EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD ANDY HAWKE WAS A YOUNG LAD WHO WAS GIFTED WITH CONSIDERABLE FOOTBALL TALENT. HE HAD ALWAYS HAD THE GIFT, EVEN AS A YOUNGSTER. NOW HE WAS LOOKING FOR A FOOTBALL CLUB TO GIVE HIM A FUTURE.
ANDY HAD COME ON AS A SUBSTITUTE DURING REDSTOKE'S CARLTON LEAGUE CUP FIRST ROUND MATCH VERSUS TROWMOOR ROVERS. HE COULDN'T BELIEVE HE WAS MAKING HIS DEBUT, AND HE FELT ON TOP OF THE WORLD.
The ball seldom came out onto the left wing, to Andy. He presumed his new team mates considered him to the be the new make weight kid. He’d only been at the club for a couple of weeks, and hadn’t even played in a Reserves match. Some probably didn’t even know his name! None of them knew what his abilities were.
Trowmoor conceded a corner, and right winger Ben Farish went to take it. He put in a high cross, and striker Gary “Ogsie” Ogmore climbed above the defence, but the ball skimmed off his head. It fell towards Andy, running in at the far post. Time seemed to slow down. The game seemed to be running in slow motion, and Andy could swear he could hear his own heart beat at that moment.
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The ball dropped in front of Andy, who was unmarked
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He swung his left leg at the ball
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He connected with a volley which shot the ball over a defender’s head into the roof of the net.
Time came back to normal again, as Andy was buried under a heap of Redstoke players. He had scored on his debut, and equalised with the sweetest strike he could ever remember. The players congratulated him and Andy looked over to the touchline. Mr McKay had a huge grin on his face and gave Andy the thumbs up sign.
Trowmoor kicked off again, but looked as though they had already conceded the match. Redstoke won the ball in midfield, and the ball was passed out to Andy. He dribbled down the wing. He beat one man, and then another. He cut into the edge of the eighteen yard box. He looked up and saw “Ogsie” Ogmore steaming in. Andy put a low cross straight into his path and “Ogsie” finished with a strong strike. The keeper got his hand to the ball, but could not keep the ball from crashing through into his net.
On the touchline, Mr McKay was leaping around with his arms in the air. The Redstoke fans went wild. Redstoke were in front now, and with just two minutes to go, they surely couldn’t lose. They did have a scare however. Redstoke were again on the attack, when Ben Farish lost the ball on the right wing. The Trowmoor winger collected the ball, and his team streamed forward, desperately searching for the equaliser. Redstoke’s right back, Carlos Munoz had been running on the overlap with Farish, and was now badly out of position. Trowmoor streamed forward, and in numbers. However, the winger’s cross into the penalty area was poor. Andy had been running back as hard as he could, and after a scramble in the eighteen yard box, Andy collected the loose ball. He lashed it out of play, as far up the field as he could.
In injury time, Mike Brazil collected the ball inside the centre circle, and the powerful centre forward charged forward towards the Trowmoor defence. One defender tried to hack him down, but Mike stayed on his feet and ran ever onwards. At this time, he had no support from the rest of his team, as they were still running out of their area after the previous Trowmoor attack. Mike was eventually brought down and a freekick was awarded. Mike turned to Andy, and gave him the ball.
“You’re playing a blinder Son! Let’s see what you can do with this”.
Andy placed the ball on the ground. The Trowmoor wall was definitely less than the required ten yards away. Andy didn’t care. He didn’t wait for the referee to force the wall back. He hit the ball from fully 25 yards out, and it curved round the left side of the wall and into the bottom corner of Trowmoor’s goal. Andy was mobbed by his team mates again. “Ogsie” screamed so loudly into Andy’s face, that he completely drowned out the roar of the Redstoke supporters, who were cheering and shouting so loudly.
At full time, Mr McKay came over to Andy and warmly shook his hand.
“Ye are a beauty! Well played Andy” he beamed. Similar congratulations from Andy’s team mates were welcome, and Andy even had a couple of young autograph hunters pushing pens and books in his direction, which Andy gladly signed.
After being thrown into the bath, still with his kit on, Andy got washed and dried. Mr McKay told the Redstoke players that although Danny Collins had gone to hospital with his concussion, he was in no danger, and was staying in overnight, just for observation. “Ogsie” came over to Andy, and offered him a lift home, but Andy declined. He felt on top of the world, but decided he wanted to walk the two miles back to his guest house.
As Andy set off, his mobile phone rang. His Mum, Kate was on the phone with the rest of the family. They had heard on the radio about his debut, and wanted to congratulate him. Andy felt proud. He had barely finished his call, when the phone rang again. This time, his friend Dave Horley from Kelburn Football Club was on the phone to offer his congratulations as well. Dave joked that perhaps he had been hasty in joining the Premiership outfit, and he should have gone to Redstoke with Andy, instead! Andy laughed.
He talked excitedly to Dave, who had also just played his first Reserves game. Dave had done ok, but had missed an easy goal scoring chance, and it was bugging him. Andy told him not to worry, and the chances would come again.
By the time he had finished talking to Dave, Andy had reached the sea front. He walked along, and breathed the night air deeply. He walked as far as the pier, and then turned to go towards his guest house. Yes Sir! Life was so sweet tonight. Two goals on his debut, and an assist as well.
