The East Sussex League had managed to contrive a final day shoot-out by changing this fixture from the end of March to the middle of April which denied the Hawks the services of regular keeper Rob Chandler and outstanding defender Martin Sands although it probably caused problems for Orington as well.

The Hawks have experienced this type of game before as they defeated Eastbourne Working Mens Club in the final matches of the 2001/2 and 2002/3 seasons to clinch the ESL Div 3 and Div 2 titles at the expense of their last day opponents,

On this occasion the Hawks started really well and raced into a 2-0 first half lead.  Paul Channer got the first, although he appeared to be off-side as he broke clear, finishing well with his trademark shot across goal finding the net by way of the far post.  The second came from an in-swinging corner that a visiting defender could only divert into his own net.  Orington created few chances in the half as John Baxter did an excellent job in organising the Hawks defence stepping into the sweeper role that Martin Sands has played all year. 

Channer could have added a third in the second half as he got clear again but the keeper saved well with his legs.  Sam Beaney also did well to claw a goal bound effort out but then Orington got their life-line when the Hawks failed to clear a corner and it was smashed home at the second attempt.  With Harry Young hopping around on one ankle but bravely carrying on it seemed that the Hawks may well hold out for the vital win, both teams knowing that a draw would favour the visitors.  However, the decisive moment of the game (and the whole season!) arrived with just five minutes left.

The Hawks seemed to have cleared the danger but a rather tame ball was lobbed back into the area and as Beaney raced from his goal and tried to gather the ball a forward slid in and forced the ball home.  The Hawks tried to rally in the final minutes but couldn’t raise another shot on goal.

It’s always easy to look back and see where we went wrong – if only Herstmonceux hadn’t equalised with the last kick at their place…if only we hadn’t lost at home to Cranbrook… but at the end of the day we can be proud of completing a season with just two defeats from eighteen games – there are lot of teams who would have loved to achieve that.

Congratulations to Orington on their title and see you next year!

Team: S Beaney, O Lawrence(L Colvin), M Palumbo, J Baxter, H Young, J Baldock (G West), M Todd, C Golding (c), B Marshall, G Lawrence, P Channer, T Sayer (DNP), I Ferguson (DNP)

Goals: P Channer, o.g

ROBERTSBRIDGE CHARITY CUP (JUNIOR SECTION) – Quarter Final

The Hawks haven’t had the best of luck with cup draws this season, losing to a good Ore Athletic team who then went on to win the Div 2/3 cup and then to an even better Rolvenden side who went on to lift the Hawkhurst Charity cup on Easter Monday.

So a draw away to Division one high-flyers Hollington Reserves in the Robertsbridge Charity seemed like a recipe for disaster but, despite the eventual score line, this was by far the best of the cup efforts from the Hawks this season.  The match was a fairly even midfield battle for the first twenty minutes as the Hawks were not intimidated by their more illustrious opponents.  Matt Todd in particular revelled in the aggressive atmosphere and Anthony Byrne, moving up from playing Div 7 to a Div 1 team in just one week, also acquitted himself well and he had the best two Hawkhurst shots of the game.

Once again it was hard going for the Hawks defence who battled well but, at this level, any mistake will be quickly punished and Hollington grabbed two goals in five minutes midway through the half.  However the expected rout didn’t happen and, whilst the Hawks had no further efforts on goal, they were always in the game especially with the arrival of veteran Paul Channer. If he could have found the net in the last fifteen minutes then the home side may have started to worry but instead they grabbed two more late goals with a couple of good finishes.

Team: S Beaney, O Lawrence, M Palumbo, M Sands, H Young, M Todd, S King, A Byrne (P Channer), J Baldock, C Golding (c), G Lawrence

@ Sidley United

Hawkhurst Utd Res  2  Orington Res  1

The last time that a Hawkhurst United reserve side walked out for a cup final was on 29^th April 1991 when Howard Stephenson’s team beat Hellingly Hospital on a rain soaked night at Westfield.

