Hawkings 4 Pinta Kronenbourg 3

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (1)4[Stephen Woods 3, Iain Wilson] Pinta Kronenbourg (1)3

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Rick Elliott, Stephen Woods, Mark Gouldthorpe

Hawkings took the lead midway through the half when Stephen turned home Mark’s quick free kick, but it was 1-1 at half time despite Craig getting fingers to a blistering shot which eventually went in off the bar.

Iain had a shot against the post, but Hawkings regained the lead when Iain turned his man and placed his shot expertly to go in off the post, and after Craig made an excellent diving save to preserve the lead, his long throw-out set Stephen up for the third. Stephen completed his hat trick with a fine effort, and it should have been more as Rick and Iain twice were foiled by the ‘keeper’s feet in one five second period.

Those missed chances almost proved costly, as Rick turned his ankle and had to go in goal as Hawkings had no substitute. Pinta scored with their first effort at him, hit the inside of the post just afterwards, and although Craig volleyed an effort just wide, Pinta added a third with a shot that deflected in off Stephen. Craig went back in goal for the final minute to defend the lead and ensure another three points in the fight to avoid relegation.

Hawkings 4 Mosiac Utd 2

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (2)4[Richard Molyneux 2, Mark 2] Mosiac Utd (1)2

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Ric Elliott, Stephen Woods, Richard Molyneux, Mark Gouldthorpe

This was a key relegation tussle against a side a place and a point ahead of Hawkings. In a very tight encounter, Rich Molyneux gave Hawkings the lead and later hit the post before setting up Mark for the second goal. Most of the play was at the Hawkings end of the pitch, though, and it took a great defensive performance to keep Mosiac out. They did pull a goal back with a deflected shot just before half time, but a second goal from Rich midway through the half opened up the two-goal cushion again.

Mosiac ensured a tight finish with a superb strike into the corner, but the game was settled in the dying minutes when the previously-excellent Mosiac ‘keeper let a Mark free kick slip over his shoulder and in.

Hawkings 4 Own Goals and Gaffes 1

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (1)4[Richard Molyneux, Chris Elliott 3] Own Goals and Gaffes (0)1

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Chris Elliott, Ric Elliott, Stephen Woods, Richard Molyneux, Mark Gouldethorpe

Against the league leaders, who before this game had a 100% record, a superbly-organised Hawkings’ finished with a comfortable victory. In a very tight first half, Richard M opened the scoring and Hawkings harried their opponents constantly to take overall control of the game.

As gaps began to appear in the Own Goals defence, Chris helped himself to a second half hat trick, the last coming after Iain took a quick free kick, and whenever Own Goals did get a sight of goal, they couldn’t get beyond Craig. Just as it looked as if they’d finally managed to keep a clean sheet, a shot into the corner with three minutes to go provided the only disappointing note of the evening.

Hawkings 3 Walton Wanderers 5

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (1)3[Richard Molyneux, Chris Elliott, Richard Elliott] Walton Wanderers (4)5

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Chris Elliott, Rick Elliott, Stephen Woods, Richard Molyneux

With the return of Craig Wilson in goal, and the luxury of having a sixth player due to the last minute arrival of Richard, Hawkings put their miserable winter season behind them with a performance that, although it didn’t result in victory, did bring back their enjoyment of the game.

The early stages of the game saw Walton always managing to get any fortune that was going, and when they led 4-0 just before half time it seemed Hawkings would go unrewarded for their efforts. But, instead of letting heads fall, Hawkings continued to press forward, and goals either side of half time by new player Richard and Chris Elliott began to worry Wanderers.

For most of the remainder of the game, only bad luck in front of goal prevented Hawkings narrowing the gap even further. Walton added a fifth, but the goal of the game was reserved for Hawkings. Craig made a fine stop, threw the ball three quarters of the pitch to Chris, whose first time pass found his brother Rick, and from his foot the ball shot into the top corner – from ‘keeper to net, barely a second passed. Hawkings came close twice more in the dying seconds, but a 3-5 defeat ranks as high as many of the victories the side has enjoyed over the last three years.

