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Gamble pays off with
morale-boosting win
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INJURIES to key players and the departure of Tyrone Berry meant Hillians manager Simon Rowland took a gamble and it paid off with this excellent win at the Waterside ground on Saturday.
He said: “It was a gamble but everyone did exactly what we asked of them and it worked for us. All credit to the players.”
Home boss Mick Sullivan praised the Hillians for their victory and rated the performance of Dom Clarke as one of the best target man roles he has seen this season. It was all the more amazing as this was Clarke’s full debut at this level after being plucked from County League 2 side Bexhill.
Rowland said: “It was a superb display and he’s certainly set his standards high with this performance. He must have won 80 per cent of his headers and to be fair to him, he also covered a lot of ground.”
Pat Harding no doubt appreciated having a big man to play off although in the last quarter of the match his high work rate meant he was brought back into midfield.
With skipper Lloyd Cotton ruled out, Rowland and his assistant Ben White were desperate to find someone to do a similar job and it befell Neil Watts to try to fill the captain’s shoes.
“We needed someone to get from box to box and mirror the role Lloyd has been doing for us in the last few matches but that takes a lot of energy and high fitness levels.
“Wattsy did a good job and scored the opening goal but it was inevitable he would run out of puff in the closing stages and so we had to make changes with 20 minutes to go.”
This time, however, Hillians remained firm and there were relatively few scares as they ran down the clock for a fifth league win of the season that took them seven points clear of Whyteleafe.
The home side created plenty of early chances but Hillians survived and with Clarke leading the line superbly, they started to create a few chances of their own.
Watts broke the deadlock on the half hour mark when Clarke nodded a cross and the utility player, freed from the shackles of a defensive role, drove an angled shot into the roof of the net.
After looking vulnerable early in the second half on far too many occasions this season, the players were urged to keep it tight and not only did they do that, but they also came up with a second goal five minutes after the break. And what an effort it was as Fred Foreman cut in from the left and thundered a 35-yarder into the top corner,
Even former professionals Ray Lewington and Tony Gale, who were watching, must have been impressed by that.
It gave the visitors a real confidence boost and they held out reasonably comfortably until the last five minutes when Casuals really turned the screw.
Hillians: J Harding; Tregear, Tuppenney, Poole, White; Bold, Watts, Munday, Foreman; P Harding, Clarke. Subs: Ham (Watts, 72), Bankole (Bold, 80), Melia (Foreman, 87). Middy Starman: Dominic Clarke, an outstanding full Ryman League debut.
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Sunday 27 May 2012
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