NEW-FM ROUND 19-Cooks Hill United v Lake Macquarie City (UNDER 17's)

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• published: 18 Jul 2016
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Footage by P.List. MATCH REVIEW + HIGHLIGHT TIMES: Lake Macquarie City were looking to put all the pressure on 2nd-placed West Wallsend in the race for the Under 17's minor premiership. Cooks Hill on the other hand were looking to prove themselves against higher-ranked opposition. It took just three minutes for the visitors to do damage. A well-placed through-ball from Harrison Taylor found routine goalscorer Kurtis McRitchie. Not the hardest hit shot and definitely a shot that Cooks Hill goalkeeper Eamon Doyle could have dealt with better. Lakes worked well for their first goal and were the better side for the majority of the first half. Their second goal was served up on a platter as Cooks Hill made some poor choices at the back. Michael Dalton made a risky pass across the box to fellow centre back Callum Hardy who couldn't control it and handed it straight to Alex Matthews. Some good pressure work by Matthews but a shot in the foot for Cooks Hill. As mentioned, the Cookers were outplayed and out enthused in the first half and a turnover at the back gave Alex Matthews a chance in the 36th minute but it'd be stopped by the goalpost. It should have been 3, maybe even 4-0 at the break. Cooks Hill began the climb back from the jaws of defeat and they'd take a step towards that in the 47th minute. A decent corner from a player more regularly seen in higher grades Ty Cousins met an open header from Elih Collins and then Gilbert Harabukunzi smashed home a quality finish to make it 2-1. The Cookers fought hard to get an equaliser and apart from one or two chances, there wasn't an incredible amount of moments that could have changed the outcome. It was a more solid second half but the damage done in the first proved too much. Lakes sealed the three points with another easy finish in the final minute. Kyson Brown beat a defender after a short corner and found Caleb Morley-Davies unmarked in the middle of the box. A simple finish and a 3-1 victory. Very poor defending from a team bound for finals football in a potential Semi Final preview. Lakes would have played better matches this year and were given two very simple goals so they'll no doubt be looking for more going into the finals series.