There have been a lot of ups and downs since then, including at least one season when there wasn’t a reserve team at all.  Dan Morley deserves praise for reviving the team last year but it is Pete Colvin’s no-nonsense efforts that have turned them into a strong competitive side this season.

The Div 6/7 cup final had rather a strange look to it as, unusually, no teams from the higher division had made it to the final.  Orington were the highest placed of the two finalists, in third place with a good chance of promotion and had the psychological advantage of a recent 1-0 league win.  The Hawks are 6^th in Division 7, still with a mathematical chance of promotion but are really looking for a top four finish.

There was a slight delay at the beginning while Pete made Paul Channer take his kit off again and then the sides were led out on to the Sidley pitch, where the officials, rather bizarrely, made them turn their backs to the main stand and line up facing an empty goal and a row of houses!  The teams were read out with suitable cheers (and boos for Crouchie) and then we were ready to start.

It was clear from the line up that Pete had decided to proceed with his plan to play Andy Todd up front to give the team an ‘edge’ so that the Orington defenders wouldn’t have an easy (or quiet!) night of it.  Now a lot of bad decisions have been made in the Eight Bells on a Saturday night (ho hum! enough said) but this one seemed to make sense and so Anthony Byrne was a surprise choice to be dropped to the bench (once Paul could be persuaded to get off it).

Orington had the better of the first ten minutes as the young Hawks side looked rather nervous and the game was mainly played in our half of the field.  Orington had a man with a long throw but, as is so often the case, they used it far too much even when it was clear that John Baxter and Jamie Crouch were winning all the headers.  Orington’s best chance came when the ball fell loose in the box and was stabbed towards goal but Dan Morley, as he has done so many times this season, dived to his left to push the ball round the post.

That save, and the steady influence of skipper John Baxter, seemed to settle the Hawks and you could see the confidence growing in the players.  This confidence allowed the Hawks to push a higher defensive line and they looked much more comfortable from then on with Baxter using his pace and experience to cope with any emergencies.  Jason Meadows soon had the beating of his man and he worked well with his brother giving the Hawks a steady outlet down the right.  On the other side Jamie Young took a little longer to get into the game but looked good on the ball. However, the Hawks’ only threat remained the long ball to Toddy and he was able to muscle his way onto a couple of half chances but he didn’t have the confidence to get his shot away quickly enough.  Never be afraid to miss Toddy, Matt’s made a career out of it!

The rest of the half remained deadlocked with few chances.  From the touchline you could sense that it was going to be close and the first goal would be vital and might even be decisive.

The Hawks started the second half in great style and looked by far the better team.  On the night, the Hawkhurst players made all of the correct decisions (except one, but more of that later!). When it needed to be booted out then away it went but when there was time on the ball then Grant Meadows, Tom Sayer and Lee Colvin were happy to get it down and pass it.

The opening goal finally came after another strong run by Toddy, the ball was played across the box to Grant Meadows who was coming in unmarked.  Young Grant, in his first season for the club, has had some stick for his general attitude on the pitch but he is one of the most skilful players that we have, so it was good to see him moving on to the ball rather than one of our more wholehearted but less skilful players. The outcome was never really in doubt and Meadows stroked the ball home for a well deserved lead.

Pete brought on Anthony Byrne for the tiring Ben Turk and he was soon involved as the Hawks went 2-0 up.  Toddy burst clear again, rode two tackles and passed the ball to Anthony who rounded the keeper and, as the ball broke clear, Toddy was the first to get to it and pass it in to the net.

Pete was mobbed by his jubilant players, Paul phoned home to get a space cleared in his medal cabinet and it looked as though the trophy was coming back to Hawkhurst.

The Hawks then lost their shape a bit as they pulled players back and ended up with two spare men at the back and the wide midfield players pulled back to cover at full-back.  As a result, when the ball was cleared there was too much for Anthony and second sub John Angel to do so it came straight back.  Orington hit the post from close range and then the great Bobby Wiggins decided to make his mark on the match.

