THE Club House Hotel sponsored Singleton Strikers retained second spot on the Northern NSW First division ladder with a well deserved 3-0 win over Thornton at Howe Park. Reserves and Youth grade were both well beaten.
Youth grade started the day without the drive and enthusiasm that they had shown over the previous two weeks. They were without David Pitt, but included first grade regular Ryan Guihot, included as the over age player. Guihot was unavailable later in the day and Pitt had been promoted to replace him. Christophe Guilbrand-Oulton again had a good game in mid field while Daniel Murphy showed good touches up front when the chance came. Minor injuries to skipper Liam Longmate and Aaron Caelli further disrupted a disjointed effort. The final score, a seven goal thrashing without reply, maybe slightly flattered Thornton, but there was no doubt that they deserved their comprehensive victory.
Reserves again had a reshuffled line up but at times did some good things. They were soon 0-2 down with the second being awarded despite the home side’s protestations that a Thornton player was off side. An early injury to keeper Corey Stocks forced a further shuffling of personnel with Craig Allan going between the sticks. In the second half the Reggie Strikers looked far better and had chances to score but failed to do so. Their opponents added a third to make the final score 3-0 to Thornton Park. As so often happens with below par performances at least half of the players gained points from their team mates. Only Simon Moore, Daniel Beatie, who never seems to have a bad game, and Max Goora gained more than single points.
The Budget Car Rental first grade side were forced to make two changes from the side that had put four past Wallsend last week. Leon MacDougal had an ankle problem and as mentioned earlier Ryan Guihot had family commitments. They were replaced by Jeremy Mijatovic and David Pitt. At the centre of the Thornton defence was former Striker Ben Finn. The Strikers thought they had an early goal but Nat Hamilton’s header was ruled off side. Play was gong from end to end but Singleton looked the more likely to score. Midway through the half a Thornton player was send off after a clash with Pitt. Despite this, Thornton battled on and kept the Strikers at bay and when the half time whistle blew there was still no score.
After the break Singleton continued to look the better side, playing some good football without beating former international squad keeper Craig Carter. It was a move that saw Mason with ball wide right that broke the deadlock. A centre and/or cross depending on who you talk too by Mason floated over the keepers head into the top of the net at the far post.
Shortly afterwards Mason found himself heading for goal in the middle of the park and was able to slot the ball past a despairing keeper. The two-nil lead looked to be enough to take all three points but the Strikers were not yet done. With 10 minutes to go, Jason Wilson was rewarded with an early mark, having as always, run himself into the ground. His replacement was 16-year-old Dan Murphy, making his first appearance in first grade colours. Shortly after taking the field, a delightful through ball found Murphy, whose first touch was near perfect, and, with all the aplomb of a veteran, he put the matter beyond doubt with his first goal in top grade.
Mason was the overwhelming favourite when the players were required to vote but the depth of the squad is shown by the fact that there are five players within two points of each other at the top of the players’ player table.
This weekend sees the Strikers on the road again for their first ever clash against former power-house Adamstown Rosebud on Sunday. The over 35s are both at home tonight against Cardiff while the Storm travel to Plattsburg on Sunday.
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