Cowboys Up To 4th With Greyhound Win
The Downs A team got 2012 off to a great start with a 2-1 win over Sporting Greyhound.
After their first scheduled game of the year fell victim to the weather last weekend, the A’s put in a great team performance on a typically Downs pitch to warm the cockles with a valuable 3 points on a chilly January afternoon.
Having been under pressure in the early minutes, Cowboys took control of the game and put together some great passing moves going forward – Carmine Notaro, Max Oliver and Ian Riddle all linking up well in the opponents’ half, but it took some fleet-footed wizardry from Brendan Tate to break the deadlock, as he weaved inside a couple of defenders and unleashed a pinpoint shot from the edge of the box, which went in off the post.
The lead was short-lived though, as a sudden bout of A.D.D saw Greyhound equalise within a couple of minutes. A less-than-vicious shot in the penalty box taking a deflection off Cowboys skipper Steve Williams and bobbling into the net like a bewildered pensioner getting on a coach. Ever-dependable though, Williams didn’t duck his responsibility for the goal, saying after the match – “Sanzo, that was your fucking man who managed to get the shot in anyway”.
Nonetheless, the Cowboys’ lead was restored before the break, Ian Riddle’s shot getting a deflection and looping into the corner. In this case though, the deflection was almost irrelevant. The shot was DEFINITELY already both on target, and unsaveable. If anything, the deflection only slowed it down, and stopped it breaking the net with it’s fierce velocity. Honest.
Also worthy of note from the first half – Will Sanzo made a late bid for Oscar fame, whilst on the receiving end of a (genuine) foul. However, his efforts would be more suited to the “best comedy” section, rather than “drama”.
After the break, Greyhound stepped it up and enjoyed the better of things, but didn’t create many clear chances. “Fingertips” Franck Wilks made one excellent save, and in front of him the defensive unit had a great 45 minutes – well organised and breaking things up well. Olly Black put in a man of the match performance as a one-man wrecking crew in the midfield.
It was tense towards the end, but the Cowboys held out to leapfrog their opponents in the league, with league leaders Hare on the Hill to come next weekend.
To round off a great afternoon, there were also very welcome returns for Jess Tate, Adam Birch and Paul Murray from the subs bench – all looking sharp and back to enjoying some Football after all three endured a pretty hellish first half of the season injuries-wise.
Great team effort, and great spirit from everyone (same thing goes for the opponents as well, to be fair). Looking forward to big things for 2012.