Match Report - 17th December 2006

Six goals, one clean sheet and three points made an excellent Christmas present for Headstone in their last game of 2006. By the end it was a convincing win but in truth Headstone made a much tougher job of this than the scoreline suggests. Kodak wilted in the last quarter of an hour conceding four goals. But with better finishing Headstone would have had the match won by half time. In addition to the six goals they had sixteen clear cut chances that were missed or saved.

There were good performances all over the field but Conor McBreen shone with his first hatrick for the Bs on top of an excellent all round display. Alongside him up front, Brett Swinton-Bland might also have bagged a hatrick. Brett’s pace is a worry for any defence but his finishing let him down as he gave the keeper too many opportunities to save his shots. With a little more composure there are plenty of goals for him to grab.

Headstone came into the match with another injury worry. Goalkeeper Daniel Lynch was missing with a sprained ankle but came along to give the team his support as did long term absentee Tom Wrigley still out with his fractured wrists. Luis Meneses Zerpa was also unavailable. Jordan Wright went in goal for the first time this season and did well to maintain his concentration as Kodak only tested him once. Headstone also switched Nicholas Furquim into midfield for the first time to make more use of his shooting.

The pattern of the match was mapped out from the word go as Headstone grabbed possession and headed forward. They also got the ideal start with a goal in the first minute. Headstone gathered the ball on the edge of the penalty area and Jordan Coleman slipped the ball through to Conor who took the ball forward and shot at the near post. The keeper got a hand to it but couldn’t prevent the ball from crossing the line.

Brett was playing quite wide on the left and was picking up some good through balls from George Moriarty and Ciaran McDougall. His pace was too much for the Kodak defenders but instead of crossing he often chose to shoot from tight angles which gave the keeper the opportunity to narrow the angle and save. Several of his shots were deflected over the bar or ended in the side netting. In the seventh minute he broke again and shot. This time the keeper’s save took the ball across the goal into the path of Conor who tucked it away for 2-0.

With these two early goals Headstone should have been able to take command and build a comfortable first half lead. They certainly created the chances but the finishing was not good enough and they weren’t able to work themselves into good enough shooting positions. Francis Nkhoma put in a lot of work in the centre of midfield to win possession and the two wide players, George and Jordan, were creating many attacking opportunities. Brett, Jordan, Francis, George and Russell Butlin all came close this half but they couldn’t find the net.

At the other end the Headstone defence of Thomas Green, Russell, Joe Jordan and Ciaran dealt well with Kodak’s forward moves and kept them at bay. But midway through the half they did break through but Jordan Wright dived down well to save the shot. It was the closest Kodak would come all match.

After the break Headstone continued to enjoy more of the possession but didn’t manage to threaten Kodak’s goal as much. There were times early in this half when it looked like Kodak might take advantage of Headstone’s lack of finishing and catch them on the break. Headstone were working hard enough though. George and Ciaran combined well down the left. Conor was having one of his best ever games dropping into midfield to link up. At one point Conor came all the way back into the defence to win possession and set Headstone forward. Joe also made a tremendous forward run to intercept a Kodak move and his passing out of defence was thoughtful and accurate. Too often though Headstone let themselves down by crossing too close to the goal rather than squaring the ball into the path of the attackers.

There were plenty of corners for Headstone and the chances fell to Brett, George, Nicholas and Conor but they were either wide or straight at the keeper. Then in the 54th minute Kodak conceded an own goal and from then on the floodgates opened. George and Ciaran combined on the left side of the box and Ciaran chipped in a high cross that the keeper fumbled. Jordan charged in and under pressure one of Kodak’s defenders knocked it into his own net.

Brett was playing more on the right this half and in one attack was brought down in the box and left with stud marks on his ankle. But he got up and two minutes later made it 4-0 with a fine solo finish. Ciaran started the move deep in his half passing it to Conor on the half way line who slipped it through to Brett who charged goalwards. For all his misses Brett never loses belief in his ability and was rewarded with a superb shot that left the keeper well beaten.

Headstone used their three substitutes – Josh Street came on for Francis taking the left back role with Ciaran switching to centre, Joe to right back and Thomas to midfield. Kyle Giles-Brown and Federico Jaramillo replaced Brett and Jordan. Five minutes from time and Conor’s single mindedness clinched his hatrick. The goal was set up by a through ball from Russell from deep in his half that picked out Conor on the race for goal. Conor had Kyle and Fed alongside him but had only one thing on his mind and he took the ball into the area and tucked it past the keeper.

Three minutes later and Nicholas completed the scoring with a well taken goal. Put through into the area he shot from a tight angle and found the corner of the net to make it 6-0.

Conor was man of the match for one of his best matches for Headstone.