Holy Cross : 3 Feildians: 1 Game report by Gord Dunphy

Photo by Gord Dunphy

Holy Cross/The Dock 3 Feildians 1

The first game of the 2009 season for Holy Cross and Feildians was a very well played game It was a game that opened with intensity. It was a contest that demonstrated high level of soccer skills and it certainly showed a high level of fitness. This game opened with momentum, with lots of hard tackles and physical play. There were plenty of fans on hand. Basically, this contest demonstrated that no team is going to be a push-over this season.

Wide open play

Right from the opening whistle, both teams ran the field well. At the three minute mark Feildians Zack Hynes hooked on to the ball deep into Holy Cross territory and then, with a beautiful finishing touch, he lobbed the ball over Holy Cross goalkeeper Scott Edwards, who was caught off his line. Both teams continued to go at it after the goal and the play went back and forth until the 23 minute mark, when Jon Hawco picked up a loose ball at the 18 yard line. Hawco went in, dribbled around the defender, carried on and went around Feildian's goalkeeper. Then rather than put the ball into an empty net, he took an extra step and, as a result of this, he was totally stopped from even getting a shot on net. Holy Cross had another glorious chance when Zack Wade missed from close in at the 3o minute mark. From there, it was fairly even play for the remainder of the half.

Second Half - It was all Holy Cross

The second half of play was a much different half. Feildians stopped running and Holy Cross ran miles . They totally frustrated the Feildians defence and they controlled the middle of the field. They looked impressive. They worked the ball to the outside and as a result of their efforts, Jon Hawco scored on a beautiful header at the 59 minute mark. Zack Wade scored again at the 65 minute mark from a ball that was hit inside the box from the outside wing position.From that point onward, it was as if Feildians had somehow disappeared. A field of green had become a field of red. All that the Feildians could do was chase the ball. They weren't orchestrating any sort of creativity. In the last minute of play Corey Moore sealed the faith of the Feildian team and gave Holy Cross their third goal of the match for a well deserved 3-1 victory.