Harrison The Hitman Kirkness made his eagerly awaited return to the Moss Farm arena and didnt disappoint the bumper home crowd who packed out the sidelines to watch the first of the seasons derby matches. Davenham started the brighter of the two sides and came close on numerous occasions, before the referee alleged a handball in the Hartford penalty box. Kennerley stepped up to stroke the ball into the corner of the net. 1:0 Drinkwater fired narrowly over and Wadsworth struck a fierce shot from range which was well held by the Hartford stopper. After 20 minutes, Kennerley played some neat football with Burrows and Lonsdale before floating a delightful cross into Stitch. Still with much to do, the Davenham No.9 completed an unbelievable overhead scissors kick into the top corner. This was a goal which the Davenham faithful will talk about for many years and described by the Davenham management as the best goal ever, in nine years of junior football. Rogerson was quite clearly suffering from a hip injury and despite bravely pushing through the pain barrier, had to retire from the 1st half.. Kennerley continued to be a thorn in the side of Hartford and was felled as he continued his mazy run past three defenders. Penalty! Kennerley made no mistake from the spot (does he ever?). The defensive trio, Hill, Antrobus and Lonsdale quelled all Hartford attacks and the central partnership of Hill and Antrobus is looking excellent with both players asserting their authority (outstanding, timely tackling from Hill!). The first half finished 3:0 and was pretty much one way traffic. A rejuvenated Hartford came out in the second half and took advantage of a quieter Davenham, who were missing the energy and solid tackling of Rogerson and Wadsworth through injury. Wallwork made two fine saves, before a lapse in concentration let in the Hartford attacker, who crashed the ball into the roof of the net. 3:1. Greenwood and Darlington put in excellent debuts, and quite clearly Greenwood enjoyed his excellent perfomance in the hazy Mid Cheshire sun, playing out the game with a huge smile on his face throughout. This kickstarted Davenham again and the impressive Kirkness capped a MOTM display with a coolly taken goal with 10 minutes to go. There was still time for Drinkwater to power a screamer inches over and for Hill to thunder a header inches wide, before the final whistle went and a good first league result, as Davenham ran out 4:1 winners.
MOTM: Kirkness (commanded the midfield, never missed a tackle all day, and a cool goal to finish)
