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McCarthy
Industries defeated Mierosoft 6-4 away from home
today, but what looked like a comftable win for
the Hamsters was put in danger following some
bizarre and foolhardy decisions from manager
Scott McCarthy during the half time interval. In
scorching hot conditions, the manager gave
debuts to 4 players, with Kieran Booluck coming
into defence to replace the injured Doug Lane,
along with Pete Morgan and Ian Simpson. Alex
Ternouth made his debut in the midfield, with
Bert Lloyd and captain Jamie Jones in the center,
while Kevin Ticehurst was wide on the left, with
new signing Neil Kane on the right. Up front, it
was Peter Chapman partnered by ex-Old
Varndeanians forward Tom Witham
The
game started brightly for the Hamsters, as they
knocked it about against a weakened Mierosoft
team with purpose. Neil Kane orchestrated most
of the Hamsters attacks, as he looked dangerous
beating players down the right flank and
delivering the ball. Although Mierosoft got
purpose, they very rarely got behind the
Hamsters defence, with Simpson back to his best.
After a scrappy opening, it was Mac Industries
who opened the scoring, as the bal laws played
out to Kane, who teased and toyed with the
Mierosoft left back, before whipping in a
trademark ball that caused confusion in the box.
After a scramble, captain Jamie Jones saw his
volley smash back off the bar, before hitting
Sam Franks on the knee to give the visitors the
lead. Mierosoft looked to push on, but Riley
couldn’t find his range as his through balls
were easily collected by Scott McCarthy, whose
long kicks forward were causing trouble for the
home sides defence, as Tom Witham won the ball
every time. As the Hamsters began to gain a
greater hand on the game, they wasted several
opportunities, as rather than play the ball into
the box, the players decided to shoot instead.
This had manager Scott McCarthy infuriated;
although he would get a lot more angered in the
second half.
The
Hamsters soon showed their quality though, as
Peter Chapman and Tom Witham – both formally
of Old Varndeanians, although they never played
together – combined superbly, and the ball
found Kevin Ticehurst, who cleverly curled the
ball with the outside of his boot to play in
Neil Kane, who raced through to beat the keeper
at his near post, although there was a suspicion
of offside about the goal. McCarthy was tested
late on in the half, as he beat away a Frank’s
shot at the expense of a corner, but a fine
defensive display meant he was largely
untroubled. With the Hamsters added experience
in midfield, they began to dominate, as Alex
Ternouth showed why he was Hassocks captain last
year, with a number of fine balls through. It
was Ternouth who put Mac Industries 3-0 up,
Ticehurst and Lloyd combining to play the ball
to Witham, whose clever pass split the defence
and allowed the former Hassocks man to net a
debut goal past Mierosoft’s number 2 keeper.
However, the home side soon had a goal though,
as Kieran Booluck lost his man to allow a
Mierosoft forward to send the ball past McCarthy
on the stroke of half time
A
different Mac Industries side emerged in the
second half, as despite a fine first half
performance McCarthy clearly wanted to
experiment against a weakened Mierosoft. Ian
Simpson was given a run in between the sticks,
as McCarthy played at centre back alongside Tom
Witham, with Bert Lloyd and Neil Kane filling
the full back positions. Kevin Ticehurst
continued wide on the left, while Alex Ternouth
and Pete Morgan joined Jamie Jones in midfield,
with Kieran Booluck on the right. Peter Chapman
was left up-front as the lone striker. Everyone
in the ground found these changes bizarre, and
so they seemed to be, as the Hamsters lost all
the rhythm and fluidity they had about them
early on in the game.
