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The
Hamsters faced their biggest challenge to date
as they traveled to The Waterhall Arena to face
Sussex Sunday League Side Hove Lawns on a sunny
day in Brighton and Hove. Many in the media were
predicting a walk over for Lawns, due to the
fact they play together and train together every
week, yet it was Scott McCarthys side who would
walk away from the game the happier of the two
teams. With Dan Collin having returned to
France, and Bert Lloyd declared unavailable, it
meant McCarthy had a much-changed side for the
daunting trip. Matt Burbidge-Airs lined up in
goal, as a 4-5-1 formation was deployed. Jack
Simpson began at right back, while the
successful Southdown Rovers centre-back
partnership of Scott McCarthy and Ian Simpson
was re-united for the first time in 4 years.
Kieran Elliott made his first start of the
season at left back, with Peter Chapman ahead of
him. Alex Ternouth made his first appearance
since re-signing for the club in the centre of
midfield, alongside Luke Vick and captain Robert
Jones, playing in his trademark Gary Speed role.
Sam Franks began the match wide on the right,
leaving the returning Hamsters legend Jamie
Farhall to lead the line.
The
Hamsters competed well in the opening quarter of
an hour, helped in part by the superb warm up by
coach Franks, who lead the pre-game preparations
in the absence of assistant manager Dougie Lane,
ruled out by a combination of neck ligament
damage and alcohol indulgence from the previous
night. Despite their brush with a gang of
Eastern European thugs on Saturday night,
the trio of McCarthy, Chapman and Jones seemed
to suffer no adverse effects, and were into the
game instantly. It took a couple of superb
interventions from Ian Simpson at the back, and
several good blocks by Burbidge-Airs in goal to
preserve the 0-0 status, but the Hamsters looked
equally dangerous going forward. Taking on board
McCarthys instructions of playing down the
flanks, both Franks and Elliott were causing all
kinds of problems, and with a match-fit and
sharper Farhall could easily of been ahead. As
it was, it was the home side who took the lead,
when a good save from Burbidge-Airs resulted in
a corner, from which Richie Morris had a free
header, which he powered past the keeper.
Annoyed at the manner in which they had
conceded, it was the Hamsters who took the
initiative. Good work from Chapman earnt a
corner, and after threatening with several
beautiful set-piece deliveries from Vick, the
visitors finally made it count when Al Ternouth
rose like a salmon to head home the equaliser.
Sensing that there was a realistic chance of
getting something from this game, the Hamsters
pushed on, and with Sam Franks now leading the
line due to his ability to hold the ball up,
they continued to look dangerous. Robert Jones
went close, and several balls flashed past the
home sides net, with no Hamsters player able to
add the vital touch. Confidence soon turned to
over-confidence though, and the home side
spotted the complete lack of pace offered by
Jack Simpson and McCarthy to power through and
trickle the ball into the net. As the half wore
on, Lawns began to dominate, and McCarthy would
have been glad to see half time for his side
A
10 minute period at the start of the second half
would go onto effectively end the game for Mac
Industries, as they were slow starting and
conceded two sloppy goals, one of which will no
doubt be ridiculed for years by fans everywhere
as Luke Vick somehow ended up on teh ground
after a Jamie Farhall air kick. With Marcus
Wickwar coming on to make his debut for the
club, and Kieran Elliott looking to get forward,
it left McCarthy and Simpson to battle alone at
the back, a job they did well enough with a
well-oiled off-side trap. As the game wore on,
the Hamsters again began to dominate, and it
took a fantastic save from the Lawns keeper to
deny Ian Simpson, who saw his curling effort
from the edge of the box tipped over the bar. It
was therefore no surprise when the visitors did
get another, as a penalty earnt by Vick for
handball was struck delicately home by Jack
Simpson, and Lawns were happy to see out the
rest of the match to cling onto the 4-2 victory
Speaking
after the game, Scott McCarthy said: "We
have done ourselves proud here today. I look
around the changing room, and people are
smiling, because unlike every other game we have
lost, we played well enough to win. Yet again,
it came down to fitness levels, and having that
person to put the ball into the back of the net.
I was delighted with all the new players,
Ternouth ran the midfield, Franks proved what a
quality signing he could be for us, and we all
know what Farhall can do when he gets fit and
sharp. Marcus Wickwar came on and was solid at
the back, and that is another product of the
youth system. Most pleasing though was the way
all the new boys gelled so quickly with the
older ones. While we may have lost this game, it
gives great hope for the future - we have come
out today, unfit, unprepared and unknown to each
other, yet have given a side that train and play
every week a real run for their money, and that
has to be a major positive that we can
take"
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