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I thought the two teams were well matched and there was some good football from both teams. But Hope seemed to want it just a little bit more than Hurdsfield. We reckon they made the better of a pitch that was quite short but wide. Crucially, they also had the benefit of a Hurdsfield keeper howler at 2-2, adding a fourth shortly after that.
As the first half progressed Hope took control of midfield with an extra man in there, while we struggled when one of our centre midefielders had to go off injured quite early in the first half. It was 2-1 to Hope at half time. We sorted that with a change in formation at half time and got it back to 2-2 with a great header from Ollie. But then it all went wrong for Hurdsfield !
Great weather, as I am sure if was for every SMCCFL fixture today. But, the heat, combinedwith early season (lack of) fitness and long grass meant that both teams noticeably tired towards the end.
Good conduct from both teams and the referee was good.
UP THE OWLS
chazza
view from the touchline
Charlie Owl has it about right I think; a well deserved victory for Salford but a match that was much more even in terms of possession than we give ourselves credit for; despite long grass, deep white lines and corner spots like the back of a hedgehog...
I thought we played an excellent game overall; there were one or two niggles where we could have kept things a little cooler verbally when the pressure was on (food for the opposition!) and also when we had one or two shots on goal when I'm sure with a little more leather and commitment to boot the scoreline could have been very different.
My man of the match was definitely Steve this time for setting up that textbook 2nd half goal (not that I've read any) for Ollie and for some gritty defending generally including one header where he was a good 18" clear above the opposing player; top stuff! Always tricky picking out individuals for specific praise but Luke also deserves a mention; once again stepping up to the mark and improving his play game on game. He is definitely becoming a potent force in the Hurdsfield attack.
Anyway a good start to the season; not the scoreline but the challenge - Hurdsfield is always up for one of those; although on paper we're one of the better teams in div2, in a real sense the last thing we need is an easy ride. So here's to a good game with a winning scoreline for the humbugs on September 26 at home against SM Ambassadors - bring it on!!!
Dicky Dosh
A pretty fair summary of the game there from the Hurdsfield guys.
It was a good game between two good teams, with not much between them, to be honest. We probably started the better and had the bigger share of possession as we tried to create through midfield. Hurdsfield were always a threat on the counter and whenever Mike pumped a Steve Ogrizovic style goal kick up field! The opening goal, somewhat against the run of play, came after about 20 minutes, Ollie turning and neatly tucking the ball away from within the area after we failed to clear.
We kept plugging away and scored a great equalizer, hit across the body and into the top corner!! We got a second 5-10 mins before half time, this time a cross from the right and a nice right foot volley past the keeper and into the net, half time 2-1.
Second half started very evenly, Hurdsfield coming out brightly, with Johnny and Paul in theire midfield getting much more into the game. During a good spell of pressure for Hurdsfield, they got their equalizer, a cross from the right with Ollie rising very well to put an excellent header past our keeper.
We then came firing back and had a super looping effort (Nayim against David Seaman springs to mind!) deceive Mike in the Hurdsfield goal and make it 3-2. To be fair, the sun was probably not helping him at all. The fourth was a quality left foot strike across the keeper and into the far side of the goal from the edge of the box. We played out the final 10 minutes, Hurdsfield never giving up, to end the game 4-2.
A super first game of the season, played in great spirit and an excellent sporting attitude between the teams - no bad language or bad tackles at all. Hurdsfield were unlucky to hit the bar twice but we had 2 or 3 goalbound efforts superbly saved by Mike, so the score could have been quite different to 4-2!
Hopefully we can use this as a springboard to a great season. With a willing and keen squad we're hoping for good things this season, but from looking at the results that have come up this weekend, I reckon all three divisions could be very close between a number of teams, so all to play for! Thanks again to Hurdsfield for an excellent game, see you at your place!
And to top off a great footballing day, the Super Saddlers beat John Barnes' excuse for a football team, and the Dingles and Sjoke both lost - couldn't be better!!
