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Mac
Industries continued their recent good run as
they beat Downlands Legends 3-2 to secure their
fourth win in a row, but as with the others they
were yet again far from convincing. Manager
Scott McCarthy was forced into making several
changes, as a foot injury to Doug Lane meant he
was unable to play in his defensive role, so he
was played between the posts. It meant McCarthy
himself played in the defensive role, alongside
Kieran Elliott, while Bert Lloyd, captain Jamie
Jones and Tom Walmsley, returning for the first
time in 6 months after knee trouble, made up the
midfield. Up front, Chapman and Collin were
re-united in attack.
If
the Hamsters fans were expecting an easy match
following the drubbing they handed out to the
same team last season at the Cage, then they
couldn't have been further from the truth, as
the visitors went at the home side straight from
the start. However, despite a lot of convincing
play in the midfield, they could not find a way
past Elliott and McCarthy at the back. The
Hamsters were resorting to long balls forward,
which Collin and Chapman were having no joy
getting under control. Tom Walmsley, fit again
after a lengthy spell on the sidelines,
attempted to get the ball on the floor, but was
unable to get any sort of rhythm out of the
Hamsters side. It took until the 20 minute mark
for the deadlock to be broken, and it was only
ever going to come from one source. Dan Collin,
who missed the last match, was the scorer, and
it put the Hamsters in control of the game. If
the Hamsterites in the Bert Lloyd stand thought
that that would be it, and the flood gates would
open they couldn't be further from the truth.
Downlands Select didn't let their heads drop,
and only had Doug Lane to thank for them not
taking the lead - the big man somehow managed to
stick out a toe and send the ball round the post
after a good effort from the visiting forward
Down
the other end and the visitors were nearly their
own worst enemy. Scott McCarthy, under pressure
sent in a hopeful cross, which a Downloads
defender deflected onto the post, before seeing
the ball roll across the goal line and hit the
other post. It summed up the luck the Hamsters
were having, as captain Jamie Jones was
restricted to shooting from long range, with
most of the efforts ending up in the Non-Clock
End. As the Hamsters sat back and invited the
Legends onto them, it was a clever piece of
counter attacking football that lead to Mac
Industries doubling their advantage. Doug Lane
launched a long and accurate throw up field,
which was met by the head of Tom Walmsley. His clever
knock down fell straight to the feet of Dan
Collin, who riffled home an unstoppable volley
that left the Downlands keeper with no chance.
At 2-0, McCarthy knew it should of been game
over, but a set of individual errors lead to the
visitors getting back into the game. Firstly, a
cleverly floated corner saw Doug Lane manage to
get a finger on the cross, but all he succeeded
in doing was knocking it down to the feet of a
Legends player, who had no trouble in firing
home from a tight angle. Tom Walmsley then had a
moment to forget on his return to the team, as
with plenty of time on the ball, he bizarrely
knocked it backwards into empty space, allowing
the Legends striker to run through one-on-one
with Lane. Somehow, he hit the bar, but scored
on the second attempt to secure a fine comeback
for the visitors
Worse
teams would have crumbled after losing a two
goal lead, but McCarthy knew his Hamsters side
were better than that, and they began to take
control of the game. Despite long range efforts
from nearly every Mac Industries player on the
pitch, it was clear where the goal would come
from, and that was Dan Collin. McCarthy won a
tackle wide on the left, and split the defence
with a clever ball, allowing Collin to run
through and beat the keeper in trademark fashion
with only 7 minutes remaining on the clock. The
Hamsters then defended valiantly, and held on to
secure the victory
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