Bad day at the office for the Hawks CSL

The Adelaide Hawks CSL teams had mixed results on Sat with the A team going down 4-1 to Unley Rangers while the reserves maintained top spot with a 1-1 draw. The loss was a severe blow to the Hawks promotion chances to Division 1 next season. Unley were coming off a 6 game losing streak while the Hawks were undefeated in 5 games with 3 wins against teams in the top four. Things started badly for the Hawks as they conceded 2 goals early in the first half with an own goal and a dubious penalty in which Hawks defender Jarrod Kerr was struck in the face from a drive in the penalty area and a penalty was awarded.

This spurred on the opposition and they began to run riot in the middle of the park and two of their two key players were finding plenty of space between the lines to create numerous opportunities for the visitors. The Hawks opportunities were few and far between in the first half  and the half time whistle couldn’t come soon enough for the home side so adjustments could be made. Unley scored their third shortly after the break after some indecision in the penalty area and the Hawks now had a mountain to climb.

The home side played a lot better in the last quarter of the game but it was too little too late. Jake Pollard scored a well worked goal after a clever pass from Sol Scopazzi to lift the spirits but Unley scored a late goal on the counter to put the game to bed. To Unley’s credit they were the better side on the day and deserved their victory but it was a bitter pill to swallow for the hawks who had been in great form for the last month.

On a positive note, congratulations must go to Tom Donavan who played his 50^th game for the CSL outfit. Donny has been a consistent performer in a striking role and has been a handful for many defences over his time at the club. It was very hard to work put best players for A’s game as many players were down on their game on the day. While still mathematically possible, promotion will be difficult to achieve with four games to go but the Hawks need to bounce back quickly so that they can finish the season on a positive note. The now turn their attention to Cardijn College nest Sat on the artificial pitch at O’sullivans Beach.