Hawkley 2 v U13's 11
Instead of dwelling too much on the goals the performance today throughout the team now thriving after being given and accepting a sense of responsibility was awesome.
Hawkley coming up from Division Two had hitherto competed well in every game and expected to no doubt in this but in reality after going 1-0 down after 5 minutes it was one way traffic in this game. Billinge missed a penalty as Bibby’s effort was well saved by the Hawkley keeper and also had a perfectly good goal disallowed by the Referee when the linesman flagged it in when well placed and had an effort for handball ruled out with Rooke waiting to nod the ball home behind him.
The use of the width of the pitch and control of the ball was excellent as was the use of the pace of Rooke, Frederick, Leyland, Barron and in the second half Bradbury ensured Hawkley were torn apart as soon as the ball crossed the halfway line.
In truth all the boys played well today and the team is beginning to gel now and the result will send a few raised eyebrows around the league as it was fully deserved.
In the first half the running with the ball at their feet of Frederick and Leyland supplemented by Rooke playing the lone striker role claiming three assists and using the wide areas well, the probing balls of Barron and Sinnott and the sheer pace was a joy to watch as the boys clearly enjoyed themselves.
In the second half playing downhill with Owen replacing the solid Crawford and Fletch replacing Bibby who played the previous day and Bradders coning on for Rooke, the pace was forced again although the fluidity in the final third was lost somewhat. This was more than made up for by the effort of the boys who came on.
With three goals coming directly or indirectly from Bradbury corners and Leyland having the beating of the Hawkley right back as he ran in three more second half goals with Frederick finishing well twice more and Bradders getting a deserved goal after Hawkley pulled one back with a smart finish the scoreline could have been wider with several shots wide and over the bar.
Mentions must go to Hamilton in goal today who was always perfectly positioned and the whole of the back 4 who worked hard against the two excellent front men for Hawkley.
Ayre was player of the Month for September