Haden Rangers 5 v 1 TS UNITS FC
The UNITS traveled to Haden and the contrast in the two teams was evident in the team sheet. Haden having 16, an emergency signing striker straight in up top and the UNITS due to a combination of a late morning drop out, injuries and work commitments traveled with 10 and the management duo of Cuzer & Si. Due to Winny not turning up Si had to take to the pitch when injured playing yesterday so we mustered 11 with many playing out of position but lined up to start with Mozza, Clarkey, Chinner, CJ, Si, Luke, Azza, Ryan, Gilo, Jim & Lewis - sub was Cuzer
The message pre-game was to try and stay compact, on a big wide pitch it was even for the first 10 minutes, Haden shaded possession but created little of note whilst at the other end Lewis and Jim were linking well and you felt there was chances in the game for the UNITS 15 in good covering from Clarkey stopped the Haden forward getting away but Mozza was relatively untested On 20 minutes we took the lead with a classic counter attack, the UNITS defended a Haden attack, Azza picked up the ball in our half, darted away from two Haden challenges, drove at the Haden back line and from 20 yards forced their keeper into a smart save but Lewis was on hand to tap the ball into the unguarded net to put the UNITS 1-0 up We were defending better this week, Mozza then made two routine saves before CJ cleared off the line after a bit of pinball in the UNITS box On 35 minutes the UNITS almost snatched a 2nd, Lewis getting away from the Haden defense he was forced a little wide but got his shot off and the home keeper saved well at the near post Within 60 seconds however it was 1-1, a good Haden move through midfield resulted in their striker up top being played in behind the UNITS defense and he finished cooly past Mozza to make it 1-1 Approaching half time Gilo took a nasty knock on his ankle as we came in all square at the interval
HT Haden 1-1 UNITS
Excellent endeavor first half from the UNITS especially with so many playing out of their natural positions and we had dug in well against a decent Haden side with their emergency signing striker being by far & away their most dangerous player Gilo soldiered on but was clearly feeling the effects of the challenge on half time alas a shortage of options meant he had to be patched up and sent back out
Haden started the 2nd half on the front foot and took the lead on 55 minutes when their striker again did well to wriggle free and fire into bottom corner from 18 yards Quickly after it was 3-1 and this knocked the stuffing out the UNITS, CJ this time the culprit selling Mozza short with a defensive back header and the Haden forward picked up the loose ball before beating Mozza with a fierce strike On a big pitch and with no options from the bench the UNITS stuck to the task the best they could but there was a lot of tired legs out there and players playing through injury this just meant Haden kept coming at us despite our moments on the break, Azza fired over, Lewis went close and Jim just couldn't get the ball to drop as we kept plugging away
The UNITS then quickly conceded two goals in 5 minutes first their ES striker completed his hat trick with a cool finish before a deep back post cross was headed across goal and their midfielder nipped in front of Si to slam home
Si was then replaced by Cuzer with 25 left
Chinner almost got in from an Azza pass but Mozza made a couple of decent stops to keep the score down as we dug in the last 20 but it was a case of damage limitation as Haden making substitutions and keeping things fresh took advantage of a weakened UNITS side to run out comfortable winners
Man of the match went to Azza who made most of our things happening from midfield
Next up we travel to Arrow 2000 in the cup, hopefully with a few returning faces
Mozza 7 Clarkey 7 Chin 7 CJ 6 Si 6 Luke 7 Azza 7* Ryan 7 Gilo 7 Jim 6 Lewis 7 Subs Cuzer 6
