SBYL under 12 first division
Sat 15th December 2012 - Mallusk 10.00 ko - Opposition – St.Marys REPORT BY ROBERT MORROW
With only eleven players available due to four absentees, Holywood faced a tough St.Marys side knowing that a win was vital to give themselves any chance of challenging for the league. Despite having no subs the boys put on one of their best performances of the season so far. We knew from our first encounter with the Glengormley side, which was a 3-3 draw back in September, that a strong battling performance was required. However after being warned pre-match about being alert to the quick St.Marys forwards, we fell behind to an early goal. In the 10th minute though Thomas Wilson got us level with a superb rising shot from just inside the box. We created many chances after that. The best of these was when Jamie was put through by a good pass from Tom McIlhatton on the right, after rounding the keeper he shaped to get the ball back on to his right foot but this allowed the defenders to get back and clear off the line. At the other end Paddy brilliantly cleared off our goal line to deny st.marys the lead again. However the ever lively Jamie Owens scrambled the ball in to give us a 2-1 lead. St.Marys came back again and scored with a header from a free kick. On the stroke of half time Jamie brilliantly headed in from 4 yards out after a great run and cross from the left from Thomas Wilson.
Half-time : St.Marys 2 – Holywood 3
St.Marys came out second half determined to level the game but our magnificent defence of Adam, Paddy, Cameron and Tongai weren’t giving much away. Josh in goals had a great game and was extremely brave on a couple of occasions coming off his line to clear the danger. It has to be said though that the ref gave the opposition a lucky break by awarding them a penalty for handball early in the 2nd half, although it looked more like ball to hand. Anyway the pen was well placed into the corner and the score was 3-3 and all to play for. This stung our guys into action, in particular the midfield two of Geo and Niall who showed amazing composure and vision to pick out forwards Euan and Jamie time after time. Euan linked well with midfield, controlling passes and feeding good ball to the wings. Geo and Niall sent Jamie through with some superb passes and he was unlucky not to score from these, with the St.Marys defence keeping a tight rein on him. However not long after that penalty, we went 4-3 up when Niall popped up unmarked around the penalty spot and struck a sweet left foot shot into the bottom right corner. That was on 36 mins however it took another 20 mins to get that deserved insurance goal to make it 5-3. Niall again popped up this time a few yards out to poke it home. On the stroke of full time we almost made it six when Tom spotted the keeper off his line and hit an audacious shot from 30 yards that came back off the post. A great performance & a great win. We have a well-deserved break over Christmas. Next game sat 5th January.
Result : St.Marys 3 - Holywood 5.
Goal scorers – Niall Grimley(2...36&55 mins), Jamie Owens(2...20&30 mins),Thomas Wilson(10 mins).
MOTM - the whole team were fantastic but will give it Paddy for his bravery & composure at the back.
Squad – josh Johnston, adam Collins, Paddy Crookshanks, Cameron Alexander, Tongai Watson, Tom Mc Illhatton, George Moore, niall grimley, Thomas Wilson, Jamie owens, euan morrow.
