Pirelli blow away Harraby
Last updated 10:10, Wednesday, 23 April 2008
PIRELLI increased their hopes of winning the Championship with a 4-1 win against Harraby Catholic.
Conditions were spoiled by a fierce wind blowing from one goal to the other. Harraby had the advantage in the opening half and their attack put the home defence under constant pressure.
Sam Small, Alec Bimson and Sam Bell all attempted to play the ball in between the Pirelli defenders for Ronan Steel to run onto and the speedy striker revelled in the service.
It was Steel who gave Harraby an early lead when he unleashed a right foot volley into the top left hand corner of the net to leave Pirelli goalkeeper Ben Sheridan stranded. Steel has been a model of consistency all season and the goal was his 30th of the current campaign. There was no let up from Harraby and Steel and Connor Mulholland came close to increasing the lead but they missed the target by the narrowest of margins.
As the game progressed the Pirelli defence began to get a grip on the situation and Sheridan played a big part by coming to the edge of his box to pick up the ball ahead of chasing forwards.
The Pirelli players tried to pass their way into the Harraby half but their moves struggled against the strong defending of Zak Moses, Adam Wilkinson, Josh Scott and Matthew Newton.
Pirelli did, however, finish the half on the attack and they could take heart from only being a goal down in such difficult conditions.
The second half began with Pirelli on the attack but Harraby almost doubled their lead following a great break from Steel on the left.
The striker was so quick he left his opponents trailing and as he cut inside, Sheridan decided to leave his goal and go towards him.
Steel’s shot struck Sheridan’s left leg and the ball looped across an open goal where Mulholland mis-timed his volley and the chance was lost.
The Pirelli players passed and moved intelligently and they equalised following a brilliant run down the left from Tyler Bowman who had exchanged passes with Harry Thompson along the way.
Bowman’s low cross, from the by-line, was difficult to defend and Peter Kovarac prodded the ball home from close range.
Harraby fought back but there was some great defending from Pirelli’s Mike Brennan, Bowman and Eddie Yusef and they were again driven back on the defensive.
Lewis Dickinson put Pirelli ahead and the goal was a corker. The midfielder picked up a loose ball, 25 yards out, before flicking it up and unleashing an unstoppable wind assisted left foot volley into the Harraby net.
Pirelli had the bit between their teeth and they scored a further two goals to clinch a deserved but hard fought victory.
The third Pirelli goal, by their captain Jamie Hope, was a brilliant effort as he concluded a mesmerising piece of trickery, near the left corner flag, with a brilliant right foot cross shot which flew into the net.
Dickinson completed the scoring when he ran onto a through pass from Kovaracs to glide the ball past Harraby goalkeeper Jack Nugent to make the final score 4-1 to Pirelli.
MATCHFACTS
Pirelli: Ben Sheridan, Ben Rimmer, Eddie Yusef, Mike Brennan, Tyler Bowman, Jack Irving, Lewis Dickinson, Gavin Cowper, Jamie Hope, Harry Thompson and Keanu Hope. Subs: Peter Kovaracs, Ben Doherty and Aaron Tweedie
Harraby Catholic: Jack Nugent, Zak Moses, Josh Scott, Adam Wilkinson, Matthew Newton, Conor Mulholland, Sam Bell, Sam Small, Alec Bimson, Chris Gimbert and Ronan Steel. Subs: Stuart Cruickshank, Andrew Paton
Referee: Bob Swan
Man of the Match: Tyler Bowman, left-back, Pirelli. Tyler was the supreme stylist with his cultured left foot. He read the game well and this enabled him to latch onto the ball before it reached an opponent. In the second half he made some great runs down the left flank - one of which set up the first goal when he crossed the ball into the six-yard box after completing a run that took him half the length of the field.
