Hawks Rebound To Edge Out Rovers

Holland Park Hawks 2 (Carr 41' pen; Sherwood 51')

Rochedale Rovers 1 (Cameron 88')

HT 1-0 Played at Whites Hill Reserve

Goals either side of the break proved enough to give Holland Park Hawks a gritty 2-1 victory over Rochedale Rovers. Luke Carr's penalty shortly before the break, after Marek Madle had been brought down in the box, gave the hosts the lead going into the break. It was followed by a superb strike from Josh Sherwood five minutes after the restart when he was played in by Paul Kane and held of the challenge from Rovers right back Phil Davies before unleashing a fierce shot that fizzed past Rovers keeper David Chambers. Lewis Cameron's late reply gave the visitors hope of salvaging a point late in the piece but Hawks held out to claim their second win of the season. Things were compounded for Rovers when Chambers was dismissed close to full time for abusive and insulting language directed towards Referee Trent Sleeman, after he'd awarded a free kick to Hawks on the edge of the box. Chambers had to be restrained by team mates from confronting the referee after he was shown the red card which could result in further sanction. Hawks entered this contest with Coach Anth Smith serving a suspension on the sidelines along with captain Dan Smith and fellow defender Jake Kallis also suspended, but the hosts set themselves up to frustrate their opponents and it worked to perfection as Rovers were unable to break down their opponents where it mattered - in the final third. Holland Park enjoyed the better chances throughout the opening period as they looked the more threatening despite Rovers controlling the game overall. Perhaps the stats will tell the story with Rovers only managing their first clear cut shot on target early in the second half after they were already chasing the game. They did respond well after going 2-0 down and were denied within a couple of minutes by a last ditch goal line clearance from Jarryd Gore after Kado Aoci had teed up Cameron who's goal bound effort had beaten Duncan Short. Aoci himself had a great opportunity to reduce the deficit as the half wore on but his shot was struck point blank at Short with the goal gaping. Sub Mitch Austin wasted a golden opportunity as Rovers pressed but his weak effort went straight to Short when looking destined to score before Cameron's strike from the edge of the box provided a glimmer of hope. Even with the dismissal of Chambers, Rovers had a one last chance to level at the death when Ryan Faichnie's low cross flashed agonisingly across goal, screaming out for a touch from a Rochedale boot. Holland Park were value for their win though, with veteran Marv Brattan working overtime to contain Aoci and Short proving a valuable asset to the Whites Hill Reserve outfit. It doesn't get any easier for Rovers with Lions FC the visitors to Underwood Park next round. Hawks head to Souths Utd next outing for what could prove a tricky trip away from home.

Coaches Remarks:

Warwick Palmer - Holland Park: "It always a tough game with Rochedale and they're usually close games. With both Dan Smith and Jake Kallis out, we had to juggle the back line but the boys dug in deep and we cane way with a good win." Scott MacNicol - Rochedale Rovers: "They made it hard for us, playing basically a 4-5-1 and not giving us any room to get in between. We weren't good enough to break them down. They got bodies in the way and their keeper made several good saves. I felt we deserved to get something out of the game but we didn't and that's football."

FB Media Player of the Match: Paul Kane (Holland Park Hawks).

Hard to single out any one player after a solid team effort from the Hawks, but Kane looked troublesome to Rovers for much of the night and he deservedly earned the applause from the sidelines when replaced late on.

Match Stats:

Overall Possession: 38% - 62%

Shots on target: 8 - 8

Shots off target: 10 - 7

Corners: 2 - 2

Free kicks: 15 - 10

Offsides: 1 - 4

Yellow cards: 2 - 3

Red cards: 0 - 1 Team line-ups

Holland Park Hawks: Short (gk), Brattan, Carr, Gore, Hastings, Kane (Webb 86'), MacAskill, Madle, McKenna, Sherwood, Shigeyuki.

Subs: Anderson, Aviles, Ntumba, Webb (rk).

Rochedale Rovers: Chambers (gk), Aoci, Cameron, Davies, Faichnie, Morgan, Nagata, Ross (Fields 67'), Shizuno, Stenhouse (Austin 82'), Tobin.