at Scrooby Road, Recreation Ground, Bircotes, DN11 8JT
North Midland U19 League Division 2
Harworth Colliery Institute (5) 9
Daine McGrain 7, 10, 78,
Lewis Elwood 12, 90+,
Mitchell Lax 22, 61 (pen), 68,
Ben Thompson 36
Maltby Main (0) 0
Admissission £2, Programme £1, Attendance nowhere near enough and it's your own daft fault if you missed this one ;-P
Harworth Colliery Institute:
Left click teamsheet image to enlarge
Tom Oakley, Ryan Davis, Danny Quinney, Jozef Secker, Sam Clarke, Ryan Hall, Ricky Tate, Jake Loveday, Luke O'Neill, Dan Wilkinson, Joss Bryan
Subs - Jack Wynne, Ryan Mills, Nicky Cannon
A fantastic all round team effort from Harworth, gave them their biggest win of the season so far.
Originally, Carlton Town Academy were meant to be visiting Bircotes tonight, for this NMU19L fixture, but after they made themselves 'unavailable', Maltby Main, who were without a game, took the Nottingham sides place instead. Assuming there are no more problems at the Stoke Lane club, Harworth will be playing at Carlton in a Second Division game next Wednesday, when they'll be travelling on the back of a confidence boosting performance and morale lifting emphatic win.
Inside the first ten minutes, Daine McGrain showed the kind of form and electrifying pace he's capable of (which he's been threatening to unleash on somebody for several weeks now), when he opened the scoring with an angled drive from just inside the Maltby area ... and then lobbed the visitors keeper Tom Oakley from ten yards as he ran off his line to narrow the angle, to give Harworth a comfortable two goal cushion early in the game.
Hold onto your seats and watch Daine go now!
Maltby had an even bigger hill to climb after just 12 minutes, when Lewis Francis hooked over a cross from the left wing, which Enzo Guarini knocked back into the path of Lewis Elwood, who planted the ball past Oakley to put Harworth in control of the game.
Lewis Francis is one of the hard working and unsung heroes of Harworth's best start to the season in living memory, he also knows what he's talking about when he compares match reports from Under 19's games on the club's Facebook page ... Only joking Hassy! ;-)
An early contender for THE66POW player of the season me thinks.
22 minutes in, the game was effectively over, when Mitchell Lax charged through the Maltby defence and finished off a great solo run, by smashing the ball into the top corner of the net to make it 4-0.
Tom Oakley ran towards the left edge of the area to clear the ball, but Lewis Elwood hassled him and won possession and slipped a pass to Enzo Guarini, but with the Maltby keeper beaten all ends up, the ball was headed off the goal line by a Maltby defender.
Just before the half hour mark, Enzo Guarini was flattened in the penalty area.
Daine McGrain stepped forward to take the kick, but Tom Oakley guessed right and kept the ball out.
Jordan Hardman had moved into the centre of defence tonight, while Ben Thompson, usually a midfielder, filled the right back slot.
The switch worked and showed that Jordan isn't the only player Harworth have who can swap positions if the need arises. Thompson further illustrated his versatility when he weighed in with the Colliery's fifth goal on 36 minutes.
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| Whoops! I accidentally inserted an even reminder right in the middle of a match report. I bet that happens again before November 16th too! |
HT: Harworth Colliery 5 v Maltby Main 0
At half time, Maltby replaced their goalkeeper Tom Oakley with Ryan Mills.
But the five goals they had conceded hadn't been due to Oakley not playing well, it was all down to a rampant first 45 minutes by Harworth.
And don't forget, Oakley had a penalty save against his name too.
The South Yorkshire side have been the whipping boys of this division for the past few weeks, but they're taking steps to reverse that trend and had even made two new signings before kick off tonight.
This was a stronger Maltby side than the one Harworth had beaten 2-0 recently.
Also from where I was stood watching, one 'Main' player was also putting in a good shift and having a stand out game out ... and that was their captain, Ryan Hall.
The score was a reflection of how well the home side were playing, not how weak the opposition were.
When you look at the quality of the Harworth lads who didn't get a game tonight or were unavailable, I'm confident that Glenn and Hasan's squad are going to surprise a few people this season, with just how much progress they're making.
Harworth Under 19's were once a make do and mend scratch team, who were seemingly merely going through the motions for the sake of it (a honest observation, not a criticism) ... but those days are gone!
I'll keep my counsel, remain tight lipped and not make any rash predictions just yet, but I know I'm right,
Harworth were still hungry for more goals after the break and came close again twice - firstly when Enzo Guarini shot across the face of goal and then again when Lewis Francis narrowly failed to nod home a cross from Daine McGrain.
Matt Smith and Connor Gresham both came on after 57 minutes in place of Enzo Guarini and Lewis Francis.
Daine McGrain put Matt Smith through on goal, but Ryan Hall arrived in the nick of time to clear the ball behind for a corner.
Gaz Bonner arrived in the box to meet the flag kick, but Ryan Mills saved the big centre half's header.
Harworth gave Tom Cameron a run out with Jordan Hardman making way for him on the hour.
Jordan's been playing really well for both the first team and the Under 19's and he may as well get a rest, when the team have obviously already got all all three points safely in the bag.
Tom's earned the right to get some playing time and he's been unfortunate not to feature more this season.
This time Mitchell Lax took responsibility for the spot kick and Harworth were six goals to the good.
Connor Gresham, relishing his run out, was tearing around like a Tasmanian Devil, in and around the Maltby penalty area.
His off the cuff, improvised running must puzzle defences and cause them no end of worry ... it certainly scares the life out of me sometimes too!
But his unpredictable and therefore un-markable style of play, paid dividends on 68 minutes, when Connor's pin point cross was headed home by Mitchell Lax, who claimed the first hat trick of the night.
Having played the role of provider, Connor Gresham now wanted a goal for himself.
Twice he forced a save out of Ryan Mills; with 1) a snap shot from the edge of the box after Mitchell Lax had laid the ball off to him and 2) in a one on one shoot out after he'd left the Maltby defence in his wake. Both efforts were low, well struck and on target, which will no doubt not have gone unnoticed by his management team ...
Daine McGrain had a decent effort to claim a hat trick for himself saved by Ryan Mills, who also managed to keep out a thumping shot from Matt Smith a few minutes later.
But on 78 minutes, McGrain did finally get his third goal, by virtue of having lobbed both Maltby keepers on the night.
In injury time at the end of the second half, Lewis Elwood topped off a great performance with his second goal of the night, to make the final score:
Harworth Colliery 9 v. Maltby Main 0.
Man of the match - It's a team game, so well played one and all.
Next up: Thursday night, Cannon Park, Leverton Road, Retford, DN22 6QF, Retford United v Southwell City, NMU19L Division 1, 7.45pm kick off
