Meon Milton 0 vs 0 Horndean Hawks Raptors U14

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">With both teams challenging for second place in the B division, this match had all the hallmarks of a tough and edgy encounter. A strong wind blowing straight down the pitch added to the intensity and made for tricky playing conditions throughout.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The corresponding fixture at HTC earlier in the season had ended 1-1 thanks to a late equaliser from Steven Fazackerly. However Horndean were robbed of Steven&rsquo;s talents for this fixture as he hadn&rsquo;t fully recovered from the back injury he had picked up the week before.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Horndean settled more quickly than their hosts and with the wind at their backs played some impressive and flowing football. However the wind wasn&rsquo;t quite as advantageous as many would have thought as a number of through balls ended up outrunning their intended targets and a number of promising breaks came to nothing.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Chances proved to be few and far between for both sides. The few that came the Hawks&rsquo; way were met by a Meon Milton goalkeeper showing the same fine form he displayed to deny Horndean earlier in the season.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Horndean&rsquo;s 5-man midfield were winning the decisive battles in the middle of the park but it was proving hard to breakdown a Meon Milton defensive line that had only conceded 10 league goals this season.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Some excellent build-up play on the Horndean right saw Jake Lynch deliver an excellent ball beyond the Meon defence. Euan Condron managed to stretch for the ball but couldn&rsquo;t direct it on target.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Jake had another opportunity towards the end of the first half when a fierce drive with the outside of his right foot went tantalisingly beyond the far post with the home keeper scrambling.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The second half saw Meon use the wind advantage to put Horndean under more pressure and this time it was the turn of visiting keeper, Anthony Batchelor, to shine.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Despite the pressure Horndean continued to play a solid passing game from defence to attack and created a number of half-chances that with a little more luck could have put the Hawks on top.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Meon came close to breaking the deadlock on 2 occasions. First, a corner from the left was met with a powerful header that came crashing off the bar and was cleared to safety. Then, with the final seconds ticking away, another corner from the left managed to evade everyone in a congested penalty box and drifted beyond the far post.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">In the end a draw was a fair result and keeps the Hawks&rsquo; push for promotion on track as the season heads for an exciting climax.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Horndean put up a spirited display and halted Meon&rsquo;s run of 3 straight wins. They also became the first team this season to stop Meon Milton from scoring.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Final score &ndash; Meon Milton Kanus 0, Horndean Hawks Raptors 0