| September 26th,
2004: Hawks 4 – Emerald Knights – 0
Perfect soccer conditions prevailed
on Sunday September 26th for the Aegean Hawks FC match up with Emerald
Knights in a regular season WPL contest. The Hawks had faced the
Emerald Knights twice in the last two years, and both results were
disappointing losses despite a clear advantage in talent for the
Hawks. The first of these two historical contests occured in the
Fall of 2002, a game in which the Hawks played 2 men down losing
2-0. That loss prevented the Hawks from claiming a piece of the
Premier League title that season. The second contest occurred in
the Fall of 2003 in a Sunday WISL First Division contest. The Emerald
Knights prevailed 1-0 and almost prevented the Hawks side from promotion
to the Premier division, but the Hawks had the Mavericks to thank
for knocking the Knights out of competition in the last week of
the season. Needless to say, it was payback time.
Sunday's game was dominated
from beginning to end by the Hawks. Both teams were playing a physical
brand of soccer and the intensity was high. Despite numerous scoring
chances, the team failed to find the net until a beautiful sequence
of passing in the 44th minute resulted in striker Jono Drysdale
playing a one-time through ball to a streaking Craig Cochran at
the edge of the box. Craig was able to finish with a well-placed
shot to the far corner of the goal. Hawks up at halftime 1-0.
The second half saw a temporary
lapse in team concentration as the Knights pushed for the equalizer
in the first 10 minutes. The defensive unit of Sudhakar, Peacher,
Knight, Douglas, and Stephens were able to neutralize the brief
flurry of Emerald activity and the game once again began to sway
decidedly in favor of the Aegean side. The Hawks pounded the Emerald
defensive unit with wave after wave of attack. Ultimately, the pressure
paid off. Craig Cochran found the net again on a carbon copy of
the first goal in the 65th minute, once again fed by Jono Drysdale,
who turned in a superlative performance in his third game with the
team. Hawks up 2-0 and the chances kept coming. The third goal came
in the 79th minute when striker Geof Thompson threw a ridiculous
move on his defender at the edge of the box and danced closer to
the goal to blast a shot off the post into the stride of an enterprising
Craig Cochran. Cochran sent the rebound in with authority to claim
his hat trick, and the team was in celebration mode. Finally, Alan
Golden collected a ball in the 86th minute from Geof Thompson about
20 yards from the prize and nailed a dipping ball with authority
inside the near post and past the outstretched hands of the Emerald
keeper. Game over, Hawks win 4-0.
A fine effort on the weekend
to recover from an embarrasing performance against Quilmes the week
before. Craig Cochran gets MVP for a great game and the 3 goals.
Jono Drysdale gets the honorable mention for a fantastic display
of passing. And let's not forget Alan Golden who was an absolute
animal all game long with hard tackles, his usual high work rate,
and a spectacular goal to add to his collection. Most importantly,
the new players got another game in with the squad and all played
well. The chemistry is starting to build and the Hawks will need
it next week in a 3 PM matchup with league rival, Dynamos FC.
--
Other WPL Scores on the
week:
Dyamos - 3, Quilmes - 3
Reds - 3, Rangers - 1
Village Settlements - 2, La U -1
Glover Park - 1, Rangers - 1
LCC International - 2, La U - 1
Dyanamos - ?, Reds - ?
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