Town's strikers haunt Halstead

Swaffham Town 4 Halstead Town 1

An all round good performance, not helped by the heat, saw the Pedlars
continue their form in an exciting and entertaining match to bag all
three points. Early pressure from the home side had two corners and a
free kick dealt with solidly by the visitors. An early opportunity for
Rory Harper in the tenth minute, fed through by a Matthew Parkinson
throw in, his shot wide of the mark. Solid defending by Dean Miller
and Lee Woolmore thwarted any threat from Halstead retaliation. A break
in the 15th minute, had David Weaver-Pope and Will O'Brien combining
well to set Alex Vincent free, his shot straight into the keepers arms.
Two minutes later, a second chance for Harper, his shot deflected for
a corner, Michael Thompson's volley from the cross, over the bar. On
the half hour, Joe Jackson beat two wide on the right but the resultant cross beat everyone in the box flashing across the goalmouth. With five
minutes to half time, against the run of play, Halstead were
awarded a penalty, Weaver-Pope bringing down the Halstead centre
forward. The penalty well saved by Scott Cruikshank, diving to his right
and deflecting the ball out for a corner. The corner defended well by
Parkinson the resultant break ending mid-way in the Halstead half,with
Vincent being floored, taking on the left full-back. O'Briens free kick met by Thompson's head, the effort passing wide of the post. Remarkably
the first half finishing without a goal!
The Pedlars started the second half strongly, an early free kick saw
the Halstead keeper rob the ball from the head of Harper. The deadlock
was finally broken in the 63rd minute, a Swaffham corner taken by
Vincent, Richard Cornwall heading for goal, the scramble to clear
seeing the visitors netting an own goal. The second came with 15
minutes to go, Vincent breaking free, skinning the Halstead right back
and shooting into the bottom far corner. The visitors were never going
to give the game up and made it 2-1 just two minutes later. Eight
minutes to go, Matthew Parkinsin played the ball into the Halstead box,
headed back by the Pedlars Captain, Dean Miller, vollied in by 16 year old Toby Hilliard for his first Swaffham Eastern Counties goal. Swaffham finally putting the game to bed in the first minute of added time,Harper getting his just deserts, Thompson finding Jackson, laying
through to Harper, his shot lashing past the Halstead keeper. Further
excitement with seconds to go, Halstead awarded their second penalty,
Cruikshank again saving, forcing the shot over the bar.

Pedlars:-1 S.Cruickshank, 2 D.Weaver-Pope, 3 M.Parkinson, 4 D.Miller 5 L.Woomore, 6 W.O'Brien, 7 S.Loomes, 8 M.Thompson, 9 R.Harper, 10 A.Vincent, 11 J.Jackson, 12 R.Cornwall, 14 T.Hilliard, 15 L.Hemeter, 16 D.Jackson

Halstead:-1 C.Athey, 2 A.Drew, 3 J.Raby, 4 J.Murray, 5 L.Cunliffe,6 J.Palmer, 7 J.Hutchings, 8 L.Hurkett, 9 R.Crush, 10 R.Farley-Hearn,11 S.Willis, 12 C.Knight, 14 S.Harris