Jake’s well struck corner was dropped by the keeper leaving Bobby to volley home to make it 4-1.Then the game was turned completely on its head with Ewan injuring his knee and having to come off, this really disrupted the team as Ewan had been a major driving force in midfield in the firstly, it also left a tiring team no subs for the last 30 mins!! As in the earlier league game at Rotherfield the Hawks went into 2nd half hibernation mode. , conceding 3 goals in 10 minutes as the match became 4-4 in the blink of an eye. The 4th goal went in despite great blocks from Harry R and Chris, the game stayed level thanks to a great goal line clearance from Jasan before momentum swung back towards the Hawks. Chris conceded a penalty and Rotherfield finally looked like taking the lead for the first time in the game but Harry R had other ideas, diving away to his right to save the spot kick, Harry A completing the clearance. The Hawks grabbed their lifeline with both hands and went close through Taylor and Michael. A tactical switch sent Taylor to play at RB and meant for the first time this season the team went to 4-4-2. Then came Tommy’s moment of glory, finding himself in the box with ball at his feet, he turned inside the defender and rifled into the corner of the Rotherfield net. Sparking delirium in the Hawks ranks as they mobbed Tommy , the game only had 5 mins left! The Hawks now found renewed energy and Jacob ran the length of the half to win a corner after exchanging passes with Jude. In injury time Michael chased down a long ball from Jude and forced the defender into a mistake, a ball he had no right to get to !The ball was recycled and Jude smashed in first time from the right corner of the box to make it 6-4. The right result in the end as the Hawks played some great stuff in the first half but the second half meltdown and another key injury soured the day slightly. But the resilience this season is quite remarkable as the Boys keep digging out wins. Onto the cup next week and the last key league game to play with 1st place still up for grabs after some suprising results in the league yesterday.
