SPREYTON 5 - WILLAND 1

AFTER a break from action, last Saturday (January 19) Spreyton FC played host to Willand Eleven. Both teams were visibly fired up for the fixture.

Five minutes in and captain Will Hawking spotted a hole in the defence and pinged a perfectly placed ball to Wardy, to flick on off his head for Owen to finish with great composure - 1-0.

Spreyton were caught off guard 10 minutes later from a throw in. With players not tracking their men, Willand squeezed through and got one back to bring the score level.

Through no fault of his own there was nothing ‘keeper Chris Gunn-Hawking could do about it.

At 37 minutes in the debutant Adam Lawson swang a peach of a cross in from the left wing, Chris Down headed back across the box for Hatchy to smash home putting the Sprey’s back in front - 2-1.

With 42 minutes gone, Chris Down headed across the box again for Lawson to find the ball at his feet, Lawson proceeded to fire the ball to the bottom corner for a nicely taken debut goal - 3-1.

Half-time and Spreyton were looking comfortable but knew the opposition were still in the game.

On came Jordan Rowe between the sticks to make his second debut for the Sprey’s after returning to the club from Silverton.

Ten minutes into the second half saw Owen scoop an exquisite ball over the last man for Hatchy to unleash a scissor kick at goal. The ‘keeper got a hand to it and Hatchy followed up with what everybody believed was a goal but a bad decision by the Lino saw the referee wave play on.

Only minutes later Hatchy was at it again firing a shot goal-wards for a defender to handball on the line but again play was waved on.

With 30 minutes to go Andy Hooper was introduced and he was chomping at the bit for a run out.

Decisions seemed to be going against Spreyton but the lads showed great character to get on with the game and not lose their heads.

At 80 minutes Spreyton saw Ko King introduced to keep a bit of spark in the midfield with the game hitting the later stages.

With 82 minutes gone the lads were pushing for more, Chris Down played in Owen for another well-taken goal bringing the score to 4-1.

On 88 minutes Chris Down took advantage of a quick throw in for Owen to shrug off the last man and thunder a rocket into the roof of the net, the ‘keeper was left glued to his spot - 5-1.

After the game the gaffer had the following to say: “The lads showed great character and team spirit today to persevere through a game which was tough at times with so many harsh decisions coming our way.

“The score line didn’t reflect the game as I feel Willand really had a good go and put pressure on us through periods, the defence really had to be on top of their game.

“Overall it was a great team effort and as always we now concentrate on the next game in hand.”

Man of the match was shared between Chris Down and Owen Gregory with some great link up play between the two.

Tomorrow, Saturday, January 26, Spreyton play host to Cheriton Fitzpaine who sit second and third in the league respectively. With both teams unbeaten so far this season, it’s sure to be a cracker.