Icarus Masters vs HAC Vets

On a warm blustery day for an early March fixture, Icarus masters faced a tough fixture against a formidable opponent the HAC. The HAC were faced with a few issues before kick-off with their eleventh player not able to turn up until half time, so Icarus spared Tommy ……. to play for the HAC until his arrival.

The first half commenced with Icarus Masters set up in a 4-4-2 formation going against the normal Monday night formation of 4-2-3-1. This transition seemed to help the team with free flowing passing across the back four, passes being fed into the two centre midfielders, Chris Jones and Jim Schofield, generating the space for the wide men Dave Batey and Steve Hollick to make inroads into the HAC defence.

With John Pullen and John Hetherington combining well up front, attack after attack followed, with Icarus Masters guilty of wasting multiple chances to take the lead. Finally, the deadlock was broken, a free-flowing move down the right-hand side allowed Steve Hollick and John Hetherington to link up well, the ball was effortlessly flicked into the right-hand edge of the box to allow Jim Schofield to open his account by coolly lobbing the oncoming goalkeeper.

The lead was soon to be doubled, the ball was picked up in the midfield and a jinking run (Messi-esque) from Jim Schofield setup a left footed shot from the 18-yard box. The ball to say the least was not travelling at its fastest but the pinpoint accuracy allowed it to roll into the bottom right hand corner, the Masters led 2-0.

The only real chance of the Masters conceding in the first half was when Vinnie decided to have a picnic and sauntered back to his goal when the Masters had scored their second. A shot from the kick off caught him unaware and marginally went over the crossbar, his reaction said it all, with him conceding that he would have quit football all together if the shot had nestled into the net.

More chances were to follow with Hetherington, Jones and Hollick the guiltiest. Jones one on one with the goalkeeper decided to pass it back to him, Hetherington finally making a good connection with the ball, when a scuff would almost guarantee a goal and Hollick shooting to the corner post rather than at goal. The Masters went into the break 2-0 up.

The second half started with more of the same, chance after chance followed with multiple players guilty of missing the target, the Masters were unable to get that third goal to take the game beyond a determined HAC side.

The Masters were guilty of being complacent for long spells in the second half which enabled a HAC side to gain confidence and become more adventurous. Chances were falling to the HAC striker, after smashing the ball against the cross bar the Masters were given the warning that a goal was inevitable. With 20 minutes remaining the HAC side had reduced the deficit with a calm finish from 10 yards out.

Chances were falling all too frequently as the HAC pushed for an equaliser. Schofield was not content to lose and re-structured the side with him now playing centre back, the defence now under his control became more solid, allowing the Masters to return to the free-flowing football that was shown for much of the first half. A fine move down the left-hand side allowed the midfield and Hetherington to link, the latter squaring the ball calmly into the box with Steve Hollick slotting the ball home from 8 yards out.

The Masters saw out the game for the last 5 minutes unscathed and won the game 3-1.