Hawkings 1 Walton Wanderers 10

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (0)1 [Iain] Walton Wanderers (3)10

Squad – Craig Wilson (standing in for first five minutes), Iain Wilson, Ric Elliott, Chris Elliott, Andrew Dignan, Karl Robinson

With Karl held up on his way back from Manchester, Craig played for Hawkings for the first few minutes to make up the team of five, and when Karl arrived, the game was still scoreless, with Hawkings having the better of the play. Hawkings competed well throughout the half, but the lack of a regular ‘keeper cost them dearly, and they turned round 3-0 down.

The second half saw more of the same, equality in general in the play but Walton took full advantage of the substitute ‘keepers, although Hawkings deservedly got on the scoresheet when Chris passed wide for Iain to score in the corner.

Hawkings 4 FC Vernons 7

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (0)4 [Callum Faulds, Carl Robinson, Iain Wilson, Stephen Woods] FC Vernons (6)7

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Rick Elliott, Stephen Woods, Carl Robinson, Callum Faulds

After a run of victories, second-placed Hawkings came crashing down to earth after this defeat against a side who shouldn’t have presented much of a problem. Vernons, though, adopted a shoot-on-sight policy, and by half time they had established a seemingly unassailable 6-0 lead. Practically every time they shot, the ball zipped through the defenders and into the top corner past an unsighted Craig, and with finishing like that, there is nothing you can do but wait for the tide to turn.

Hawkings had more success in the second half, but even then they found that shots were flying just wide or hitting the Vernons’ ‘keeper, who semeed to somehow get his body in the way of every on target effort. Callum finally got Hawkings off the mark, but almost immediately Vernons extended the lead to six goals again. However, Hawkings were finally getting beyond the Vernons defence now,  and goals from Carl, Iain and Stephen gave Hawkings’ the chance of actually getting something out of the game – that is until the referee blew for time three minutes early.

Hawkings 9 Smack My Pitch Up 4

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (4)9 [Chris Elliott 5, Carl Robinson 2, Stephen Woods, Ric Elliott] Smack My Pitch Up (4)4

Squad – Iain Wilson, Chris Elliott, Ric Elliott, Stephen Woods, Carl Robinson

Hawkings, a man short at kick-off, made a poor start, and were a goal down before Carl arrived to make the fifth player. It soon became 0-2, but from that point on, Hawkings dominated the game.

There was an element of fortune about their first goal, though. Ric blasted a free kick just wide, it came back out to Chris, who belted it into the ‘keeper’s midriff, and as he lay on the ground poleaxed, Chris hit the second rebound home. It was almost 2-2 when the ball took a deflection off a Pitch defender and went over the ‘keeper and dropped in, but the referee had already blown for the ball being above head high. Carl soon levelled the scores, hitting a low shot from within his own half that zipped past the ‘keeper.

Pich were still a threat going forward, and although Iain made some fine saves, injuring his hand in the process, he could do nothing about Pitch’s third goal, or about a shot soon afterwards that struck the bar. Hawkings were still creating more chances, though, as they went forward, and Chris scored twice more to give them the lead. Pitch equalised late in the half, and Carl was unlucky not to score his second with a shot that hit the underside of the bar.

The second half was a tight affair, but Hawkings gradually gained control of the game. All five players contributed, although Chris’ next two goals were individual efforts, the second after he beat three men on the edge of the area before coolly chipping the ball past the bemused ‘keeper. He almost added another after a quick Iain throw found him clear, but the ‘keeper got a touch to the shot and turned it past the post.

Carl took a clever free kick to set up Stephen for the seventh goal, and when Pitch did get a shot in, Iain saved with his feet, the ball flew out to Chris and his pass set up Rick for number eight. The last goal of the evening was another venomous finish from Karl as Hawkings remained third in the table – had they been able to field a settled side in the earlier games, they could well have been clear at the top.

Man-of-the-match – Chris Elliott. A good two days for the Deal or No Deal £xxxxxxxxxxxxx winner.

