| Dan Campbell was the star for Gadeside, grabbing another four goals against his former club to add to his incredible goalscoring run as Gadeside came from behind to win a memorable match 5-1 against last seasons league and cup champions. The result made it 11 wins from eleven games as Gadeside edge nearer to their maiden OSFL championship. |
| Player-manager Adam Hills was given a selection headache with 19 players available and was able to welcome back James Bridges after a month out through injury while Ivanz Mani was still away on holiday. Gadeside started nervously and struggled to get a foothold on the game with passes regularly going astray. It was perhaps no suprise then when the hosts took the lead on 11 minutes. Gadeside again lost possession from which a swift Headstone attack saw Sam Green parry a shot into the path of Irons who fired home into an empty net. Strangely though, this seemed to settle Gadeside and they began to find their rhythm. A succession of corners saw a Hills shot blocked while Bridges twice went close, his first effort was kicked off the line and his second brought a truly outstanding save by the Headstone keeper. |
| The games turning point came on 32 minutes when, from another Gadeside corner - Campbell saw a shot hit the post before Tom Shurville headed the rebound at goal. Headstone defender Moles inexplicably pushed the ball over the crossbar leaving referee Soppitt no option but to award a penalty and send him off. Adam Hills stepped up to cooly slot home the penalty and bring Gadeside level. From that moment on, Gadeside never really looked back and made the extra man count. Dan Campbell should have given them the lead when he rounded the keeper from Jason Brownhill's through ball but he shot over with the goal gaping - to the amusement of his former team-mates. But it was to be Campbell who had the last laugh as he soon made up for the miss by putting Gadeside ahead just before half-time. Adam Hills' corner saw another Bridges header hit the crossbar but Campbell reacted quickest hooking the ball into the roof of the net. |
| Gadeside nearly shot themselves in the foot at the start of the second half when Tom Oliver was caught in possession when last man but Cook fired wide of the goal with Sam Green having done well. From then on it was one way traffic and it was that man Campbell again who added the third in spectacular fashion when he hit a stunning left-footed volley from 25 yards which left the home keeper with no chance. Gadeside continued to dominate with the midfield duo of Bridges, Brooks and Shurville dominating proceedings while the defence were again confident in dealing with spoardic Headstone attacks. With time running out, Campbell completed his hat-trick with a crisp drive across goal after being played in by Ian Freeman and the icing was put on the cake in the last minute as Justyn Walcott's beautiful through ball freed Campbell who committed the keeper before prodding past him for his 20th goal in just nine games. An excellent way to begin 2008. |
| After the game, Adam Hills commented: "That was pleasing! We seemed strangely nervous at kick-off and no-one seemed to want the ball. But once we found our stride it was fine. The sending-off was a big turning point but take nothing away from us. We can play far better than this and I am sure we will need to when we play them against next week in the cup. They have been wounded and I am sure they will be right up for it - but so will we! ." |
| Sam Green, Ian Freeman, Justyn Walcott, Matt Evans, Tom Oliver, James Bridges, Daniel Brooks (Ben Higginson), Tom Shurville, Dan Campbell, Adam Hills (Toby Zhou), Jason Brownhill (Tariq Khan) |