Hawks Masterclass

Morale was high and the Hawks came out strongly from the first whistle. There was great build up play between George Acock, Jamie Halliwell and Jenson Lea and within minutes Jamie Halliwell had scored the Hawks first goal of the day following a run down the centre of the pitch. Rangers made a counter that was swiftly dealt with by the Hawks’ defence, ably orchestrated by captain Michael Dowling. A fabulous goal kick from keeper Max Messias found its way to Jamie Halliwell and this lead directly to Jamie’s - and the Hawks’ - second goal of the day. Conor Quinn was on fire and his forays into the Rangers’ area kept the keeper busy - who managed to pull off a couple of saves to deny Conor. A powerful shot from Jenson Lea went just wide. Minutes later, George Acock supplied Jamie Halliwell with great pass, but the resulting shot also went just wide, thwarting a Halliwell hat trick.

The Hawks were dominant and the pressure on the Rangers’ defence was intense. An infringement outside the box lead to Jenson Lea stepping up for a free kick - he curled it high around the Rangers’ players for a sweet goal to the top right that just skimmed a defender’s head. Leo Schlaefli and Lucas Wilson rotated on the left - on the wing and back - their combination of tenacity, challenges, breaks and passes were a constant frustration to the Rangers’ squad. Louis Catlin, at right back, enjoyed a more forward going role and linked up well with George Acock on the wing. The squad attacked as a team and though not much got past the back three, when it did, Max Messias was in command of his goal and he made a magnificent save towards half time, keeping the score at a well-deserved 3-0 to the Hawks.

The attacking play continued into the second half with a great run from Leo Schlaefli who made a pass through to Conor Quinn, but his shot was saved. Minutes later, Conor made up for this after he put away an assist from Lucas Wilson, giving him his long overdue goal. At the 42-minute mark, Lucas Wilson was busy again and this time supplied a lovely ball through to George Acock who netted to open his scoring account for the day and took the score to 5-0. There was nearly a repeat of the same scenario as Lucas supplied George again, but the shot narrowly missed this time.

The Hawks were relentless, and corner followed corner in their favour. Jenson Lea took another accomplished free kick from outside the box and it banged down from the crossbar in a ‘did it or didn’t it’ cross the line scenario. The ref ruled for play to go on and the onslaught continued. George Acock nearly put away a tricky aerial shot from a Jenson Lea corner and the subsequent corner saw George swing in a ball from the right, which lead to the sixth goal of the day - off one of the Rangers’ defence.

In the final quarter Max Messias came out of goal and Conor Quinn took up the gloves. Jamie Halliwell was dangerous on the break and again was unlucky not to net for a hat trick. Lucas Wilson supplied in a cross and Jenson Lea volleyed it in, but the keeper saved it. Rangers, to their credit, were still fighting for a goal. Great defending by Max Messias at CM and Michael Dowling prevented one such opportunity and Conor Quinn went one on one with a Rangers striker to pull off a great save and preserve the Hawks’ clean sheet.

The attitude and spirit shown on the day by the Hawks was exemplary - any one of them could have been awarded Man of the Match - but this time it went to Michael Dowling for his great leadership and control of the defence and to George Acock for his tireless running, always looking for the opportunities and tenacity up field.