SBYL under 12 first division Report by Robert Morrow
Thursday 25th April 2013 – Henry Jones 6.30pm ko - Opposition – Ards Youth
The first evening kick-off for the boys this season was this re-scheduled game against Ards Youth. A win would take us level with second placed Donegal Celtic with three games left. However tonight’s opponents gained an impressive 2-1 win over Carryduff last week so we weren’t taking this lightly. A couple of changes were made to the team to try and combat Ards Youth’s physical presence. Ben was slotted in at right back and Tom McIlhatton played up front with Jamie. After a very untidy first 10 mins or so on a bumpy pitch, we grabbed our first goal when Thomas was ‘forced’ to use his right foot to score(lol!!) after initial good work from Jamie and Tom Mc. That seemed to settle us a wee bit but we were still struggling to get our passing game going. Ards can take some credit for this as they were working hard to close us down. The 2nd goal arrived soon after when Tom McIlhatton poked the ball over the line from a few yards out after a corner. He got his second and the team’s 3rd when Jamie and Thomas combined again on the left and Jamie sent over a superb cross for Tom to volley in first time, a smart finish! That seemed to unsettle Ards and we began to dominate thereafter. Our defence of Ben, Paddy, Adam and Josh B settled down a lot better and those early sliced clearances were now more confidently despatched up the pitch. Just before half-time we won a free kick about 25 yards out. Paddy got the nod to take it. He took advantage of the sun shining in the Ards keeper’s eyes to loft a high ball high into the net. Their keeper could do nothing about it.
Half-time : Ards Youth 0, Holywood 4.
For the start of the 2nd half, our three subs were introduced. Geo had problems with a sore hand so he came off for Dozie, Euan came on for double goal-scorer Tom McIlhatton & Cameron came on for Josh Burford – Thomas went to left back and Cam played on the wing. Ards tightened things up early in the second half. We also had to deal with a few hefty challenges which the ref seemed to let go. However the fifth goal wasn’t long coming. Cameron made a nice diagonal run into the box from left to right but was tripped as he was about to shoot…penalty! Jamie stuck it away to make it 5-0. By now we were stroking the ball about a lot better. In the first half the likes of Niall and Tom Wilson were getting bogged down in a midfield battle but in the second half they were getting more freedom and their quicker(and better) passing opened up more space for wingers Dozie & Cameron. Euan was also finding space and using the ball intelligently. In fact he played a wonderful through ball to Dozie who raced into the box to place a low shot past the keeper’s right. That was now 6-0. Cameron got the 7th and last goal of the night for us when he glanced a header from a superbly flighted free-kick from geo to elude the advancing keeper and find the net from 10 yards out. Not one of our most sparkling performances of this or any season but nevertheless an important win and this keeps us in the hunt for 2nd place.
Final score : Ards Youth 0 , Holywood 7.
Goal scorers – Thomas, Tom McIlhatton(2), Paddy, Jamie , Dozie, Cameron .
MOTM - Adam, for standing up to the bully-boy tactics of the Ards number 6.
Squad – Josh Johnston, Josh Burford, Tom Mc Illhatton, Paddy Crookshanks, George Moore, Cameron Alexander, Ben Murray, Niall Grimley, Thomas Wilson, Jamie Owens, Euan Morrow, Tom Wilson, Adam Collins, Dozie Ajeh.
