A much better performance from the entire team saw Haddonfield pick up a very deserved first 3 points of the season.
The first 15 minutes of the game were largely uneventful as the lads adapted to a previously untried system, with Stuart Lee spurning a good opportunity when one-on-one with the Abbey Wood keeper being the only real moment of note.
After creating the first real chance of the game, the confidence of the side began to grow, battles were being won all over the pitch, with the midfield trio of Danny Thomas, Scott Mulgrew and Rob Savage beginning to find their rhythm and Haddonfield deservedly took the lead through a well taken penalty from Jamie Oliver, who was making his first league appearance for the club.
After taking the lead, the boys dominated possession, though some sloppy passing put an end to one or two dangerous looking attacks. If not for some questionable finishing, it should have arguably been 2 or 3-0 by the time Abbey Wood equalised when a rare attack for them lead to a penalty being given for a push in the back.
The equaliser seemed to take the wind out of the Haddonfield boys and Sam Hollands had to be alert when making a good save to his right hand side after the Abbey Wood striker had got in behind the defence for the first time.
The start of the second half was pretty incredible for Haddonfield, as 3 goals in 8 minutes put an end to the contest. GJ first scored a sublime goal, where his trickery completely deceived the defender as he took the ball in from a Matt Bell nod down, touched it past his marker and took the long route around him before hammering the ball past the Abbey Wood keeper and into the far corner.
The wind was back in the lads system and they made Abbey Wood suffer for it, as GJ grabbed his second almost instantly afterwards, taking a beautifully floated through ball from Rob Savage in his stride and producing an almost identical finish to his first, leaving the Abbey Wood keeper grasping at thin air.
5 minutes later and it was Scott Mulgrew's turn to show his passing quality as he sliced the Abbey Wood defence open with a great ball that Jamie Oliver ran on to and finished for his 2nd. 4-1 and cruising.
The Abbey Wood side had all but given up at this point and Haddonfield again enjoyed the majority of the possession for the next 10 minutes befoe Jay Walker produced a sumptuous pass from centre back that GJ ran on to and put away for his hat-trick.
After the 75th minute, the Haddonfield side began to tire as a result of the hard work that had been put in and Abbey Wood began to look a threat again. Sam Hollands showed good concentration levels as he was called into action for only the 2nd or 3rd time in the game in the 80th minute, producing a strong 2 handed save from a dangerous looking half-volley.
Tiring legs coupled with a rejuvenated looking Abbey Wood lead to the final 10 minutes of the game being played mostly inside the Haddonfield half and Abbey Wood snatched a 2nd with 5 minutes left as a game of pinball inside the box ended with a very good volleyed finish from an Abbey Wood player.
The game was brought to an end not long after and the boys left the field with a very deserved 3 points.
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Delighted with the team performance but we need to be more clinical with our chances. Very impressed with our defence, who dominated the Abbey Wood attack, though we will face much harder challenges in the season. Danny 'The Dominator" Thomas in the midfield was a very solid platform for many of our attacks and he showed alot of his qualities throughout the game. GJ and Stu showed at times why they will cause so many defences problems this Season. The energy levels of Matt Bell and Jamie down the wings were tremendous and I thought the effort and desire the whole team showed was top notch and we can only improve from here!
It's easy to forget that this was still only our 6th game together as a team!
