The game which started with a lot of huffing and puffing came to life after twenty minutes when good work from Hall produced a skillful turn on the ball from Harris to set up a chance only for a defender to make a desperate block. It was pleasing to see that Hallen's approach work was smoother tonight and it was a move started by Planter who fed the ball to the right flank from where the cross came toward Webb who had peeled away from his marker only for the ball to be a fraction too high for him to convert. Hallen then had a spell where they gave away a series of needless free kicks in dangerous positions the first of which nearly led to the visitors opening the scoring as Burgess did well to get his hands on the ball that was entering the top corner of the net but he needed a massive slice of luck when the ball slipped through his gloves and out for a corner. This was quickly followed by another narrow squeak when neither the keeper or defender claimed responsibility for a cross. Two minutes later Cribbs went even closer when they smashed the ball against the post from another free kick. The half then came to a close with Burgess making two excellent saves.
Hallen couldn't have had a better start to the second half as they took the lead within one minute thanks to Davis-Wilson coolly slotting the ball into the corner of the net as he broke away. Hallen now started to look resurgent as Hall was unlucky not to score when doing well to get a boot to a long ball from Burgess that saw the ball run agonisingly close to the goal. Despite now playing against the strong wind, Cribbs still had their moments as a double save from the Hallen keeper left them scratching their heads over how to score. Davis-Wilson then gave his team a bit of breathing space as his powerful run saw him enter the penalty box and be upended by a defender. An easy decision for the referee as the player got up to convert the spot kick with a text book penalty. Hallen's relaxation time lasted just twelve minutes before they were sweating again as a result of Burgess coming for a high cross that he dropped at the feet of a grateful striker who tapped the ball into the net. At this point, Henderson was introduced and immediately set up Davis-Wilson for his hat-trick but his shot passed inches wide of the far post. During the remaining time, and then five added minutes, nobody troubled the score keeper further.
|