Captained by the tactically-astute Aidan, Szczesny Hawkes made it 6 unbeaten games in a row with a battling and energetic performance against Rowan’s war-torn The Walls of Jericho.
The first half was incredibly close, with both teams exchanging goals as most people remained fairly mobile. Spence made a sensational block to deny SuBo a certain goal, while Rowan plucked a number of crosses and shots from the air to keep the Hawkes at bay. However, the second half saw a big difference in playing styles as the Hawkes built moves with crisp passing, while Jericho went for the route one option as legs began to tire, which often left people marooned up front when they had the ball, or susceptible to counter-attacks when they didn’t, while an ankle injury to Jim on his MEFF debut didn’t help matters. Steels made a number of excellent smothering saves to deny Patto when he did wriggle free from the solid Phil G or Spence, while Luke was frequently a nuisance as he held up play for Daz, Griffiths and Aidan who moved nimbly around him on the wings.
1-0: SuBo(A mistake from Steels saw his goal kick dribble out to an unmarked SuBo who stroked the ball into the empty net)
1-1: Griffiths(Counter-attacking from a Jericho corner against a depleted defence, Daz squared the ball across goal to Griffiths, who tucked a simple finish under Rowan)
1-2: Aidan(Daz threaded a lovely pass beyond the last defender and Aidan finished coolly into the bottom corner)
2-2: Patto(SuBo drew the defenders towards him on the right wing before feeding Patto at the back post between two defenders, who half-volleyed into the far right corner as Spence bore down on him)
3-2: Daz(After a long period of Hawkes possession, last man Daz made a quick run forward and struck a long range shot that just evaded Rowan’s dive into the bottom left corner)
3-3: Jim(Patto held up the ball on the left before finding an unmarked Jim in the area, who finished beautifully off the right post)
Half Time
4-3: Griffiths(A quick ball down the left released Griffiths, who looked to have run too wide before smashing a delightful left-footed effort into the net from a tight angle)
5-3: OwnGoal(Spence’s teasing cross to Griffiths from the left was toe-poked into the net by a stretching Fletch)
6-3: Phil G(More good build-up play from the Hawkes saw Spence’s initial shot blocked on the line by Rowan, but Phil G rammed home the rebound)
6-4: Fletch(SuBo’s corner was powerfully headed into the net by a leaping Fletch)
Men of the Match were Fletch, as “he kept working when the chips were down and scored a brills header with the last touch of the game”, and Aidan, as “his power of captaincy took hold again!”
