Soccer: Halstead's record rampage
HALSTEAD re-wrote their Ridgeons League records with this hammering of lowly Fakenham, erasing 9-1 victory over Watton back in May 1993, while seven different scorers could also be a record.
Before the game a minute's silence was held in memory of former manager Keith Martin who died recently after a long illness.
Manager Jody Brown sprang a surprise with the inclusion of Stanway striker Ray Turner, who had a spell of 38 games with Halstead back in 1997-9, and duly his return with the last goal of the match.
Another youngster was on the bench Adam Hampson, who showed some neat touches when he came on and was inches away from getting on the scoresheet.
Plucky Fakenham were simply no match for the home side who ripped them apart with some neat football, although they were guilty of passing up several chances before skipper Steve Daly opened the account after half an hour with a smart header from Tom Austin's cross.
A minute later Dave Barefield rattled the bar, quickly followed by heading an easy chance over the top
Fakenham keeper Dan Stockdale was constantly in action, and one save in particular from Chris Bryan was top class, but he was eventually beaten again close on the interval when yet another Barefield header rattled the bar.
This time defender Tom Devaux was on the spot to knock in the rebound for his first goal for the club and give his side a two-goal margin.
John Pollard was on in the second half for Liam Morley who was carrying a knock, before Barefield at last got a header on target, converting a Bryan cross on 55 minutes, and within ten minutes Halstead added two more to settle the issue.
A huge clearance from keeper Paul Wood bounced nicely for Barefield to break clear and pick his spot for the fourth, which was followed by Pollard forcing home another Austin free for number five.
Fakenham brought on three subs in an effort to stem the tide but the sixth was not long in arriving when Pollard was again on the spot to take advantage of poor defensive play by the visitors.
Chance after chance fell for Halstead and Bryan at last got on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after being grounded by Liam Campbell, who was booked for this trouble.
Danny Rowell came off the bench for Barefield and with his very first touch of the ball sidefooted home a a Turner lay-off, before play broke to the other end where Wood did well to block a fierce shot from Ben Darby.
In the final seconds Turner rounded off the scoring from Rowell's pass to make it the club's biggest win over the Norfolk outfit.
Halstead Town: Wood; Joslin, Austin, Falla, Devaux, Saunders, Morley (Pollard 46), Daly (Hampson 66), Bryan, Turner, Barefield (Rowell). Sub (not used): Harper.
l A much improved Halstead Reserves display saw them fall by the only goal of the game at AFC Clacton.
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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