Match report
Hawthorne Rangers 0 - 3 Northfield
by Eddie Bernard
Tell us what you think below...
Hawthorne continued their mysteriously bad run of performances against Northfield with a disappointing defeat after the optimism of last week. Hawthorne had their chances to put some pressure on Northfield, but by failing to test their keeper Hawthorne were, ultimately, architects of their own downfall.
The game got off to a terrible start as the Hawthorne defence were caught napping, conceding a soft goal within seconds of the kick off. Gifting a one goal head start was an opportunity Northfield were not going to refuse, and it immediately put the Hawthorne team on the back foot.
The first half was mostly a scrappy affair. Northfield were getting forward and taking chances, but many of them were blazed wide or over the crossbar. Hawthorne were also defending pretty well to keep Northfield from getting their noses any further ahead, with some good tackles by Jay T and Josh.
Hawthorne were not getting forward as much, but they did manage to scrape together a couple of chances: the first one was when Shaun had the ball on the left edge of the Northfield penalty area, but he had no support in the attack and the chance was wasted.
The second opportunity was even better, when Lee had the ball but, under good pressure from the Northfield defence, saw his effort drift agonisingly wide of the near post.
Half time came around and the game was delicately balanced. The next goal would be critical; Hawthorne knew it and exerted as much pressure and high tempo football as they could after the break to try and get a foothold in the match.
Unfortunately, it was all to no avail when after 55 minutes Northfield got the second goal which effectively killed the game off. Credit to Hawthorne, however, they did persist and kept the game open for the remainder of the time.
The problem then was that it occasionally left the defensive line exposed. It could have been worse but for some excellent saves from Darren and a great block from Josh, but at the death Northfield were fortunate to grab a third as the Hawthorne defence failed to clear the danger.
Overall it was a shame to lose by a three goal margin. Hawthorne arguably should have got on the scoresheet at some point, but they lacked the cutting edge to craft a genuine chance. In truth, it was only through some decent defending that they didn't concede any more. And that was why Jay T and Josh got the men of the match awards.
Maybe next time...
| Team for the game | |||
| Darren | |||
| Mikey | Josh | Jay T | Adam |
| Joe | |||
| Charlie | Lee | Daniel B | Mark |
| Shaun | |||
Men of the Match: Jay T and Josh
Subs: Luke, Eddy, Daniel G and Jay S
What do you think? Post your comments below...