Four Goal Towle drives Sports on to Victory

Four Goal Towle drives Sports on to Victory

Newstead Recreational Ground was bathed in spring sunshine for the final home game of the season for Hucknall Sports against Clifton All Whites. Earlier in the season Clifton had held Sports to a 3-3 draw to become the only team to take points from Hucknall so far.

Missing Kal Orton to illness and Kieran Wilson to Kick-Boxing exams meant it was a reshaped Hucknall who took to the pitch. William Brown, one of the heroes of the East Valley game, played in goal and Ryan Towle partnered Jarrod Davies in midfield. After winning the toss Sports elected to play with the wind at their backs but Clifton's high-line of defence caught out Hucknall's front line time and again. The offside flag was correctly raised countless times and Sports were struggling to find a way to break through. Midway in the half James Hallam broke free and chased down a long ball to cross from the goal-line for Ryan Towle to finish with aplomb. Strike duo of Hallam and Oliver Bowley had their chances to extend the lead along with Dante Dirsio and Harry Saxton but the second goal just would not come and at half-time Hucknall lead by a solitary goal.

Half time: Hucknall Sports White 1 Clifton All Whites 0

Clifton's tactics of shoot on site were clear from the second half kick-off. However, fantastic midfield play from Joe Newton and Jarrod Davies meant that Clifton had no time on the ball and Sports keeper Brown was a spectator for most of the half.
Up front Josh Hart showed great skill to take on the combative Clifton back-line and was really unlucky to see his shot just drift wide after a great run. Hallam also went close but it was Towle who found the net to score his second of the game and this was quickly followed by a neat volley from Ellis Evans. Clifton were not happy at all and the referee had to work overtime to keep a 'lid' on the game as it looked likely to explode at any time.
Whites backline of Mitch Davies, Harry Saxton and Dylan Smith marshalled the Clifton attackers well and on the rare occasion that Al Whites looked like threatening Sports defensive unit snuffed out any sign of a chance.
As the second half passed the midway mark, leading by example, Ryan Towle showed that thankfully good football will prevail and produced a 'master-class' of right-wing play that resulted in him scoring two more goals and closing the game out for a fabulous victory to Sports that see's them complete their home league fixtures with a 100% win record. Clifton did score a consolation goal late on after a rare defensive mix-up from Hucknall but the referee blew his whistle to complete the game soon after.

Final score: Hucknall Sports White 5 Clifton All Whites 1

The first half was certainly a unique test for Hucknall and valuable lessons will have been learnt. In the second half Sports controlled the game with some measured and all-round good play.
This weeks Man of the Match award went to Ryan Towle, not just for his four goals, but for showing that footballing skill is the main ingredient for winning a game - well done Ryan, that's 17 goals for the season, not bad for a defender!