McCarthy
knew his side needed to gain control in the
midfield, so it was Luke Vick, returning for his
second spell at the club, who was thrown on, and
suddenly there was a bit of creativity from the
away side. It was Vick’s deadly left foot that
allowed the Hamsters to make it 4-1, as he swung
in an inch perfect cross, which captain Jamie
Jones connected with, and his stinging volley
was never in danger of being saved. It was Jones
second of the match, and the midfielder,
returning from his rectum trouble, showed that
he may just have a claim for the captaincy on a
permanent basis. With Tom Witham and Scott
McCarthy obviously struggling for fitness at the
back, they decided to put an offside trap into
operation, and this allowed Mierosoft back into
the game. Simpson was called into action to make
two good saves, but the home side were back in
front when the stand-in keeper was slow off his
line, allowing Mierosoft, despite the best
efforts of Bert Lloyd chasing back to clear off
the line, to make it 4-2. A tactical change saw
McCarthy take Simpson out of goal, replacing him
with Booluck, while the big man went forward. It
was a bizarre decision to make, and as Mierosoft
pushed forward, the defence of Witham, McCarthy,
Kane and Lloyd were constantly being called into
action. With a clear lack of midfield, a
tactical change was needed; as Ternouth was
bought back on to replace Kevin Ticehurst, much
to the disgust of the Ape look-alike. This lead
to a heated confrontation between McCarthy and
Ticehurst, who eventually did leave the pitch.
However, the change did not have the desired
effect, as Mierosoft pulled it back to 4-3. Yet
again, the back line looked for the offside, and
as Booluck stuck to his line, it allowed a
simple finish for the Mierosoft front line.
The
momentum of the game had changed, and it was no
surprise when minutes later the home side made
it 4-4. An easy shot was fumbled by Booluck, who
bizarrely kicked it straight to Sam Franks, who
had no problems in chipping the ball home, to
send De Mierosoft Estadio Magnificó wild. As
the goal went in, McCarthy knew something had to
be done, so after beating up Booluck several
times, he made the changes that had to be made.
He returned in goal, with Simpson, Lloyd and
Morgan at the back. Ticehurst was back on for
the embarrassed keeper wide on the left, with
Vick, Ternouth and Jones in the middle. Kane,
who had been so dangerous in the first half,
returned to the right, while Witham was placed
up front with Chapman. The changes worked, as
the Hamsters began to look like the side they
can be, and although the defence was breached
several times, Mierosoft could not find the end
product. Kane began delivering from wide again,
but still the ball just wouldn’t find its way
home. With the clock running down, Tom Witham
found himself with the ball. The big forward,
not known for his pace, then beat Graeme Knight,
before taking it past Kieran Elliott with a
clever turn. With the goal gaping, the former
Old Varndeanians forward didn’t hesitate, and
fired home, before running over to the Hamsters
fans and removing his shirt, much to the delight
of many of the females in the stadium. The
Hamsters were back in it, and with Ternouth
sitting in his natural position, Mierosoft were
resorting to long shots. With the clock running
down, the game was secured for Mac Industries,
as Neil Kane, who had worked tirelessly down the
right, cut inside and sent home a bullet shot,
although their was again a suspicion of offside
about the goal. It was the last action of the
game, and while the Hamsters fans went home
happy with another win, McCarthy will know there
is still some work that needs to be done after
that performance
After
that match, McCarthy had this to say:
"Today was obviously a good win, but at
times a disappointing performance. Obviously we
were missing key players such as Doug Lane, Tom
Walmsley and Dan Collin, but that really is no
excuse when you consider that Mierosoft were
also somewhat weakened. I was delighted with
Neil Kane, I felt he gave us that natural width
and crossing ability that we have needed for so
long, Tom Witham was his usual self, putting
people under with tough challenges. Jamie Jones
was superb today - he's been out for some time,
but we felt it was right to give him the
armband, and he has repaid us with 2 goals and a
captains performance. It should have been a
comftable victory for us, but in the second half
I changed things around, and suddenly the glove
was on the other foot. Full credit to Kieran and
his team though, they gave us thoroughly good
run for our money, and will feel very hard done
by to have lost. We have seen a glimpse of the
potential that this side has today, at time our
pass and move was superb, and with the injured
players to come back, I feel that this season
the squad we have to chose from is the strongest
in some time. KEEP THE FAITH"
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