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Mac
Industries celebrated the opening of the new MBM Services
McCarthy Industries Triangle Community Stadium with a home
match against Crawley team Handcross Tigers. The Hamsters side
was nearly the same as the last one that stepped out against
Southdown Athletic, but many changes had been made in the
infrastructure of the club. Following McCarthy's resignation,
Farhall and Fletcher became Hamsters fourth management team in
the last year. A capacity crowd of 10 people, a new Mac
Industries record, came to support the lads, and this included
former Director of Football Tom McCarthy, who received large
amounts of applause from the Hamsters fans as he took up his
seat in the directors box.
Five
of the six starting eleven appeared in Marle Place colours
last season, with Nic Sparasci, Matt Cooper, Mike Fletcher,
Jamie Farhall and Gary Harding all returning. The
exception was the newly appointed captain Scott McCarthy, who
comes in on a co-ownership deal from Southdown Rovers, whereby
if Rovers don't have a game, McCarthy plays for the Wanderers.
The
first half was all Mac Industries, McCarthy rarely being
troubled in his first game, apart from a few back passes. The
new look side looked confident, as they knocked the ball about
with a flow not seen at the club since the glory days of
players such as Neil Gingell and Doug Lane. Handcross showed
they were dangerous though, but Nic Sparasci, back at the
heart of the defence, made some crucial interventions to keep
the score at 0-0. Hamsters were looking good going forward,
but lacked the final finish, possibly due to Farhall's barren
spell at Cuckfield undermining his confidence. When Mac
Industries did find the goal though, the Handcross keeper was
on exceptional form, keeping out everything that was thrown at
him. However, just before half time a lovely passing moment
saw Farhall released, and he showed a glamour of the player he
used to be, with a fine shot that beat the keeper at the back
post. Mac Industries went in at half time with a 1-0 lead.
In
the second half, Handcross came out looking for a goal. This
meant both teams started to play attractive, attacking
football that was a joy to watch. Tiredness began to creep in
though, as mistakes followed. Handcross, obviously tired due
to the long coach journey, began to slack, and Gary Harding,
who had been spraying the ball about superbly all day, found
the net with a fine solo goal. This started a mini-Handcross
revival, as McCarthy was finally called into action. Matt
Cooper showed his ball-winning capabilities, with a first
class sliding challenge to win the ball back in the midfield
engine room. The Handcross revival was short lived though, as
Farhall returned to form by banging in his second of the game.
McCarthy was then forced into 3 fine saves to prevent
Handcross from pulling a goal back, and Fletcher added a late
goal to top off a fine game from him.
A
great return for the Mac Industries, as they recorded their
first victory since May. Farhall and Fletcher were
understandably delighted with the response from the players
and the fans, and later voted McCarthy as Man of the Match,
quoting "When was the last time we kept a clean
sheet!". If the Hamsters can repeat this form week
in week out, and with the possible return of Tom McCarthy to
the coaching side, things are finally looking up for McCarthy
Industries
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