A forward gathered the ball on the right side and Wiggins moved across to cover the danger.  Everyone knew that it would be ok.  We have spent many long hours in the Bells listening to Wiggins explain how to play the game, surely the old git would take his own advice and shepherd the opponent away from the danger area, the worst thing that could happen would be that he would concede a corner.  But no, he had yet another senior moment and launched himself into a tackle that he completely mistimed and the ref had no choice but to give a penalty.  Wiggins jumped to his feet to protest his innocence but the horrified looks on the faces of his team mates confirmed the worst – he had let Orington back into the game!

Over to Dan Morley, who has been in superb form against penalties this year, and the Hawks keeper was able to block the kick but couldn’t prevent the rebound from finding the net.

It should have been ‘squeaky bum’ time for the last five minutes but, for some reason it wasn’t.  A tiring Orington team never really packed men into the box and the Hawks defence held firm to the final whistle.

Manager Pete Colvin can take great pride in what he has achieved this year and especially on the night when his decisions clearly had a major influence on the game as Toddy just about edged the MOM award ahead of several other good candidates.

A great night for the team and for the club and especially for the travelling first teamers who could celebrate the cup win and still give Bobby Wiggins lots of grief! 

Team:- D Morley, J Meadows, B Wiggins, J Baxter (c), J Crouch, G Meadows (J Angel), J Young, L Colvin, T Sayer, B Turk (A Byrne), A Todd, T Palmer (DNP), D Poole (DNP).

Goals:- G Meadows, A Todd

One of the best things about cup competitions is that you get to play against different teams, unless you enter the Hawkhurst Charity Cup where you get to play Rolvenden for three years in a row – the next game has already been booked for March 23^rd 2013.

On the positive side, Rolvenden’s pitch was excellent and they have some new spacious changing rooms and a shower block – on the down side, as usual, the showers weren’t working.

Rolvenden are a strong side and dominated nearly the entire match.  They should have been at least five up by the break but were thwarted by two off-side decisions, a post, a Harry Young hand ball and some poor finishing but also by some good defending and goalkeeping from the Hawks.

As it was the Hawks trailed by just a single goal at the interval and put up a much better effort for the first part of the second half although they still failed to work the home keeper with Jason Baldock’s curling effort being the best of the day.  Once Rolvenden had bagged their second goal the game was just about over and, despite some more dogged Hawks defending, the home side ran out comfortable winners – although their ‘family’ of supporters carried on as if they were losing 4-0 rather than cruising to a pretty straight forward victory (funny lot).

Team: R Chandler, S King (I Ferguson), M Palumbo, M Sands, H Young, G West (P Channer), M Todd, C Golding (c), B Marshall, J Baldock (S Beaney), G Lawrence.

@ Sidley United

Hawkhurst Utd Res  2  Orington Res  1

The last time that a Hawkhurst United reserve side walked out for a cup final was on 29^th April 1991 when Howard Stephenson’s team beat Hellingly Hospital on a rain soaked night at Westfield.

There have been a lot of ups and downs since then, including at least one season when there wasn’t a reserve team at all.  Dan Morley deserves praise for reviving the team last year but it is Pete Colvin’s no-nonsense efforts that have turned them into a strong competitive side this season.

The Div 6/7 cup final had rather a strange look to it as, unusually, no teams from the higher division had made it to the final.  Orington were the highest placed of the two finalists, in third place with a good chance of promotion and had the psychological advantage of a recent 1-0 league win.  The Hawks are 6^th in Division 7, still with a mathematical chance of promotion but are really looking for a top four finish.

There was a slight delay at the beginning while Pete made Paul Channer take his kit off again and then the sides were led out on to the Sidley pitch, where the officials, rather bizarrely, made them turn their backs to the main stand and line up facing an empty goal and a row of houses!  The teams were read out with suitable cheers (and boos for Crouchie) and then we were ready to start.

