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19/3/11 - League

Hamworthy Recreation 4 Holt Utd 1

Any time Holt are your opponents you are in for a tough game. Having beaten them away from home earlier in the campaign would only inspire Rec’s local rivals even more than usual. A beautiful spring day and perfect pitch awaited the two sides in front of a a sizeable crowd.

Holt won the toss and opted to change ends with the home side playing with their backs to the bright sunshine in the 1st half. The game started in a cagey manner with both sides making sure that they gave nothing silly away. Holt hassled and harried the Greens every time they were in possession and made life very hard for the home side. No real chances went to either side until midway through the first period when a Holt player headed wide of Kevin Leonard’s goal.

This seemed to spark some more urgency into Rec who upped their work rate and started to impose themselves on the match. A great save by Holt’s keeper, Andrew Suttle, prevented a Rich Sands acrobatic overhead volley from opening the scoring before Ash Boyt scuffed a shot wide of goal.

A spell of Rec pressure led to the games opening goal. A corner swung in from the left found Daysh who controlled the ball and was fouled from behind by Merrifield just as he was about to shoot giving the Ref no option than to point to the penalty spot. Adam Marsh dually obliged to give Rec a lead going into half time.

A confident buzzing Rec took to the field in the second period looking to extend their lead and get what would be a huge three points in their search for a second consecutive title. They looked threatening with every attack and were firmly getting on top of what had been a tight encounter. Jamie Moores was the player to extend his sides lead after a tremendous Rec move that flowed from Ash Boyt at left fullback, through Dan Blackburn and Mike Notley left him with a tap in at the far post.

The next twenty minutes were all Rec until Holt got a spell of possession and got a goal back to put pressure on the hosts. Former player Sam Hollidge unleashed an unstoppable drive to beat Leonard in the Rec goal. Leonard then prevented a Holt equalizer before Rec got back on top and scored a third to put the game beyond their visitors. Notley’s shot squirmed across the 6 yard box for Blackburn to score from close range to give his side breathing space.

Shortly after this Notley pressured the Holt keeper into clearing to his strike partner Moores who shot first time into an empty net to give Rec a 4-1 advantage.

A huge months league fixtures resulted in a mind blowing 12 points as Rec powered on. Cup duty next week against a strong Westlands side.