HOLSWORTHY SECONDS 1 - SPREYTON 7

AFTER a long lay off over Christmas Spreyton players were chomping at the bit to get out on the pitch and play this highly anticipated fixture against Holsworthy Seconds who currently sit mid-table in the North Devon Football League - Intermediate One.

The first whistle had barely blown before Spreyton were straight on the attack to fire in the opener. A sublime ball over the top from midfield maestro Steven Kinsey unlocked the Holsworthy defence for Sprey’s No 9 Chris Down to latch onto and coolly fire it straight into the top left leaving the ‘keeper no chance.

Barely five minutes later the young and talented Owen Gregory found himself attacking down the left wing, a cool cut back allowed him space to whip a cross in for the “man mountain” Cam Pow to connect with a bullet of a header.

Another short seven minutes later Owen found himself on the left-hand edge of the area. With a few options available to him, he picked out playmaker Koehan King screaming for the ball at the edge of the D.

Koehan fired an absolute rocket of a first touch shot straight into the roof of the net - 3-0.

The 19th minute of the game saw Owen Gregory back in the mix with a lovely ball into the feet of Cam to skin the last man and finish with great composure into the bottom corner.

Spreyton were playing some good football with the influential Jamie Hatch getting the lads spreading it around the park with some panache.

At 28 minutes in and Ko played a superb ball over to Cam on the left-hand edge of the area, from a very tight angle Cam proceeded to lob the ‘keeper and get his third of the game - a first half hat-trick for the Rhino!

Chris Down went on to beat the ‘keeper twice in quick succession for two very dubious offside decisions to be given against us with the game now running away from the home side.

The Sprey’s started to lose their heads over some dodgy decisions and some antagonising from the home supporters, picking up two yellow cards and playing some scruffy football to say the least after such a positive start.

Half time - The Sprey’s lead by five goals but deservedly got kept out on the pitch for a dressing down by the gaffer.

Barely a minute into the second half the Sprey’s tried playing through the middle of the park only for the ref to accidentally hinder play, the ball sat nice for Holsworthy to launch an attack and with a bit of confusion amongst the lads they managed to nick one of the scruffier goals we’ve conceded this season.

The goal certainly gave Holsworthy a small glimmer of hope as they upped their game and made it a decent second half.

A few attacks saw ‘keeper Chris Gunn-Hawks called into action with a few fine tips over the bar. The two centre-halves of Captain Will Hawks and the ever-consistent Dan Hine were relishing putting in some meaty challenges and winning crucial headers now the game had took a turn.

The ever-flourishing James Turner found himself going on some mazy runs taking on players for fun - anybody would think he was desperate to get on the scoresheet.

With 65 minutes gone, Cam very unselfishly laid the ball across the box for Chris Down to smash home his second.

Midfield workhorse Liam Ward found himself seeing a lot of the ball-winning headers and challenges as he does so well. In the last 10 minutes Wardy squared a ball in for Chris Down to slot home his third of the game to complete a well-deserved hat-trick.

Another comfortable win for the Sprey’s sees us progress to the quarter-finals against Plymouth side Morley Rangers.

Man of the match for Spreyton was Cam Pow.

This weekend sees the Sprey’s host Seaton Town who currently sit fourth in the division.