Primary Cup Action

Saturday saw the first team return to Primary Cup action away to Eaton Wanderers, Its been 7 years since we last played at Rackheath and whilst the facilities are a 100 times better the pitch is still the same. With a light rain and the only visible grass being the new sprouts from this summers over seeding it was never going to be the prettiest of matches. It was however great to see referee Philip Wynes return to the middle after a year out due to illness.

Wanderers started much the better and team with our own left back Ryan Stannard seeing the bulk of our possession. We seemed unable to link the forwards with our own midfield and on 21 minutes Wanderers made the most of their dominace and took the lead. Shortly afterwards Right back Peter Turnbull was replaced by Jamie-Lee Lewis (Injured). Eaton continued to push and on 36 minutes Toms Stones cleared the ball and pulled up injured. He was replaced by Jamie Dugdale, a quick reshuffle saw Dugdale move to right back and Lewis into the center of the defence along side Lewis Jarrett. During the stoppage Captain Billy Cockram took the opportunity to get the lads together and push them to get going. Half Time.

The lads went back inside for half time and went over a few issues with how we were playing, the line up did not change however a couple of tactical tweeks quickly paid off with Luke Williams rifling in from a narrow angle (47), the equaliser was quickly follwed by a second as Billy Cockram looped a ball over the keeper from range (51). Liam Plunkett replaced Ryan Stannard to offer a bit of pace to cover round the defence. We continued to press and on 59 minutes Michael Cook replaced Luke Williams as we switched to a 352. On 64 minutes debutant Devon Clements replaced Louis Rutherford in only his second game in 3 years. On 68 Minutes Cockram grabbed his second and all but put the game to bed as we asserted our dominace in the centre of the pitch before breaking and slotting home. Ten minutes later Josh Haycox got his 6th in just 3 games after a powerful run (that was all three forwards on the score sheet). On 87 Minutes Michael Cook found his scoring boots and beat the keeper with a well taken goal. the last goal was to be Eatons with a very well taken effort (90).

An excellent come back against a determined opposition showed that we have matured over the summer and proved we can come back from difficult situations. MotM Goalkeeper Ed Leviseur.

Final Score Eaton Wanderers 2-5 Hockering