Sporting Hackney 5 - 1 Old Barkabbeyans
09/03/2019
Hackney clinched promotion and edged towards the championship* with an emphatic victory over title rivals Old Barkabbyans.
The game kicked off in scenes reminiscent of Jan de Bont’s 1996 epic action disaster film Twister; with the hurricane-force wind at their backs the yellows expected the first half to be a breeze.
It didn’t start that way, however. With just 5 minutes on the clock Hackney were struggling to remember how to play on a big flat pitch and Barkabbyans took the lead. With no options being made available wide the ball was lost in central midfield and a quick though ball set one of the Old Barks’ strikers through and he finished clinically.
At times the football wasn’t pretty but with the wind behind them yellows were camped in the opposition half for much of the remainder of the first 45. A couple of chances, came and went, McQuade striking the post with one.
Hackney’s equaliser goes in the books as strike from Page, but in reality the bulk over the power came from Mutha Nature. H was fouled on the left flank some 45 yards from goal. Rory looked to “put it on the keeper”, who had been identified as a weakness. It turned out to be the perfect plan as with gale-force backing the ball accelerated through the keeper’s hands and into the net.
Page was to be involved again as Hackney took the lead; a long clearance saw him running clear of the defence only to be clattered by the Bark’s keeper on the edge of the box. Actual footage of the foul can be seen here. It could (probably should) have been a red for the keeper, but the ref deemed it to be just a yellow.
Page was unable to continue, so Badu took over free-kick duties. His effort crashed against the bar and up into the air. As it dropped Adam Davies was first on the scene to tap in from half a yard.
It was a decent first-half from Sporting, but they went into the break disappointed that they hadn’t more to show for the territorial advantage. With there being no sign of conditions improving the visitors were confident that they would be able to overturn the deficit now the conditions were in their favour.
Their spirits were lifted further when Armstrong was forced into a fine save; tipping the opening kick-off onto the crossbar.. This was one of a number of key saves from Armstrong; another that he pulled off was a full length one handed job. Of course the conditions meant that further half-chances came the way of Old Barks, but Armstrong and the defence drew on the spirit of the ten men victory a couple of weeks earlier and stood firm. Old Barks were becoming more and more frustrated, which literally came to a head half way through the second half.
Hackney skipper and centre-half Danny Lonergan fouled Barks danger man on the edge of the Hackney box. An exchange of verbal pleasantries ensued followed by the Barks man landing a head-butt on the side of Lonergan’s face. There was no option for the ref other than to brandish a straight red card.
The free-kick from the original foul flew inches past the far post, but having survived that scare the tide began to turn. Hackney were able to make the extra man count and the game began to be played further up the pitch.
Hackney won a throw-in around the half way line; ignoring the advice of his full back Jason Daniels took it quickly to McQuade. Both central defenders were drawn across the pitch and the Scotsman squared to Badu, who finished with aplomb.
Within 10 minutes, McQuade had bagged a brace for himself, the Hackney midfield and front line were running Barkabbyans ragged. Hackney were in dreamland having put in one of the most clinical performances the club has seen in its 33-year history.
With just a few minutes left, though, dreams turned to the stuff of nightmares. Colvin committed to winning a trade-mark 50-50. Having cleared the ball, he was caught late by the Barkabbyans full back and suffered a double fracture of his right leg . After a good dose of Entonox and Morphine he left in an ambulance muttering something largely incomprehensible about this being the best night out he’d had since the late 1990s.
* During the week following the fixture Old Barkabbyans had 3 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player during the reverse fixture. The points were awarded to the Parrots making their lead at the top of the table unassailable.
Hackney clinched promotion and edged towards the championship* with an emphatic victory over title rivals Old Barkabbyans.
The game kicked off in scenes reminiscent of Jan de Bont’s 1996 epic action disaster film Twister; with the hurricane-force wind at their backs the yellows expected the first half to be a breeze.
It didn’t start that way, however. With just 5 minutes on the clock Hackney were struggling to remember how to play on a big flat pitch and Barkabbyans took the lead. With no options being made available wide the ball was lost in central midfield and a quick though ball set one of the Old Barks’ strikers through and he finished clinically.
At times the football wasn’t pretty but with the wind behind them yellows were camped in the opposition half for much of the remainder of the first 45. A couple of chances, came and went, McQuade striking the post with one.
Hackney’s equaliser goes in the books as strike from Page, but in reality the bulk over the power came from Mutha Nature. H was fouled on the left flank some 45 yards from goal. Rory looked to “put it on the keeper”, who had been identified as a weakness. It turned out to be the perfect plan as with gale-force backing the ball accelerated through the keeper’s hands and into the net.
Page was to be involved again as Hackney took the lead; a long clearance saw him running clear of the defence only to be clattered by the Bark’s keeper on the edge of the box. Actual footage of the foul can be seen here. It could (probably should) have been a red for the keeper, but the ref deemed it to be just a yellow.
Page was unable to continue, so Badu took over free-kick duties. His effort crashed against the bar and up into the air. As it dropped Adam Davies was first on the scene to tap in from half a yard.
It was a decent first-half from Sporting, but they went into the break disappointed that they hadn’t more to show for the territorial advantage. With there being no sign of conditions improving the visitors were confident that they would be able to overturn the deficit now the conditions were in their favour.
Their spirits were lifted further when Armstrong was forced into a fine save; tipping the opening kick-off onto the crossbar.. This was one of a number of key saves from Armstrong; another that he pulled off was a full length one handed job. Of course the conditions meant that further half-chances came the way of Old Barks, but Armstrong and the defence drew on the spirit of the ten men victory a couple of weeks earlier and stood firm. Old Barks were becoming more and more frustrated, which literally came to a head half way through the second half.
Hackney skipper and centre-half Danny Lonergan fouled Barks danger man on the edge of the Hackney box. An exchange of verbal pleasantries ensued followed by the Barks man landing a head-butt on the side of Lonergan’s face. There was no option for the ref other than to brandish a straight red card.
The free-kick from the original foul flew inches past the far post, but having survived that scare the tide began to turn. Hackney were able to make the extra man count and the game began to be played further up the pitch.
Hackney won a throw-in around the half way line; ignoring the advice of his full back Jason Daniels took it quickly to McQuade. Both central defenders were drawn across the pitch and the Scotsman squared to Badu, who finished with aplomb.
Within 10 minutes, McQuade had bagged a brace for himself, the Hackney midfield and front line were running Barkabbyans ragged. Hackney were in dreamland having put in one of the most clinical performances the club has seen in its 33-year history.
With just a few minutes left, though, dreams turned to the stuff of nightmares. Colvin committed to winning a trade-mark 50-50. Having cleared the ball, he was caught late by the Barkabbyans full back and suffered a double fracture of his right leg . After a good dose of Entonox and Morphine he left in an ambulance muttering something largely incomprehensible about this being the best night out he’d had since the late 1990s.
* During the week following the fixture Old Barkabbyans had 3 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player during the reverse fixture. The points were awarded to the Parrots making their lead at the top of the table unassailable.
