Reserves crumble in Pickford goal torrent
Pickford Cup Fourth Round
Sway Reserves 5 Portcastrian 9
16th January 2016
Sway Reserves returned to action in the Pickford Cup against a strong Portcastrian side in their first game since the 19th December. However, the long lay off can be no excuse for the appalling start they made.
Within 30 seconds they were a goal down as sloppy defending allowed the visitors to stroll through unchallenged to score. Then more poor defending allowed Portcastrian to increase their lead on seven minutes and to go 3-0 up after 20 minutes. Sway were in disarray and could have been further behind but for some wasteful finishing.
Sway finally started to compete and after half an hour a great break from Hisham Douik set up Bill Stride who finished well to bring Sway back into the game. Hillyar and Haffenden then combined on the right to cross for Clark to sweep home with the last kick of the half.
Unfortunately for Sway, the half-time break came at the wrong time and they were not able to retain the momentum they had built up following the restart. Portcastrian, on the other hand, had been able to regroup and were soon back dominating possession.
Within ten minutes they had increased their lead to 5-2 as Sway again started slowly and defended poorly. Sway responded, however, with Adam Gates setting up Ben Haffenden to fire home and keep them in the game.
Sway were now pushing forward and having their best period of the game, creating several chances to reduce the arrears further. Douik just failed to connect to a dangerous Stride cross, while Gates screwed his shot wide following a scramble from a corner and Clark had a shot well saved.
The game. however, was settled in a ten minute spell when Portcastrian scored four goals past a now completely demoralised Sway defence to lead 9-3.
To their credit, Sway kept pushing forward and were able to score two further consolation goals. First, substitute Aidan Lacey jinked into the box to fire home for his first senior goal for the club and then Douik broke through to beat the keeper at the second attempt.
Overall, Portcastrian were comfortable winners and deservedly progress to the next round.
Final Score: Sway Res 5 Portcastrian 9
Sway Reserves: J Borrowdale, S Quinn, S Hillyer, J Waller, H Douik, B Haffenden, T Ritchie, A Gates, M Hillyar, B Stride, A Clark. Subs: P Cole, J Langdown, A Lacey.
Photos thanks to digitalsportsphoto.com
Pickford Cup Fourth Round
Sway Reserves 5 Portcastrian 9
16th January 2016
Sway Reserves returned to action in the Pickford Cup against a strong Portcastrian side in their first game since the 19th December. However, the long lay off can be no excuse for the appalling start they made.
Within 30 seconds they were a goal down as sloppy defending allowed the visitors to stroll through unchallenged to score. Then more poor defending allowed Portcastrian to increase their lead on seven minutes and to go 3-0 up after 20 minutes. Sway were in disarray and could have been further behind but for some wasteful finishing.
Sway finally started to compete and after half an hour a great break from Hisham Douik set up Bill Stride who finished well to bring Sway back into the game. Hillyar and Haffenden then combined on the right to cross for Clark to sweep home with the last kick of the half.
Unfortunately for Sway, the half-time break came at the wrong time and they were not able to retain the momentum they had built up following the restart. Portcastrian, on the other hand, had been able to regroup and were soon back dominating possession.
Within ten minutes they had increased their lead to 5-2 as Sway again started slowly and defended poorly. Sway responded, however, with Adam Gates setting up Ben Haffenden to fire home and keep them in the game.
Sway were now pushing forward and having their best period of the game, creating several chances to reduce the arrears further. Douik just failed to connect to a dangerous Stride cross, while Gates screwed his shot wide following a scramble from a corner and Clark had a shot well saved.
The game. however, was settled in a ten minute spell when Portcastrian scored four goals past a now completely demoralised Sway defence to lead 9-3.
To their credit, Sway kept pushing forward and were able to score two further consolation goals. First, substitute Aidan Lacey jinked into the box to fire home for his first senior goal for the club and then Douik broke through to beat the keeper at the second attempt.
Overall, Portcastrian were comfortable winners and deservedly progress to the next round.
Final Score: Sway Res 5 Portcastrian 9
Sway Reserves: J Borrowdale, S Quinn, S Hillyer, J Waller, H Douik, B Haffenden, T Ritchie, A Gates, M Hillyar, B Stride, A Clark. Subs: P Cole, J Langdown, A Lacey.
Photos thanks to digitalsportsphoto.com