Hawkings 9 No Fourteen Day Return 2

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (1)9 [Stephen Woods 3, Chris Elliott 3, Callum Faulds 2, own goal] No Fourteen Day Return (2)2

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Chris Elliott, Callum Faulds, Stephen Woods, Andrew Dignan

In the early stages, Return looked the likelier side, and it was no surprise when they took the lead. Stephen’s equaliser signalled a spell of Hawkings pressure, but it was Return who scored the next goal, and it took some good defending, with Andy and Iain blocking several efforts, and good goalkeeping by Craig to keep the score at 1-2 at half time.

The second half was a totally different matter, as Hawkings created chance after chance, while restricting Return to long-range efforts thanks to more disciplined defending. Chris scored twice to turn 1-2 into 3-2, and after good work in the corner between Callum and Iain, Iain found Stephen on the edge of the area and it was 4-2. Chris, Callum and Stephen added further goals, and an eighth came when a defender tried to cut out Stephen’s pass to Iain and turned it past his own ‘keeper. Callum scored the ninth and received the man-of-the-match award from the referee, but on this occasion it could probably have gone to any of the Hawkings players except Craig, who had one of his quietest matches of the season thanks to the performances of the rest of the lads.

Hawkings 6 Walton Wanderers 3

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (4)6 [Chris Elliott 3, Stephen Woods 2, Iain Wilson] Walton Wanderers (2)3

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Chris Elliott, Ric Elliott, Stephen Woods, Andrew Dignan

This could rank as Hawkings’ best ever performance as they finally recorded a well-deserved victory against champions Walton thanks to a superb all-round team performance.

In a tight opening ten minutes, Stephen and Chris both took their chances to give Hawkings a 2-0 lead, and although Walton pulled a goal back, Stephen was unfortunate not to make it 3-1 when he had a goal disallowed for just being in the area. Walton equalised with a fortuitous goal, the ball taking a lucky bounce off both the side and back of the cage to land at a Walton player’s feet, and at this point another defeat seemed likely. However, a combination of resolute defending and good counter-attacking kept Walton out, and it was Chris and Stephen who added the only other goals of the first half.

Craig had been busy throughout the half, but he made his best save early in the second, with a superb deflection onto the post as Walton were already celebrating the goal. Chris emphasised the importance of the save soon afterwards with Hawkings’ fifth goal, and although Craig made a succession of excellent stops, and Iain and Stephen defended stoutly, it was by no means all one-way traffic, and Andy, Ric and Stephen all went close to adding further goals, with the Walton ‘keeper making some fine saves. Walton did pull a third goal back late on, but Iain quickly added a sixth for Hawkings, and as the game drew to a close, Hawkings seemed the more likely to score another.

Tuesday Night Cup

Group Stages:

Ribble Plate 3-0 default win – Hawkings had just four players at the start time but Plate only had 2 due to the absurdly early kick-off time

West End 0-1 – team Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Andy Dignan, Karl Robinson – even with only four players, Hawkings should still have won this game – the ‘keeper made several amazing stops with his feet

Walton Wanderers 2-3 Ric Elliott arrived for this game and scored both goals (at 0-2 and 1-3). Hawkings have still never beaten Walton but deserved to on this occasion

Own Goals and Gaffes 2-2 - Andy scored both equalisers to secure qualification for the second stages.

Hawkings finished fourth of five teams and qualified for the plate competion

Quarter Final – Inter Minan 2-2. Hawkings took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Karl and Iain and some fine saves by Craig. Inter levelled before the end and the game went to golden goal extra time and then penalties.

Iain scored (1-0); Craig saved (1-0); Andy scored (2-0); Inter scored (2-1); Rick scored (3-1); Inter scored (3-2); Karl scored (4-2); Craig saved – won 4-2

Semi-Final – West End 4-1. A comfortable win now it was five on five, even though Hawkings had to play immediately after the victory over Inter. Karl scored two early goals, then gave away a penalty. A penalty at the other end from Andy made it 3-1 and Ric scored the fourth.

Final – FC Vernons 1-4. Hawkings ran out of energy after having to play their third straight game. Andy equalised an early goal, but then the team tried to hang on for penalties, with Craig making a succession of fine saves. However, when Vernons scored a second late on, there was no way back, despite a spirited performance against the odds.

All-in-all, good value for money but a terrible way to organise a tournament.