Post by slush on Nov 22, 2008 17:00:11 GMT
Stiffs indebted to storming start
ER County League Premier Division
Wawne Ferry 6 – 7 Easington Utd Reserves
GIVEN the struggles that this season has already thrown up for new Reserves management duo Craig Smalley and Darren Dawson, it could have been predicted that when the first league win eventually arrived it would prove far from straightforward. But even allowing for this the win at high-flying Wawne was quite extraordinary.
On a day when the snow affecting coastal areas didn’t arrive on Hull’s Noddle Hill Way early enough to postpone the game, when it did – midway through the first half – it was accompanied by a storm in the form of an Easington performance that left Smalley almost speechless.
“The football on show first half wouldn't have been bettered by any side at any point in the league this season”, said the boss as his team established a 6-0 lead inside 27 minutes!
However, what followed afterwards was to render the manager equally gob-smacked as Wawne – despite being reduced to ten men – staged an amazing fight back leaving the Stiffs indebted to man of the match Ben Holtby’s second goal late on.
Easington arrived at Noddle Hill Way bolstered by the inclusion of Frost, Campbell and Hutchinson, with the added bonus of a return to action for both Ben Holtby and Ian Barrow; the latter back at the club for the first time in over a year.
This influx proved timely given the unavailability of Metcalf and Tennyson, injury to Jamieson and the late withdrawals of Hairsine and Hollingsworth.
Employing McLaughlin and Barrow up top with Page and Hutchinson forming the midfield axis, the Stiffs tore into their hosts from the off with the front pair combining to immediate effect for McLaughlin to score from 18 yards out.
Holtby then seized on a poor clearance to make it 2-0 with a fine lob from outside the box before the front pair linked again for the third; McLaughlin’s great pass picking out Barrow who marked his return with a crisp left footed drive into the bottom corner.
Easington were simply irrepressible and when Frost’s 25-yard strike found the top corner, their third-placed opponents must have wondered what hit them.
Worse was to follow for Wawne as Barrow raced on to Frost's pass, poked the ball goalwards past the keeper and was dragged back by a defender before he could make sure. The culprit saw red and Stu Campbell fired the penalty low and hard into the bottom corner.
Smalley, Dawson and the doughty band of visiting supporters (full credit to the Mees, Mr Hutchinson and pitch-side reporter Brown by the way!) could barely believe what they were seeing and there was further quality about Hutchinson's goal that made it 6-0; Frost’s classy pass splitting the full back and centre half allowing “The Hutch” to latch on from 35 yards out and coolly slot home.
The game had been going less than half-an-hour but getting “tonked” at home by the basement club was enough to force most of the already sparsely populated home support to fritter away. Indeed, the biggest concern for the visitors appeared to be that Referee Stead would abandon proceedings in the rapidly deteriorating conditions.
However, in a “Wawning” (?!) of what was to come, poor defending at a free-kick resulted in a scramble and a tap in from close range. HT: 1-6.
With a tight calf forcing Barrow off during the break, Smalley introduced Dawson and went 4-4-1-1, a decision he later acknowledged as being “poor”, although adding: “Saying that, we didn't pass the ball well, we didn’t retain possession, we didn’t defend well and we allowed them back into the game when we should have been out of sight”.
So, as conditions improved in line with the hosts, 1-6 eventually became 5-6 courtesy of the second penalty of the game, awarded for Hutch’s clumsy challenge. Thankfully, just as Wawne were thinking their Ferry had finally come in (??!!) Holtby raced clear to steer home the decisive seventh goal.
Stand-in keeper Pete Waddingham, who enjoyed a difficult afternoon in atrocious handling conditions, then helped secure his side’s move off the bottom of the table with several fine stops, the last at 6-7 when it appeared that first win might just be snatched away. The collective “Get in!” from the visitors at the full time whistle told you otherwise and showed how much it meant to the players.