It was clear from the line up that Pete had decided to proceed with his plan to play Andy Todd up front to give the team an ‘edge’ so that the Orington defenders wouldn’t have an easy (or quiet!) night of it.  Now a lot of bad decisions have been made in the Eight Bells on a Saturday night (ho hum! enough said) but this one seemed to make sense and so Anthony Byrne was a surprise choice to be dropped to the bench (once Paul could be persuaded to get off it).

Orington had the better of the first ten minutes as the young Hawks side looked rather nervous and the game was mainly played in our half of the field.  Orington had a man with a long throw but, as is so often the case, they used it far too much even when it was clear that John Baxter and Jamie Crouch were winning all the headers.  Orington’s best chance came when the ball fell loose in the box and was stabbed towards goal but Dan Morley, as he has done so many times this season, dived to his left to push the ball round the post.

That save, and the steady influence of skipper John Baxter, seemed to settle the Hawks and you could see the confidence growing in the players.  This confidence allowed the Hawks to push a higher defensive line and they looked much more comfortable from then on with Baxter using his pace and experience to cope with any emergencies.  Jason Meadows soon had the beating of his man and he worked well with his brother giving the Hawks a steady outlet down the right.  On the other side Jamie Young took a little longer to get into the game but looked good on the ball. However, the Hawks’ only threat remained the long ball to Toddy and he was able to muscle his way onto a couple of half chances but he didn’t have the confidence to get his shot away quickly enough.  Never be afraid to miss Toddy, Matt’s made a career out of it!

The rest of the half remained deadlocked with few chances.  From the touchline you could sense that it was going to be close and the first goal would be vital and might even be decisive.

The Hawks started the second half in great style and looked by far the better team.  On the night, the Hawkhurst players made all of the correct decisions (except one, but more of that later!). When it needed to be booted out then away it went but when there was time on the ball then Grant Meadows, Tom Sayer and Lee Colvin were happy to get it down and pass it.

The opening goal finally came after another strong run by Toddy, the ball was played across the box to Grant Meadows who was coming in unmarked.  Young Grant, in his first season for the club, has had some stick for his general attitude on the pitch but he is one of the most skilful players that we have, so it was good to see him moving on to the ball rather than one of our more wholehearted but less skilful players. The outcome was never really in doubt and Meadows stroked the ball home for a well deserved lead.

Pete brought on Anthony Byrne for the tiring Ben Turk and he was soon involved as the Hawks went 2-0 up.  Toddy burst clear again, rode two tackles and passed the ball to Anthony who rounded the keeper and, as the ball broke clear, Toddy was the first to get to it and pass it in to the net.

Pete was mobbed by his jubilant players, Paul phoned home to get a space cleared in his medal cabinet and it looked as though the trophy was coming back to Hawkhurst.

The Hawks then lost their shape a bit as they pulled players back and ended up with two spare men at the back and the wide midfield players pulled back to cover at full-back.  As a result, when the ball was cleared there was too much for Anthony and second sub John Angel to do so it came straight back.  Orington hit the post from close range and then the great Bobby Wiggins decided to make his mark on the match.

A forward gathered the ball on the right side and Wiggins moved across to cover the danger.  Everyone knew that it would be ok.  We have spent many long hours in the Bells listening to Wiggins explain how to play the game, surely the old git would take his own advice and shepherd the opponent away from the danger area, the worst thing that could happen would be that he would concede a corner.  But no, he had yet another senior moment and launched himself into a tackle that he completely mistimed and the ref had no choice but to give a penalty.  Wiggins jumped to his feet to protest his innocence but the horrified looks on the faces of his team mates confirmed the worst – he had let Orington back into the game!

Over to Dan Morley, who has been in superb form against penalties this year, and the Hawks keeper was able to block the kick but couldn’t prevent the rebound from finding the net.

