SBYL under 12 first division
Sat 8th December 2012 - Henry Jones 9.00 ko - Opposition – Aquinas Report by Robert Morrow
Holywood took to the field in almost freezing conditions in an early 9.00 ko against Aquinas. This was our first league game since 3rd November however the boys showed a real appetite to start the game well and were rewarded with an early goal. In only the 2nd minute from a position on the right, outside the box, Niall sent in a delightful free-kick which the Aquinas keeper could not keep out. A great start, however the lead didn’t last too long as a few minutes later our defence were caught ball-watching. One of their forwards latched on to a lovely through ball and despatched a cool finish past Josh to level it at 1-1. The equalizer seemed to give Aquinas a lift and we came under a little bit of pressure after that but the back four of Adam, Paddy, Cameron and the ever-improving and ever-reliable Josh Burford steadied the ship with some resolute defending. Central midfielders Geo and Niall began to exert their authority and started to thread some lovely through balls to Jamie up front. Euan linked well between midfield and attack keeping things simple and maintaining possession. Wingers Thomas and Tom(mackers) also got into the game and found more time and space to get crosses in. All this hard work and enterprise paid off in the final 15 mins of the first half with the boys taking 5 goals off Aquinas. Jamie found the right bottom corner from outside the box to make it 2-1. Thomas took a brilliant slide rule pass from Niall on the left and lobbed the keeper to make it 3-1. Niall got his second by heading in from 4 yards out after a great corner by Geo. Jamie added his second with a fine finish and a minute later sealed his hat-trick with another exquisite cool finish.
Half-time : Holywood 6 – Aquinas 1
We made a couple of changes at the start of 2nd half by bringing on Jack for Tom and Tongai for Euan. Tongai took over from Adam at right back, Adam moved into centre-back and and Paddy was moved up front with Jamie. The changes didn’t upset our rhthym at all. Tongai performed brilliantly as usual, with strong tackling and providing great cover to allow Jack to go on his trademark rampaging runs down the right wing. More changes were made to freshen things up with Euan and Tom coming back on. Euan played as a withdrawn striker and Tom slotted into the backline to allow Cameron to go up front and soon after he scored the seventh with a cracking lob over the keeper from the corner of the 6 yard box. On 50 mins Niall scored his third by lashing a shot in from the edge of the box. With such a strong lead we played three at the back and went with a 4-3-3 for last 10 mins. Further chances fell to Adam, Paddy, Jack and Geo but we settled for a final tally of 8 goals in the end. Final word goes to goal-keeper Josh, who despite enduring the chilly conditions and lack of activity, stayed on his toes and remained alert to the rare opposition attacks. Well done everyone and we look forward to the next game against st.marys.
Result : Holywood 8, Aquinas 1.
Goal scorers – Niall Grimley(3), Jamie Owens(3), Cameron, Thomas Wilson.
MOTM - Jamie Owens.
Squad – josh Johnston, adam Collins, tom mcilhatton, Cameron Alexander, geo moore, niall grimley, josh burford, paddy crookshanks, Jamie owens, euan morrow, Thomas Wilson, tongai Watson, jack mcneill.