Easington: Waddingham, Findley, S Campbell, Hutchinson, Fisk, Foster, Page, Holtby, McLaughlin (Rice, 65), Barrow (Dawson, 45), Frost
ER County League Premier Division
Wawne Ferry 6 – 7 Easington Utd Reserves
GIVEN the struggles that this season has already thrown up for new Reserves management duo Craig Smalley and Darren Dawson, it could have been predicted that when the first league win eventually arrived it would prove far from straightforward. But even allowing for this the win at high-flying Wawne was quite extraordinary.
On a day when the snow affecting coastal areas didn’t arrive on Hull’s Noddle Hill Way early enough to postpone the game, when it did – midway through the first half – it was accompanied by a storm in the form of an Easington performance that left Smalley almost speechless.
“The football on show first half wouldn't have been bettered by any side at any point in the league this season”, said the boss as his team established a 6-0 lead inside 27 minutes!
However, what followed afterwards was to render the manager equally gob-smacked as Wawne – despite being reduced to ten men – staged an amazing fight back leaving the Stiffs indebted to man of the match Ben Holtby’s second goal late on.
Easington arrived at Noddle Hill Way bolstered by the inclusion of Frost, Campbell and Hutchinson, with the added bonus of a return to action for both Ben Holtby and Ian Barrow; the latter back at the club for the first time in over a year.
This influx proved timely given the unavailability of Metcalf and Tennyson, injury to Jamieson and the late withdrawals of Hairsine and Hollingsworth.
Employing McLaughlin and Barrow up top with Page and Hutchinson forming the midfield axis, the Stiffs tore into their hosts from the off with the front pair combining to immediate effect for McLaughlin to score from 18 yards out.
Holtby then seized on a poor clearance to make it 2-0 with a fine lob from outside the box before the front pair linked again for the third; McLaughlin’s great pass picking out Barrow who marked his return with a crisp left footed drive into the bottom corner.
Easington were simply irrepressible and when Frost’s 25-yard strike found the top corner, their third-placed opponents must have wondered what hit them.
Worse was to follow for Wawne as Barrow raced on to Frost's pass, poked the ball goalwards past the keeper and was dragged back by a defender before he could make sure. The culprit saw red and Stu Campbell fired the penalty low and hard into the bottom corner.
Smalley, Dawson and the doughty band of visiting supporters (full credit to the Mees, Mr Hutchinson and pitch-side reporter Brown by the way!) could barely believe what they were seeing and there was further quality about Hutchinson's goal that made it 6-0; Frost’s classy pass splitting the full back and centre half allowing “The Hutch” to latch on from 35 yards out and coolly slot home.
The game had been going less than half-an-hour but getting “tonked” at home by the basement club was enough to force most of the already sparsely populated home support to fritter away. Indeed, the biggest concern for the visitors appeared to be that Referee Stead would abandon proceedings in the rapidly deteriorating conditions.
However, in a “Wawning” (?!) of what was to come, poor defending at a free-kick resulted in a scramble and a tap in from close range. HT: 1-6.
With a tight calf forcing Barrow off during the break, Smalley introduced Dawson and went 4-4-1-1, a decision he later acknowledged as being “poor”, although adding: “Saying that, we didn't pass the ball well, we didn’t retain possession, we didn’t defend well and we allowed them back into the game when we should have been out of sight”.
So, as conditions improved in line with the hosts, 1-6 eventually became 5-6 courtesy of the second penalty of the game, awarded for Hutch’s clumsy challenge. Thankfully, just as Wawne were thinking their Ferry had finally come in (??!!) Holtby raced clear to steer home the decisive seventh goal.
Stand-in keeper Pete Waddingham, who enjoyed a difficult afternoon in atrocious handling conditions, then helped secure his side’s move off the bottom of the table with several fine stops, the last at 6-7 when it appeared that first win might just be snatched away. The collective “Get in!” from the visitors at the full time whistle told you otherwise and showed how much it meant to the players.
Easington: Waddingham, Findley, S Campbell, Hutchinson, Fisk, Foster, Page, Holtby, McLaughlin (Rice, 65), Barrow (Dawson, 45), Frost