Acorn 0
LANE RENTAL SERVICES sponsored Pocklington qualified for the last 8 of the Grand Central Challenge cup against Division 4 opponents Acorn last Sunday and with both teams fielding weary players after the boxing in the early hours, Ac
orn turned up 15 minutes late with the the game starting 30 minutes late as a result.
When the match did kick off, a slow pace from both teams made it seem more like a practice game at times as passes went astray and players lost their footing in the damp conditions.
Pocklington began to up the tempo after 15 minutes, and the goals started to come quite easily - the first one when Neil Watts picked out James Rudd in acres of space fiftyyards from goal, and he turned and accelerated through the gap in the centre of the Acorn defence to finish coolly.
Acorn nearly equalised from nothing when their lone forward was allowed to turn 30 yards out and with no pressure sent in a shot that forced Adam Thomas into a good save but this was a rare threat to a Town team who had the measure of their opponents even at half pace.
Another pin point pass from Watt again put Rudd away, this time down the inside left channel and his cross set up Bond for a tap in from 5 yards and a 2-0 lead to Pock.
This became 3-0 on 27 miutes when Craig Hargreaves tried to play Bond in but despite a good interception from an Acorn defender, he gifted the ball back to Pock’s leading scorer who made it 14 for the season after rounding the keeper.
Bond completed a 12 minute hat trick on 33 minutes, benefiting from unselfish work by O'Connor who beat the offside trap before squaring the ball for Bond to tap home his third.
The only thing for Town to worry about was the willingness of several of the Acorn players to question every refereeing decision and to try to intimidate Pock’s younger players but with Keith Boneham showing admirable restraint and commonsense, the game continued with Pock able to control the flow of the game without managing to add to their scoreline. Chances came and went for both sides with Adam Thomas called into action to prevent Acorn grabbing a consolation with a great double save and also an excellent one on one parry..
Acorn had a player dismissed when he made a disgraceful lunge at Downey and then hit him as he he was getting up but Pock took revenge and made it 5-0 on 84 minutes when Kalum Horne was fouled in the area from Rich Stabler’s short corner. Adam Thomas ran the length of the pitch to score from the spot and set the seal on his MOM performance and a comfortable win for Pocklington.
Town have a free weekend next Sunday with their scheduled opponents in rearranged cup action and are at home on the last Sunday before Christmas against Wanderers.
