Hawkins inspires Tigers to cup victory (From Western Telegraph)

Hawkins inspires Tigers to cup victory

10:20am Thursday 18th October 2012 in Sport

Johnston 2

Neyland 0

Adam Hawkins was Johnston’s cup hero, the influential striker scoring in the first half and setting up a second goal to secure a hardfought win over division one rivals Neyland at the Glebelands Ground.

This tie was never an easy one to predict, but it was the Tigers with home advantage that finally held the edge over the Nomads.

The hosts opened the scoring in the tenth minute when a clever cutback by Steve Mills from the by-line set-up Hawkins, who made no mistake with an easy tap-in.

It was nip and tuck for the remainder of the first half as both sides squandered scoring opportunities.

However, ten minutes before full time and the Tigers added a second goal to put the tie beyond doubt.

Goal scorer Hawkins turned provider, unselfishly squaring a ball inside the box to substitute Liam Boswell who drilled a low shot into the back of the net.

Johnston faces a stern test in the next round as they travel to the Racecourse to take on Merlins Bridge, who has a fine cup pedigree.

Johnston: Martin Langdon, Andrew John, Chris Ormond, Steve Mills, Kristian Griffiths, Liam James, Scott Murray, Joe John, Adam Hawkins, James Skudder, Mark Jones, Subs: Ben Phillips Tom Richards, Liam Boswell.

Neyland: Patrick Hannon, Jarred Campbell, Andrew Kemp, Sean Hannon, Jeremy Evans, Paul Hannon, Nathan Warlow, Wayne Parry, Joe Charlton, Craig Lucas, Mikey Chandler. Subs: Steve Peterson, Curtis Elliott, Gareth Charles.

Referee: Steve Williams.