The Hawks number one men’s team are nearing the end of the competition and this week they were lined up against Old Guildford for the last time before the finals. To Old Guildford, 4th on the ladder, this game was a must win to guarantee them into the finals. The Hawks weren’t going to let this cloud their ability as they too need to stay in form in order to stand a chance in the finals.
The Hawks line-up once again saw player changes with Simon Gillespie back in the side to replace ever reliable Kevin Pethick and goal scorer Guy Hoskin. The team was weakened further with Jonathon Lanzon and Daniel Keane both suffering from the flu. With a substitute on the bench Coach Barry Vanderpuut had his work made out ensuring all players were well rested.
The team lined up early for the late Saturday night game ready to go through the season without losing a game against the 4th place time. The usual pre-game toss saw Captain Lee Hansord lose his right to start with the ball and therefore putting the Hawks on the back foot from the start. However the Hawks quickly stole the ball and started their attack.
The Hawks dominated the field in the first half with plenty of opportunities in attack. The Hawks could have seen themselves on the board early with two misses from Jonathon Lanzon. However it took a short corner before the Hawks had their first goal. The short corner was a classic “number 1″ with Steve Martino pushing the ball out to Leighton Keane for the trap leaving Lee Hansord to power the ball into the backboard.
After a plentiful number of opportunities the Hawks saw the first half end with only the one goal. With so many chances the team were questioning how they could only be up by one goal. The small lead seemed to impact the top Hawks side as the second half was a different story. Old Guildford started the second half playing a different game adding their own chances to the mix.
Lucky for the Hawks goal keeper Thomas Vince was having a top game pulling off saves that should have been certain goals. In one occasion an Old Guildford attacker managed to get past the in-form goal keeper pulling off a shot that was miraculously saved by full back Robert De Wind. The Hawks were in good hands.
The half wasn’t totally dominated by Old Guildford with the Hawks having a few opportunities of their own including a narrow miss from Gavin Mclarren’s perfect tomahawk. In a half that should have seen Old Guildford come back the Hawks were relieved to hear the final whistle bringing an end to the game in the Hawks favour.
The final score; 1-0 to the Hawks and Coach Barry gave a special mention to Thomas and Simon for their effort in the game. The Hawks were glad to have not received an upset and will need to take something away from this game to stand a chance against Subs for their final game. Next week’s game the Hawks are up against bottom of the ladder Old Aquinians on Saturday midday.
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