It should have been ‘squeaky bum’ time for the last five minutes but, for some reason it wasn’t.  A tiring Orington team never really packed men into the box and the Hawks defence held firm to the final whistle.

Manager Pete Colvin can take great pride in what he has achieved this year and especially on the night when his decisions clearly had a major influence on the game as Toddy just about edged the MOM award ahead of several other good candidates.

A great night for the team and for the club and especially for the travelling first teamers who could celebrate the cup win and still give Bobby Wiggins lots of grief! 

Team:- D Morley, J Meadows, B Wiggins, J Baxter (c), J Crouch, G Meadows (J Angel), J Young, L Colvin, T Sayer, B Turk (A Byrne), A Todd, T Palmer (DNP), D Poole (DNP).

Goals:- G Meadows, A Todd

The Hawks had a fairly comfortable afternoon in the Robertsbridge Charity Cup, against a Burwash side that worked hard but were always up against it as they could only just get together eleven players.

With Manager Matt Bates AWOL it was left to Paul Channer to lead the team and his approach seemed to work with a 3-0 half-time lead.  Whether it was Paul’s pre-match ‘Henry V’ type speech or the fact that he opted to forget about the 3 hour warm-up is open to debate.

Hero of the first half was Chris Golding who scored a not very perfect hat-trick (left ear, right ear and shin!).  His first came after some good work and cross by Matt Todd on the left but Golding managed to miss the ball completely from a foot out with the goal wide open.  However, from the subsequent Jason Baldock corner, the grizzled veteran was able to nod home.  His second came after Ben Marshall (holding midfield?) burst through and edged the ball over the advancing keeper only to see it bounce back off the bar and fall to Golding (holding midfield??) who was lurking on his own in the six yard box.  The hat-trick came as Martin Sands headed back across goal and Golding turned the ball home.

Hawkhurst had played some good football in the first half, getting the ball wide to Matt Todd and Shane King at every opportunity and Marco Palumbo making some great overlapping runs from full-back.  In the second half the Hawks started to overdo it with players trying to take on too many men and, apart from one memorable run by Gary West, getting caught with the ball. The visiting keeper made some good saves, Matt Todd hit the post and Burwash had a late effort pushed out by Rob Chandler. The only goal of the half came from Jason Baldock once he finally decided that he was standing on just the right blade of grass to shoot – even then a defender nearly blocked it!

The game always had an enjoyable end of season atmosphere to it, competitive but played in good spirit by both sides – which is surely the whole point of it all, well done to both teams!

Team: R Chandler, M Palumbo, S King (T Palmer), M Sands (S Beaney), H Young, M Todd, C Golding (c), B Marshall, G West, J Baldock, G Lawrence.

Goals: C Golding (3), J Baldock.

After last week’s thrashing, it looked a tough test for the Hawks as they returned to league action knowing that they must beat Battle to have any chance of claiming the Div 3 title.  The two sides had enjoyed a close fought match at the Moor with the Hawks finally winning 3-1 thanks to two late Paul Channer goals but this time the Hawks were missing the injured veteran although Battle were also deprived of some key men through injury and suspensions.

The first half was a lot closer than the 3-0 half time score line showed, Battle had some good efforts which whistled past the Hawkhurst goal but most of them were from long range.  Chris Golding opened the scoring with a close range header after some excellent work and cross from George Lawrence, George then added the second with a good run and shot and full-back Ollie Lawrence (playing right wing with occasional visits to the defence!!) bagged his second for the club after the home defence failed to clear a corner.

Battle got back into the game early in the second half with a good move down the Hawkhurst left and a close range finish, George added his second for the visitors but Battle came straight back again and scored with a curling shot from the edge of the box.  With the score at 4-2 it seemed that another home goal would really make a match of it but Battle seemed to disintegrate in the last half hour and the Hawks were able to run in goals at will.

Gary West and Matt Todd revelled in the space that they were allowed and provided the ammunition for both Lawrence and Baldock to complete their hat-tricks. Toddy also got on the score sheet himself as the home keeper found himself having to face two or three attackers without a defender in sight!

