Home Match Reports Archive Constitution Policies Contact Directions Sponsors

Hawks & Harriers U10 v Stevenage Town A & B

Sunday, September 14 2008

The Hawks had a lively start to their second match, putting Stevenage under pressure straight away. Stevenage countered, but found Ryan and Sahosh solid in defence.

Chances came for Tyler and Ryan who popped up at the other end, but their efforts went wide. Back and forth was the pattern of the first half, as both teams had chances at either end and were evenly matched. Hitchins defence was strong and George, Ben & Tyler were working hard to create chances – one of which was going in, but for a good save from the Stevenage ‘keeper. Hitchin hit the bar with a lob from Ben, but the half time whistle blew with the scores at 0-0.

Ali had to make a save straight away in the second half, which carried on in the same way that the first had finished. Hitchin pressure resulted in an opportunity that Tyler seized upon to score and take the lead (1-0).  This spurred Stevenage on and the Hawks found themselves back under increasing pressure for the rest of the half. Luck was on Hitchins side though as even the traditional ‘goalmouth scramble’ stayed out, as did some other chances from Stevenage.

A couple of late efforts from Ben nearly saw Hawks score a second, but the whistle eventually came and the Hawks celebrated their first win of the season.

The Harriers had a livelier start than the previous week with Zac and Daniel linking up well and Ollie putting in some good tackles early on. Danny was a powerful figure in defence, helped out by excellent cover from Juan-Andres. However despite some excellent attacking play from Daniel there were occasional signs of lost concentration, with players not being closed down.

It was on one of these times that Stevenage produced a powerful dipping shot from the edge of the area that had “goal” written all over it. That was until Ryan threw himself to his left and produced an amazingly strong save that was so good even the opposition coach sportingly congratulated him on it. Midway through the first half, Finley and Alfie came on for Danny and Zac. Alfie was an energetic presence from the outset and Finley grew in confidence as the match went on and by the end had the measure of his opposite number.

Throughout the second half the Harriers put Stevenage under increasing pressure and had some attempts at goal that went agonizingly close. However Ryan was also being kept busy and continued to make some excellent saves. After continuing to put the opposition keeper under pressure, a Stevenage break was not properly closed down and one of their players was left free to take a shot from the edge of the area that sneaked in under the cross bar (0-1).

It was a cruel blow for the Harriers and for Ryan whose heroic keeping deserved a clean sheet. The team can congratulate themselves on another committed performance and should know that this was a match where a draw would have been just rewards for their efforts.

Hawks: Ali; Ryan C; Sahosh; George; Ben; Tyler; Alex; Joe

Harriers: Ryan; Danny; Oliver; Daniel J; Juan-Andres; Matthew; Zac; Alfie; Finley