'˜Professional' Hawks avoid travel sickness

The Hawks shrugged off their longest journey of the season to beat Lowestoft Town 2-0 in the Ryman League premier division at Crown Meadow.

Facing a near 500-mile round trip, Lee Bradbury’s men left Westleigh Park at 7.30am.

It was an even earlier start for the members of the squad travelling from the Isle of Wight and Bournemouth.

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But the Hawks used the journey productively – plotting the downfall of the Trawlerboys.

And it worked, as goals from Theo Lewis and Alfie Rutherford helped the side return to winning ways.

Bradbury said: ‘It was a good day all round and we put in a professional performance.

‘All the players carried out the instructions and game plan.

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‘In the end, it was a comfortable but hard-fought win on a wet, difficult pitch.

‘Early on, I thought – here we go again! We should have had a couple of goals before we finally made the breakthrough.

‘But I knew there was still a lot of the game to go and it was only a matter of time before we scored.

‘When our first goal arrived it gave us the confidence to go on and win.

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‘Our goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make all game and defensively we were very solid.

‘It was a well-deserved victory.’

Failing to take their chances has cost the Hawks dearly in recent games.

And again they could have been three goals up in the first 15 minutes.

Matt Paterson, Lewis and Rutherford all missed chances.

The pressure finally told in the 27th minute after a Rutherford shot was blocked.

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Lewis picked up the rebound, worked his way across the edge of the area and fired an unstoppable effort just inside the upright.

A second goal on 63 minutes emphasised the visitor’s supremacy. Rutherford’s initial effort from a cross was diverted on to the post by the goalkeeper.

But the striker reacted quickly to hook the ball into the net from a narrow angle while lying on the ground.

With a 2-0 lead, the Hawks easily saw out the rest of the game.

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‘It was an important win after three successive draws,’ said Bradbury.

‘It helps reinforce that we are doing the right things.

‘I said to the strikers before the game they have to keep believing. They should not hide from chances just because they miss a few.

‘Alfie has still scored eight goals in 11 games, which isn’t a bad record.

‘On paper this was a very tricky game against unpredictable opponents but we came through it well.’

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The journey back took even longer because of motorway closures – but having a win under their belt made it that little less arduous for the Hawks.

Hawks: Young, Williams, Molyneaux, Stock, Lewis, Woodford, Harris, Tarbuck, Robinson, Paterson, Rutherford (Fogden, 83min), Hayter, Swallow, Barker. Att: 431