HAWKS PROGRESS IN CUP
21 Nov 2010

Brampton Rovers U13’s 3 Matlock Town Hawks U13’s 5

The Hawks started with a changed line up owing to holidays and injuries as they looked to progress in the Cup in an away match against a team from a higher division.
Matt Harwood in goals a solid back line of Charlie Horridge, William Rayson, Aedan Frazer and Oliver Swale providing the springboard for Levi Maslauskas-Nicholson, Luke Booker , James Reynolds and Jack Stephens to support Jacob Poole and Kyran Giles upfront.
The match got off to a flying start with the Hawks raiding down both flanks and repulsing strong forward play from Brampton but the deadlock was broken as a hopeful ball over the top saw a well taken goal give Brampton the lead. The Hawks though came straight back from the restart and excellent play saw Maslauskas-Nicholson go a weaving run supported by Poole before deservedly levelling the scores , the Hawks then proceeded to take the match to their Division One opposition a series of throws down the left saw a free kick awarded to the hawks and a pinpoint ball by Rayson saw Booker head the Hawks into a well deserved lead. Brampton continued to push but strong defensive play saw Swale, Horridge, Frazer and Rayson calmly dealing with everything and Harwood handling the speculative long range efforts as half time arrived at 2 : 1 to the Hawks.
The second half saw a similar start with Brampton quickly equalising following on from a corner, before the Hawks stepped it back up again with Connor Peacock on as a sub stealing the ball straight from kick off and setting up Maslauskas-Nicholson to restore the lead with a glorious shot from outside the area. The Brampton net then lead a charmed life as the Hawks looked to capitalise on a series of corners that saw both posts and crossbar hit. A quick break forward by Brampton saw the ball cleared straight back up field by Harwood and Maslauskas-Nicholson was felled in the area before stepping up calmly to make it 4 : 2 to a hawks side well in control from the forwards closing down all the way back to Harwood. Another series of well worked football see Josh Townsend on the right work the ball down the line with Reynolds and Giles before Maslauskas-Nicholson claimed his fourth to make it 5 : 2, booker and Horridge working well to stifle Brampton attacks before a late goal saw the match finish at 5 : 3 to the Hawks a score that didn’t fully reflect the dominance the Hawks had maintained.
Man of the Match impossible to award to an individual, so well had the team performed it was given to the whole team to reflect a job well done and a place in the next round.