19/02/12 – Garswood 10-1 Parkdale Sidac
Garswood welcomed Parkdale Sidac A team to Birch Grove and were looking forward to playing football after a 3 week break due to the weather calling off recent fixtures. The visitors had give Garswood a real scare earlier in the season when, despite being towards the wrong end of the table, they put in a great performance only going down by the odd goal in five.
The home side started off at a great tempo and got their reward 5 minutes in as Ryan Eden hit a shot from 12 yards out which the keeper saved with his feet before captain Nathan Moore followed up to slot home from the edge of the six yard box. Just two minutes later Owen Roberts hit a through ball into the left hand channel that Liam Hilton ran onto before cutting in and beating 3 defenders before firing low into the bottom corner with his right foot. Garswood continued to pour forward and after some clever play down the right wing, Ryan Eden cut the ball back to Nathan Moore who fired the ball goalwards only to see another fine save by the keeper, this time Liam Hilton was on hand to tap the rebound in from a yard out. Liam Hilton then secured a superb first half hat-trick as he chased a long ball deep into the visitors half and got the luck his constant running deserved as a mix up presented him with the ball 20 yards out which he made no mistake in converting to put the hosts 4-0 up. The visitors responded just before the interval with a sweetly taken free kick that stand in keeper James Haswell could only get a hand to despite a brave attempt.
Garswood continued to press high up the pitch at the start of the 2nd half, and after a corner was cleared by the visitors Owen Roberts caught the ball sweetly from 20 yards out and drove the ball through a cluster of defenders into the top corner. Liam Hilton then added to his tally with a well taken left foot finish after the visitors off side trap was breached from a free kick from Ryan Eden. Liam Hilton then burst through the visitors defence and unselfishly laid the ball square for James Haswell to tap into an empty net. Nathan Moore then hit his 2nd goal of the game after a fine run in behind the visitors defence saw him round the keeper and slot home with his left foot. The hosts continued to attack with real purpose and Liam Hilton slotted home from close range after a goal mouth scramble in the 6 yard box presented him with a chance he was never going to pass up. A few minutes from time Liam Hilton scored his 6th goal of the game with a great finish to put Garswood 10-1 up.
A huge amount of credit must go out to Parkdale Sidac who battled until the final whistle without letting their heads go down; despite the scoreline their goal keeper had a fantastic game and made some fine stops. This was probably Garswoods best performance of the season, the football they played was simple and easy on the eye.
Team – J Haswell/C Davies (one half each), O Roberts, B Wilson, C Guerin, J Aspey, L Dixon, N Moore (capt), B Berry, J Haswell/C Davies (when not in goal), L Hilton, R Eden- Subs – M Lokuta, M Marsh, J A Williams, C Ashurst
Scorers – L Hilton (6), N Moore (2), O Roberts, J Haswell
Man of the Match – Liam Hilton – Constant menace to the opposition defence with his tireless movement and awareness of team mates coupled with some fantastic finishes.