There were a lot of good points from this game, both Ben Marshall and manager Matt Bates were reasonably sober, Paul Channer’s injury suddenly got better when he saw that goals were there for the taking and both Lawrence and Baldock showed confidence and clinical finishing in front of goal.  They will need to keep this up for the remaining games of the season; come on lads, we can’t have a top goal scorer with less than 20 goals!!

Team: R Chandler, O Lawrence, M Palumbo (S Beaney), M Sands, H Young, M Todd, S King (G West), C Golding (c), B Marshall, J Baldock, G Lawrence.

Goals:  J Baldock (3), G Lawrence (3), C Golding, M Todd, O Lawrence

25/02/12

The Hawks always knew that this Div 2/3 Cup semi-final would be hard work as Ore are going very well in Division 2 with only 2 defeats all season.  There was a difference in attitude from the start as Ore arrived with 5 substitutes and a large vocal support whilst the Hawks had to press-gang Gary West to be their second sub and were waiting until just before kick-off for the arrival of Ben Marshall.

Ore dominated the early stages and, as usual, the Hawks conceded a lot of free-kicks around their box with Ore scoring from one and hitting the post and bar with other efforts.  However, the Hawks then had their best spell of the game as they started to play some good football and Chris Golding headed a well deserved equaliser after some great work by George Lawrence on the left wing.

The most controversial incident and possible turning point of the match occurred just before half time as Matt Todd battled and won the ball on the left and with the ball at his feet was then clearly (and bravely) punched from behind by the Ore Captain (what a class act he was).

Despite having two ESFL league appointed assistants, none of the three match officials would admit to seeing the offence and the game continued denying the Hawks a penalty and the possibility to play against ten men for the second half. It seems a bit pointless paying for independent linesman if they are just there to flag for throw-in’s and ignore any other incident.

Ore regained their composure during the break and routed the Hawks in the second half as they showed that there can be a huge difference in finishing skills even between divisions 3 and 2. 

Things were made worse for the Hawks as vital front man Paul Channer had to go off with a torn hamstring with thirty minutes still to play. This will be a great loss for the remaining games and manager Matt Bates will be looking for one of the promising youngsters to step up and lead the line.

But we’ve no real complaints Ore were the better side no question; and we didn’t do ourselves justice especially in the second half where Ore played better and showed some clinical finishing.   

Team: R Chandler, S Beaney (J Meadows), M Palumbo, H Young, M Sands, J Baldock, G Lawrence, M Todd, C Golding (c), B Marshall, P Channer (G West).

Goal: C Golding

Having been top of the table since 5pm on day 1 of the season, the Hawks finally secured the prize of promotion to Div 2 with a hard fought win over Peche Hill Select II.                                

The pitch at the Moor was in good nick considering it had 2 inches of snow on it last week and it was only the strong wind blowing towards the Scout Hut that threatened to make things difficult for the two teams.  Peche Hill kicked with the wind in the first half but resisted the urge to punt the ball long, preferring to float some challenging balls into the home penalty box which were well dealt with by Martin Sands and Harry Young.

The opening goal came after a foul was conceded in the centre circle; a Peche Hill player grabbed the ball and pinged a quick free kick over the stranded Sam, great finish no arguements there its just that the kick was taken about 10 yards nearer the Hawks goal from where the foul was comitted the ref though inexplicably allowed the goal to stand. But he didn’t seem to disagree that it was taken from the wrong place, he just didn’t seem to register that giving a 10 yard advantage for a direct free kick that flies straight in from 40 yards rather 50 wasn’t quite right either. So for a piece of opportunism and skill, you had to admire the Peche Hill effort but for a bit of refereeing you have to scratch your head.

Anyway Peche Hill could then have extended their lead soon after as Beaney saved a shot and a forward missed the follow up from just yards out.

