Meet at the ground for 1pm and get praying for a dry night.
S Smith
W Lockyer
T Duncan
L Newton
C Smith
O Peacock
C Hall
R Matthews
L Wilson
H Peacock
B Skelton
R Osadzenko
S Kildunne
M Jennings
With the First Team being cancelled against Skipton LMS, the Second Team again were the focal point for the club, making the short journey to local rivals Sutton in the League. Backed by a near capacity crowd which included most of the First Team, the ‘Hills Faithful’ and the Ingrow and Worth Valley FC Management, Hills showed the type of grit and determination to overcome a very tricky opponent.
Due to Lee Newton and Darrell McDonald receiving call ups to the First Team, Manager Harrison was able to select the same 11 from last week, with the only change being on the bench as Jennings returned following a short spell out. There was some doubt the game would go ahead, notably the centre circle and bottom goalmouth being mostly covered with ice, but the game went ahead and turned into something of a classic.
With the winter sun in their eyes, the men in red started well and tried to get the ball down and play on what was (for the first half anyway) a typically unforgiving surface. Unfortunately this wasn’t the best tactic and the home sides direct approach started to cause some problems. Osadzenko and Duncan both were forced into some last ditch defending and Smith was called upon to snuff out the homes teams attacks.
The deadlock was broken midway through the first half when a long throw was flicked on by the big centre forward for Sutton and the ball bounced through a crowd of players and into the far corner. Things went from bad to worse for the away side when Osadzenko failed to clear and the striker finished the loose ball well one on one. The away side were reeling.
The cold weather was playing its part as some challenges were impacting harder, C Smith finding this out after being completely wiped out and struggling to finish the half. Captain Peacock offered a few words of ‘encouragement’ to help him soldier through the game.
With the game seemingly slipping away, the home side pressed in search of a third goal and would have got it had it not been for a superb double save from MOM Smith in goals, keeping out first a flick header to the far corner and then the follow up volley from close range.
At that moment it looked like the only 100% record in the Craven League was about to evaporate in front of an expectant away crowd -and it was. Heads were down and some of the players just weren’t pulling their weight and were hiding from their responsibilities.
Harrisons’ half time team talk was to the point. Lesser willed players would’ve just rolled over and died and accepted that 2-0 down at half time the game was done, but the Manager didn’t let that happen and sent out the away side with fire in their bellies ready for a second half scrap.
The players went out to a rousing reception from the partisan crowd and immediately began getting stuck in. Oli Stephenson making a couple of huge Makelele type tackles which got the crowd fired up straight away. Despite this, the home side got a third goal, Hills failing to deal with a free kick from out wide and a stooping header left them 3-0 down and dead and buried.
Manager Harrison then made a change which would ultimately turn the game; sending on model and actor Billy Skelton for the tiring Kildunne and moving Matthews back into midfield. This immediately transformed the game and Skelton’s pace proved to be a deciding factor in the outcome.
Hills fightback began after good work out wide forced a clumsy tackle on Skelton and from the resulting Beckham-esque free kick from Stevenson, Skelton powered in a header to give the away side some hope and lift the spirits of the fans on the sideline.
Hills continued to press and soon had themselves another goal as Captain Peacock showed the way with a thunderous header from a corner, leaping like a salmon to give the Sutton keeper no chance. With the home side reeling, Hills then scored the equaliser soon after, with livewire Skelton proving too much for the Sutton defence to deal with as he swooped in a fired a low shot into the far corner to complete an unlikely comeback.
The home side were completely deflated and the away side could smell blood. With the away fans completely out-cheering the home side, Hall and Peacock were dominating the midfield and were creating a platform for Stevenson (who was playing his best game for the side) and Skelton to attack. The fourth goal came from another Hills barrage on the home sides goal as Rob Matthews powered in low left footed effort to complete an epic comeback for the soon-to-be league leaders and send the travelling support into raptures.
The last ten minutes resembled the Alamo, with the home team laying siege on the Hills goal but solid defending from Osadzenko and Duncan and a point blank save form Smith kept the score at 4-3 and the red men hung on for a vital 3 points.
Sam Smith was MOM but there were some outstanding performances all over the field for Hills with Osadzenko, Duncan, Hall and Stevenson all in the running for the award. The character shown by the players was exceptional and will certainly give them heart moving forward as Sutton’s league position didn’t show in their performance.
A tough game awaits this coming week, with Crosshills welcoming title hopefuls Horton to what should be a bowling green of a field.
Team: S Smith; W Lockyer, T Duncan, R Osadzenko, C Smith; C Hall, S Kildunne (B Skelton), O Peacock; O Stevenson (M Jennings), H Peacock (capt), R Matthews. Sub not used: L Daniels
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
