Dove hat-trick inspires Cooks to 6-1 win over Whitworth.

Local derbies tend to be close affairs but this one was anything but as Cogenhoe are dominant.

Saturday 15th December 2018

FUTURE LIONS UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE-PREMIER DIVISION
COGENHOE UNITED (3) 6 v WELIINGBOROUGH WHITWORTH (0) 1
Cooks;
Stevenson 15, 53
Dove 23, 43, 78
Long 55

Whitworth;
Jarvis 89

Jake Stone was able to welcome back Jack O’Connor after the defender broke his nose recently, whilst Charlie Hynam, Tom Iaciofano and Josh Melling were all given starts in a much-changed side from last Saturday’s disappointing second-half showing at Eynesbury. The weather conditions were atrocious with the wind carrying the freezing cold rain across the pitch from the hills on a day definitely made for men rather than mice.
Cogenhoe were quickly on the attack against the side propping up the table with Iaciofano setting up Hynam and his twenty-yard low drive saw the keeper stretch to his left and touch the ball around the post. Melling played a neat ball down the line for Matt Long and he went past his man before looping over a cross that caught the wind and landed on top of the goal-net. Liam Tuck drove for goal and let fly from just outside the corner of the box but it was always going wide and then Séan McBride lifted a ball into the box for Long, but Connor Mallows just managed to take the ball away from him.
Remy Brittain got away from his man down the right, but George Barnell was covering and came across to take the ball with a perfectly timed tackle. A ball into the Cogenhoe box held up in the wind and Brittain brought it down brilliantly, but he then snapped at his shot and could only blast it wide from ten yards out. Ryan Baxter played a free-kick into the box that O’Connor headed out and Ryan Dove then headed it on to where Iaciofano battled to play it through to Long who ran on to the edge of the box before firing a low shot on target, but Adam Honour was off his line quickly to narrow the angle and make the save.
Hynam swept a great ball right to Iaciofano who fed Long inside the box and he drilled a shot across the keeper, but also wide of the far post. The inevitable finally happened on 15 minutes as the Cooks broke the deadlock. Dove got his head to a Tuck corner and Honour stretched out an arm to make the save, Iaciofano saw his effort blocked in a scramble before the ball came to Dan Stevenson about seven yards out and he tucked home his first goal since scoring our third against Wisbech around a year ago. Jon Wright and I will have to find another topic now when we win a corner. Cool finish from the centre-back.
A deep Tuck cross saw Melling drive a shot into the side-netting from an angle via a deflection, then O’Connor didn’t get a clean connection as he went for a volley from Tuck’s corner. A sliding challenge from McBride won back possession in the centre and Hynam slipped it through for Iaciofano, but Honour was quick off his line and slid at his feet to win the ball before he could shoot.
The second goal came after 23 minutes when another good run from Tuck saw him come inside and place a low shot towards the far corner. The keeper dived to get his hand to it, but his joy was short-lived as Dove came in beyond the far post to slot home the loose ball from close range. Keegan Giles was taken off with just 26 minutes played, assumingly for an injury or illness as he wasn’t playing badly, with Khalidu Sesay taking his place.
Another good Tuck cross was met by the head of Melling just beyond the far post and he steered it across the keeper only to see it go inches wide of the post. Tuck played in a ball that Iaciofano steered to Melling who crossed for Dove, but the skipper has strayed offside. A Tuck cross was sliced by Iaciofano and Long did well to make it his, but he couldn’t get over his volley and it looped over the top. Brittain sent Cavell Jarvis deep into the Cooks half and he sent over a cross that Barnell coolly cleared, but moments later the visitors did open us up as Stevenson slipped to leave Dante Memoli racing clear to cut in from the left, but Stuart Lutter was off his line to make it hard and got down to save his low shot.
Mallows went into the book for a foul on Hynam that I don’t think was deliberate and although it didn’t look good, I felt the yellow card was a bit harsh in this instance. On 43 minutes Cogenhoe added a third when Hynam sent in a great corner from the left and Ryan Dove timed his run to perfection and headed home powerfully from just outside the six-yard box for his second of the game.
McBride played a ball into Long inside the box and Iaciofano nipped in only to see his shot blocked. Hynam played the corner short and got it back from iaciofano before cutting inside and sending a superb low ball across the face of the goal but Dove was flagged offside at the end of a very satisfactory half for the Cooks in the pouring rain.

Cogenhoe United 3 Whitworth 0.

