St George’s 4 Young Men’s Social Club 1

Blaiz Hall scored twice to lead St George’s to a convincing victory over relegation-threatened Young Men's Social Club at Wellington Oval on Saturday.

An eventful first half started with the home side in control, keeping the ball confidently, and they should have broken through when Kristian Singh gave away a penalty for an aggressive challenge on St George's winger Senoj Mitchell.

However, St George’s captain Kashe Hall pushed the penalty wide, much to the relief of Singh and Social Club stand-in goalkeeper Michael Smith.

But less than a minute after Hall missed the penalty, he made amends with a driving run to the touchline on the right and cutting back towards the penalty area before Social Club defender Mical Hardtman misjudged his attempted clearance, slicing the ball into his own net from about ten yards out.

Within a minute of scoring in the wrong net, Hardtman showed more composure to grab Social Club's equaliser. Giniko Butterfield swung in a cross from the right, and the St George's defence failed to clear before Hardtman volleyed past the despairing dive of home goalkeeper Troy Hall Jr into the bottom corner.

There was then brief respite as the teams caught their collective breath after a high-octane start, with both sides giving up little in terms of territory as the midfield battle was evenly contested.

Last year's FA Cup winners went ahead in the 36th minute after some brilliant quick passing between Senoj Mitchell and Blaiz Hall, with the former driving into the penalty area and finishing low past Smith.

Just before the break, Jarryd Richardson made a driving run to evade three Social Club players and timed his cu-back perfectly for Blaiz Hall to give Smith the eyes and slot his finish into the near post.

The second half started as the first ended with St George’s doubling down on their efforts to pin Social Club back. That aggressive approach paid dividends within three minutes of the restart when Kashe Hall played a lovely through ball to the pacey Mitchell, who was taken down via a crunching tackle by Smith. This time Blaiz Hall stepped up for the penalty and slotted it straight into the bottom corner past Smith, who did not move.

St George’s knew they were home and dry despite having more than 40 minutes to navigate, and they continued to probe for more goals as Social Club struggled to keep the ball despite their hosts allowing them time between the defence and midfield.

Social Club tried everything they could to make the scoreline more respectableand started to speed up their tempo in possession, but their execution was poor in the final third.

In fact, it was St George's who had the better clear-cut opportunities in a scrappy second half, including one ferocious effort by Kashe Hall that forced a reflex save out of Social Club substitue goalkeeper Kewuan Gilbert.

The home side held their nerve through a few brief periods of Social Club pressure to secure a dominant victory.

St George’s Colts 4

M Hardtman 13 (OG); Mitchell 36; B Hall 41, 48

Young Men’s Social Club 1

M Hardtman 14

TEAMS

St George’s (4-2-3-1): T Hall 6 – G Wade 6, N Paynter 7, J Schroder 6, Jarryd Richardson 6 (sub: M Simmons, 83min) – Q Maynard 6 (sub: T Tucker, 57 5), K Hall 7 – S Mitchell 6 (sub: J Hill, 86), O Bascome 5, B Hall 7 (sub: A Cannonier, 57 5) – J Dickinson 6. Substitutes not used: D Lodge, C Burns. Booked: Maynard.

Young Men’s Social Club (4-2-3-1): M Smith 5 – K Smith 5, Jakida Richardson 5, M Hardtman 6, K Singh 6 (sub: Keshun Butterfield, 69 5) – R Parris 6, A Matthews 6 (sub: Terron Butterfield, 53 5) – J Mallory 5 (sub: P Smith, 53 5), G Butterfield 5, B Swan Jr (sub: K Gilbert, 80) – J Hardtman 5. Substitutes not used: Kelvon Butterfield. Booked: K Smith.

Referee: A Francis.