Hadleigh United 3 - 1 Haverhill Rovers

Hadleigh United's Dan Heath has kindly agreed to write about his team's fortunes this season. If you have a question for him please post a message below or tweet him @DanHeath2011.

Hadleigh United 3 – 1 Haverhill Rovers

After a shocking performance in the week we needed a real lift for the return of Haverhill.  It was important for us to start quickly and not concede first.  We all knew we owed the club and our fans a performance and thankfully for us we did so.

We started brightly with Ben Deacon just heading wide and his overhead kick cleared the crossbar.  Haverhill had a couple of chances with a free kick and a quick turn and shot which were fairly routine saves.  We took the lead when Lee Mcglone created a chance from nothing and slotted it into the bottom corner.  Before the half was up I had to save one on one with my legs and we went into the break level.

The fight and spirit we had displayed pleased the gaffer after we had all let him down so badly the previous Tuesday.  The game was not over and we now had to defend up hill with a strong head wind and we knew the game was going to get physical.

In the second half we had to get through an onslaught of Haverhill free kicks and corners and the back four of Warren Taylor Holt, Jack Cawley, Kris Rose and Chris McLaughlin were holding really strong. 

On the hour we managed to get a crucial second once again from Lee McGlone.  He beat the Haverhill Goalkeeper to the ball and slotted into the empty net.  We still had to compete and deal with a lot of pressure which we did so well. 

Six minutes from time however Haverhill managed to get a foothold in the game when they scrambled in a goal from 7 yards out.  Nervous times for the last few moments of game until a superb individual goal from Jamie Cowan put the result for us beyond doubt.

Football a is funny game but for us on Saturday it proved what a good team we are and that the Tuesday night was just a poor performance for everybody. We all worked hard for the gaffer and for the fans and that gave us three very valuable points. 

Consistency is key in football and since I have joined the club I have played with 12 different defenders.  However for the last four games we have had a settled side and hopefully that can be continued.  Our next game was away at Title contenders Brantham Athletic and nobody had any ideas what was about to happen there…..