McBride did well to win the ball and Melling looped in a cross that was taken by Honour, although not that confidently it must be said. Melling then found Long on the right and he held it up before pulling it back to Hynam on the edge of the box. He stepped inside his man to create space for a shot, but his curling effort was narrowly wide. Brittain got some power behind a shot from distance, but Lutter was behind it all the way and wasn’t troubled.
On 53 minutes Stevenson struck again with an excellent controlled volley as he met Hynam’s corner and gave the keeper no chance. You could say Danimal goals are like buses, although I doubt you would be happy if you had to wait a year and then two turned up even with this government’s cut-backs. Two minutes later and we had five with Hynam again the creator with some good work down the right seeing him pick out Matt Long in the centre and he fired an unstoppable drive inside the post from eight yards out. Down the other end a deep cross from the right found Brittain unmarked at the far post, but his volley went harmlessly wide after what must be said was a rare lapse at the back for the Cooks this afternoon.
Jake made a couple of changes with Long being replaced by Ansell after 58 minutes and then Luke Stone coming on in place of McBride a minute later. Ansell played a neat one-two with Dove but was robbed in the box by Sesay, then Stone played a one-two with Dove and found Ansell on the right, but his high cross seemed to be going well over before it died on the wind and landed on top of the crossbar. Whitworth made their second change with Matty Thornber, a former teammate of many of the Cooks players in his time at Spencer, replacing Nicky Charlton on the left.
A huge kick from Lutter found Ansell running down the flank and he pulled it back to Melling who set up Hynam just outside the box, but again his curling effort was merely an inch or so the wrong side of the post. Ansell picked out Dove beyond the back stick and he brought it down superbly and fired home a powerful low shot, but the assistant’s flag was raised for offside to curb his celebrations. Another Ansell cross skimmed across the face of the bar and then Hynam swung the ball wide for Tuck to cross, but he put far too much on it this time.
A lovely move involving Stone, Ansell, Dove and Melling almost saw Dove clean through, but Honour managed to dive on the ball before he could his shot away, then Stone played a great ball through to Ansell inside the box, but the keeper narrowed his angle well and managed to save his shot. The sixth goal finally arrived on 78 minutes and Ryan Dove was celebrating his hattrick after seeing his last one ruled out. Barnell started the move with a weighted pass to Ansell on the right and picked out Dove perfectly inside the box and the Cooks skipper took a touch before calmly picking his spot.
Melling played a one-two with Dove to put him clear in the box and he unselfishly squared for Stone to slide the ball home, but this time Melling was deemed to be offside and again the goal was ruled out. Stone cushioned a header from Iaciofano’s cross to create a great chance for Tuck, but he went for power and sent the ball high over the top. Hynam went for goal from thirty-yards, but it was too close to the keeper, then Hynam and Dove combined to set Melling free in the box and his excellent ball across the six-yard box really should have been converted but wasn’t.
It was so nearly seven when Melling found Dove in the middle of the box and he laid it on to iaciofano who seemed to have picked his spot with a low shot past Honour, but the ball came back off the inside of the post and although the Cooks man got another shot in, the keeper got down to save at his near post at the expense of a corner. We were then caught out as we pushed up and when Whitworth cleared Brittain tore down the right flank before sending over a cross that found Cavell Jarvis completely unmarked close in and he turned the ball home past a furious Lutter who had been robbed of his clean-sheet right at the death.

A very dominant performance from the Cooks and should really have been more than the six we scored. We played some excellent football on a difficult pitch in truly awful playing conditions with the only downside being the goal we conceded a minute from time. Everyone played well today with George Barnell, Liam Tuck, Charlie Hynam and Josh Melling all giving me a headache when it comes to man-of-the-match, but that has to go to skipper Ryan Dove for his hattrick, his link-up play and for creating a number of chances for his teammates today. The three today takes his tally to 22, lifting him back above former Cogenhoe players Luke Emery and Taylor Orosz to become clear at the top of the scoring charts.
Fair play to Whitworth who kept going and tried to play the game the way it should be played for ninety-minutes despite being well beaten again. Next up for Cooks is Rothwell Corinthians at home next Saturday, our last game before Christmas and the Boxing Day derby at O.N Chenecks which has a 1pm kick-off.

Cooks; 1. Stuart Lutter 2. George Barnell 3. Liam Tuck 4. Séan McBride (Sub 12. Luke Stone 59) 5. Jack O’Connor 6. Dan Stevenson 7. Josh Melling 8. Charlie Hynam 9. Matt Long (Sub 14. Ryan Ansell 58) 10. Ryan Dove © 11. Tom Iaciofano. Subs not used; 15. Luke Bartley 16. Jake Stone.

Flourmen; 1. Adam Honour 2. Sam Harris 3. Ryan Baxter 4. Ryan Jeffries 5. James Gorman 6. Connor Mallows 7. Dante Memoli 8. Keegan Giles (Sub 16. Khalidu Sesay 28) 9. Cavell Jarvis 10. Remy Brittain © 11. Nicky Charlton (Sub 12. Matty Thornber 63). Subs not used; 14. Dayne Wood 15. Jude Adebayo.

Referee; Lee Hartley (Faultless throughout).
Special mention to assistant referee Malcolm Clarke who had to look into the freezing rain blowing into his face for ninety minutes today and to Finbarr Carroll for his ball retrieving in the first half when nobody else fancied leaving the partial shelter of the stand.