BAA 8

Young Men’s Social Club 5

BAA emerged victorious in a 13-goal thriller against a bellicose Young Men’s Social Club in the First Division last night at a wet and windy Goose Gosling Field.

Kameron Fox’s side, brimming with confidence after winning the First Division Shield on New Year’s Day, made a blistering start with Josh Hartman opening the scoring with a neat finish after four minutes.

They doubled their advantage four minutes later when Marcus Ming scored directly from a corner kick, the ball somehow floating over the outstretched arms of Showande Butterfield, the Social Club goalkeeper.

The home side were running riot and added a third through the lively Willie Clemons, who tapped home from close range on 26 minutes.

On 37 minutes BAA scored a fourth, again directly from a corner kick, with Troy Tucker’s set piece finding the top corner after another goalkeeper mishap from Butterfield, who struggled to handle the windy conditions throughout the first half.

Moments before half-time, BAA extended their lead with a fifth goal after defender Nassir Richardson crashed in a left-footed shot from the edge of the box.

Quincy Paynter, the Social Club coach, brought on experienced striker Clay Darrell at half-time, with the former North Village and Dandy Town man making an immediate impact, slinging in a cross from the right for Saki Tuzo to finish.

The impressive Hartman restored BAA’s five-goal cushion against the run of play with his second of the night after a quick counterattack, but the visiting side responded straight away after a blunder from Karl Brown, the BAA goalkeeper, dropping the ball at the feet of Tuzo who tapped in.

With the wind on their backs, Social Club were forcing BAA deep into their half, and Darrell got his name on the scoresheet after his free kick took a deflection off Troy Tucker en route to goal to make it 6-3.

On 70 minutes Social Club scored again as Tuzo struck his hat-trick with a rebound, after Brown had failed to keep hold of the former Dandy Town player’s initial effort.

Much like his opposite number, Brown was having a night to forget with the goalkeeper’s miskick gifting another goal for Darrell to reduce the deficit to just one goal.

Social Club looked set for a remarkable comeback but those hopes were punctured when Hartman grabbed his hat-trick on 86 minutes to take the wind out of Social Club’s sails.

Deep into injury time BAA added an eighth to seal their victory, with Clemons displaying his quality, bringing the ball down before firing home with his left foot.

Fox believed the wind had played a significant part in his team’s minor meltdown and said he was relieved to pick up the win.

“Learning to master the conditions, that’s all part of the game,” he said. “We used the elements to our advantage in the first half, but didn’t execute what we had talked about in the second half.

“Once they brought on a recognised goalscorer like Clay Darrell it was always going to be difficult. But we saw it through and we got a little complacent thinking about the score instead of the match.”