Following an extended break (which included Christmas), the men in red faced a potential banana skin in bottom of the league Barnoldswick at Victory Park. In conditions more suited to sitting next to a nice warm fire, this was one of only two Division 4 games to take place over the weekend – the other being a reversed fixture between Pendle and Ingrow on the next pitch along, Ingrow winning 5-0 and going top of the table.
With the first team postponed, manager Harrison was able to add the experienced McDonald to the bench and restore O Peacock to midfield and also bring in Osadzenko for the ill Lee Newton. The shackles were taken off Rob Matthews, as he was given a more advanced role in the absence of Luke Wilson, with Skelton taking his place on the bench.
Playing with the wind and slope in the first half, Hills looked sluggish and rusty following 8 weeks without a fixture. The conditions weren’t suited to flowing football but Hills still tried to get the ball down and play the ‘total football’ manager Harrison demands.
Backed by a decent turnout from the ‘Old Faithful’, Hills started to assert their dominance, with Matthews causing all sorts of havoc in the home sides defence with some penetrating runs. O Peacock and Hall were starting to dictate the tempo from midfield and through this the first goal came. After some neat interplay in midfield, the ball was played to Matthews, who skipped past a couple of challenges and rolled the ball back to Hills’ very own ‘fox in the box’ Stephenson, who made no mistake in scuffing the ball past the helpless keeper for a deserved Hills lead.
A second goal was soon to follow and highlighted the manager’s philosophy on the game. A flowing move starting at the back by S Smith was touched by nearly every Hills player. This culminated with O Peacock and Matthews combining out wide, the ball whipped in to the back post for Kildunne to finish well with his calf/groin/knee for 2-0. With Osadzenko and Duncan solid and C Smith combining well with O Peacock, S Smith had little to do in the first half and that’s how it was at the break.
In increasingly blustery conditions, the Manager’s half time team talk wasn’t too dissimilar to something Mourinho would say and kept the team on their toes. An aggressive demonstration on Lockyer highlighted how players should be tackling in the second half and the players took this on board. Harrison also made changes; sending on veteran scrapper McDonald for Kildunne and pulling off Stephenson for Skelton.
After early exchanges, the Managers changes were vindicated as Skelton’s pace proved troublesome for the home sides ageing defence. The tough tackling of McDonald and Hall and the skills of O Peacock helped Hills dominate the midfield and freed up C Smith and Lockyer to get forward. Matthews was still being a thorn in the home teams side, as the away side laid siege on the Barons’ goal in search of a third goal.
Following another long spell of pressure in which the home sides keepers pulled off a string of saves, Hills made the game safe with another excellent team goal. The ball was won in midfield by Hall who found McDonald and his long ball found the impressive O Peacock. His jinking run ended with an inch perfect through ball to father Harry Peacock who took a touch and sublimely placed the ball into the far top corner, an effort that would’ve beaten any keeper in world football. A far cry from his usual method of trying to ‘take the leather off it’.
With this, Harrison introduced Daniels for the solid Osadzenko at centre back, only he didn’t do much defending and went wandering up front. The home side then went gung-ho in search of a goal and S Smith had to be on his toes, firstly saving after a goalmouth scramble and then making a top drawer save to keep the clean sheet in tact.
Oliver Peacock was MOM after a terrific display, but the award could have easily gone to the rejuvenated Matthews, who was in splendid form. C Smith was solid as left back and McDonald was outstanding in a game that certainly suited his ‘rugged’ style. With first team manager Greene in attendance, there were performances that will certainly give him a headache heading into the next round of fixtures.
Hills next fixture is on the bowling green that is South Craven’s bottom left hand corner pitch when they make the short journey to face Sutton.
Team: S Smith; W Lockyer, T Duncan, R Osadzenko (L Daniels), C Smith; C Hall, S Kildunne (D McDonald), O Peacock, O Stephenson (B Skelton), H Peacock (capt), R Matthews