The Hawks were rattled but recovered some composure as Paul Channer netted the equaliser. Jason Baldock made a powerful run into the box and the ball broke to Channer who finished with his trademark cross shot into the bottom left corner; just like the glory days when Channer and Mitchell hit 100 goals in a season (Mitchell 95, Channer 5).

The home side fancied their chances in the second half with the wind behind them but it was Peche Hill who should have taken the lead.  Harry Young conceded a penalty but the resulting effort came back off the crossbar.  Minutes later Beaney failed to hold a shot but did well to get up and block the second effort.

From then on it was all Hawkhurst.  Chris Golding let fly with his left foot and set off all sorts of alarms in a passing RAF helicopter before Ollie Lawrence, growing in confidence at right back, burst into the box and let fly to record his first goal for the club and then Marco Palumbo added the third as he followed up after George Lawrence’s effort had been saved by the visiting keeper.  The final goal saw Ben Marshall play his second favourite pass (the 40 yard punt – his favourite pass is the 50 yard punt!!) and, to his own surprise, it dropped over the keeper and into the net.

A great result for the Hawks although a little harsh on the visitors who could easily have had at least three goals of their own. But with promotion now secured, the title not out of the question and still in all 3 cups this is were the season really starts…..   

Team: S Beaney, O Lawrence, M Palumbo, H Young, M Sands, M Todd, B Marshall, C Golding (c), G Lawrence (S King), J Baldock, P Channer (J Meadows), B Wiggins (DNP), R Chandler (DNP)

Good goals: P Channer, O Lawrence, M Palumbo

Silly goal: B Marshall

The Hawks raced into two goal lead after just ten minutes as they cut through the Cuex’s rather static defense with strikes coming from Anthony Byrne and Tom Sayer. The Hawks then maybe sensing a routine victory was on the cards after such a flying start did seem to sit back on their lead after that which  in turn allowed the opposition back into the match and it was Hermonceux that pulled a goal back before the break to go in 2-1 at half time.

This seemed to kick us back into action and it was the Hawks who restored their 2 goal advantage with another excellent strike from Sags. Minutes later Anthony could have put the fixture to bed but his long range effort agonisingly came back of the bar. Again though when we looked in total control we allowed the opposition back into the game as they pulled two goals back in quick succession, the second of which though was a quality strike from all of 40 yards from a misplaced throw out from Dan.

As fatigue set in on a heavy pitch both teams cancelled each other out for the remainder of the ninety minutes with te only highlights being veteran warhorse Wiggins taking a Baxter clearance full in the chops and Darren Poole crashing an excellent Jamie Young cross against the bar in the final few minutes thus condemning the crowd (loosely termed) to a further 30 more minutes of hypothermia.

Extra time still couldn’t separate the teams although the most laughable penalty you’ll ever see was awarded to the opposition as a sniper in a tree must have taken out a Hermonceux forward after he went down with absolutely no contact from anyone in a red and white shirt. Fortunately guilt must have got the better of him as he rolled the resulting pen harmlessly towards the Scout hut.

So after 120 freezing minutes a place in the cup semi final would be decided by pens, 2 visiting oddballs from the asylum more commonly known as Sandhurst (Louis and Conrad) filmed the excitement as it unfolded (Channer attempted but found it to cold to operate his phone).

All of the Hawks pens were dispatched with varying levels of skill/jammieness and Dan did his bit by keeping out two, although this was reduced to one after the ref had spotted some lateral movement by Dan on his line (this was probably just wind though).  But one was enough as Toddy (Andy) stepped up to take penalty number 5 knowing conversion would mean victory for Pete’s boys.

Everyone held their breath and Chandler commented ‘well at least he’ll smash it, God knows where it’ll end up but at least he’ll smash it!’ But fair play to Toddy he stroked his pen top left with all the coolness of his older brother, although Chandler’s comments were vindicated as Andy later admitted that it was meant to go bottom right !

But who cares, an entertaining game and the Reserves are through to their first semi final for a good few years.