It's BACK!

The football season has returned and with it, the highs and lows, the agony and ecstasy and the smiles on the lads faces. Today, first game back, gave us all of that and then some!

While pre-season had gone really well, the boys were looking in some of the best form we have seen them in years, this past week saw us lose several players due to injury, illness and even surgery! Get well soon Oliver, Alafy & Stan!

A massive shout out to Lathir, who once again stepped up to help us out in goal when we needed it with no hesitation at all.

There were some promising signs in the warm up and the boys were doing their best to move the ball about on the pitch.

We kicked off and within 30 seconds Toby had pinged a pass over the top of the Hawks defence and sent Stephen through. Stephen took a shot and it looked like it was going in however the Hawks keeper pulled off a great save. This set the tone for how the first half would go with the Hawks keeper having a brilliant 40 mins.

Not long after, the keeper punted the ball nearly the whole length of the field and the Hawks midfielder ran through unchallenged and tucked it away. 1-0 to the Hawks.

Pretty much from kick off, we moved the ball down the right with Dorian and he whipped a great cross in and Sam hit a shot towards goal but keeper held onto it. He launched another long ball and the bounce caught our defence on their heels and the forward ran through and slotted it away again. 2-0 to the Hawks.

As if that start wasn't bad enough, we went even further behind a few minutes later. We tried to over play it in the midfield, lost out and a quick dink over the top and the number 7 was through for his second. 3-0 down and 10 minutes played on the clock. Shellshocked is an understatement.

Never write this team off though.

We seemed to wake up a bit after this, and started to get the ball down and play our way, dictating the tempo of the game. Cam played a great ball out to Harley who beat his man, played in a pass to Stephen who controlled it and laid it into the path of Kieron who took his finish expertly and tucked it away into the bottom right corner. 3-1 with 15 gone.

We continued to press and press for the next goal and looked like the team to score next. Dorian beat several players on the right before cutting inside and playing a great pass into Kieron. Kieron took a beaut of a touch and held off several players before playing it into the path of Sam. Sam took a great touch to get the ball onto his right and then finished with aplomb into the far right corner past the diving keeper. 3-2 with 30 gone.

We were on the up and needed to get the equalizer however we got caught napping and another long kick from the keeper bounced through to the quick number 9 and he finished really well to make it 4-2 to the Hawks right before the half.

HT - Hollingbury Hawks - 4 - TD - 2

Despite being down the boys knew they could get back into this. They knew that the game could change in the second half and we just needed to make a few tweaks to the defence and the midfield. We needed to keep the shape and work together to nullify the long ball. Dean came on for Ethan and Cam moved over to the right. The boys rallied around each other at the half and the Yell of 'Lets go TD' followed the huddle.

Right from the off we took the front foot knowing that we needed to get the next goal to get back into the game and rock the Hawks defence. We got the goal within 4 minutes. Cam won the ball back down the right and played it into Toby who drove forward, leaving 2 players in his wake before drawing in another two players to try and make the tackle. However Toby looked up and calmly played a fantastic through ball into the path of Stephen who left the defender behind before finishing calmly past the keeper. 4-3 with 45 gone.

We continued to press and play a high level of football in the next 10 to get us level. Lewis was spreading the passes out wide to Dorian and Harley while Jack was mopping any long ball that was attempted. Dean looked comfortable on the ball and the back 4 dealt with everything that was sent at them.

Dean took a long throw in down the left and Harley flicked a great pass round the corner for Kieron to send in a cross. The defender got a foot on it however it looped up into the box and Stephen jumped highest to flick on the ball into the path of Dorian who took the finish on the half volley and got us level at 4-4. Well taken and a well deserved goal for D.

Within 5 minutes we took the lead. Harley received the ball from Dean and turned and played another fantastic pass over the top to Kieron. Kieron beat his man and popped a cross into the box. The keeper got his hands to it but dropped it at Stephen's feet. He laid it off into the path of Sam who had several defenders in front of him but still managed to get a great pass off into the path of D. Dorian struck a great shot through the legs of the defender but the keeper saved it, however he tipped it into the path of Stephen who finished it on the half volley with his right foot into the back of the net. 4-5 to us .

The game started to get a bit aggro at this point with a few late tackles on both teams part. The high intensity of the game meant the next 10 minutes flew by and we were pressing to get the next goal.

With just under 70 on the clock, Stephen and Lewis chased down a defender and won the ball back brilliantly before Lewis took it past 2 players. Lewis looked up and despite being absolutely clattered from behind, played a great ball into the path of Kieron. Kieron was having a blinder and beat his man with a step to the outside before hitting an absolute BEAUT of a shot into the far right corner to put us 4-6 up! What made us even prouder was the fact that instead of celebrating, every single player went over to check on Lewis who was down in pain.

The last 10 minutes flew by with us getting a few chances to extend the lead and Fred's came on to see out the game and push the Hawks defence back but ultimately we ran out winners in the end.

FT - Hollingbury Hawks - 4 - TD - 6

A great second half and the determination, grit and heart that the boys showed today was a fantastic thing to see. I'm sure the parents in attendance will agree that the blood pressure was on edge today but the boys gave it their all.

MOTM - Kieron - A top performance from Kieron today, playing out towards the left and influencing the game with some great goals and the assist today.