A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....... (ok
- Berwick, 22nd November 2003), the Green and Black travelled to Berwick
to face fellow title contenders Highfields who boasted a 100% home record.
The mood was sombre following a 5-2 mauling in the cup by Alnmouth the
previous week.
This was soon lifted with Sean Cavanagh belting out the hard core dance
version of 'Low lie the fields of Anthenry' (a worthy contender for
club anthem I think) and rousing speeches from Alan, Sean and Neil 'Geordie
Aggravator' Hindley.
Surprisingly good playing conditions met the teams with Garnett lucky
enough to witness one of the few wind free days of the year in the Scottish
Borders. Garnett immediately rose to the occasion with arguably the
best team performance of the season. Defensively solid and menacing
on the attack, Highfields realised immediately they were in for a tough
game and
tried to deploy the tried and tested Geordie tactic of kick them hard
notably by the central midfield duo with only appalling referring allowing
Highfields to retain 11 men.
Garnett retained composure and Hindley and Mercer
both pulled the strings in midfield allowing Thompson to come close
on a couple of occasions. The break through came for Garnett in the
30th minute with Cavanagh receiving a short free kick just inside the
opposing half. The legendary '
Cavangh Shuffle' saw him past two defenders before despatching
an unstoppable 30 yard daisy cutter into the bottom corner - contender
number 1 for goal of the season.
Half time arrived with a commanding 1-0 lead with Hepburn little troubled.
More of the same in the second half from Garnett reduced Highfields
to further kicking and an entertaining mini pitch invasion by the home
fans (including old men waving walking sticks). Good chances fell to
Sherwood and Thompson and Menton was unlucky with a Brazilian like 30
yard banana shot that clipped the upright.
The game boiled over in the 70th minute with another reckless challenge
by the Highfield's central midfielder on Brown leading to a 'Bruno'
Brown being sent off for being strangled, which fairly summed up the
ineptitude of the referee.
The game was won shortly after with contender number 2 for goal of the
season from Thompson. Picking the ball up in his own half, he
ran whippet like past two defenders before smashing a 20-yarder into
the top corner past a helpless keeper - sheer quality.
More displays like this a Garnett will be playing First Division football
for sure, however, lack of consistency remains the big stumbling block.
Author: Mark Menton
Team: F.Hepburn, M.Brown, M.Menton, S.Cavanagh 1, A.Alexander, J.Hurry,
D.Mercer, N.Hindley, D.Mullan, D.Sherwood, J.Thompson 1
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