Dawson’s cinq sinks French in eleven goal extravaganza

Posted on Sunday, September 17th, 2017

A five star, five goal performance from Cameron Dawson guided Spartans Under 20s to a 8-3 Development League victory over EduSport Academy under the lights on Friday night at Ainslie Park.

It took just ten minutes for the prolific hitman to break the deadlock when Anthony Laing’s free-kick found Dawson loitering with intent on the edge of the six yard box and with his back to goal, outfoxed the keeper with a cheeky back heel effort.

Arron Singh looked set to double the Spartans lead shortly after as he raced in on goal only for the Referee to pull play back for a free-kick in back play for the home side.

The share of the eleven goals certainly didn’t look on the cards early on however a frantic three minute spell saw as many goals scored in the same timeframe.

First up, Dawson collected the ball deep inside the EduSport half before unleashing an unstoppable strike from 30 yards.  The Students halved the deficit seconds later however the two goal advantage was restored moments later when Dawson notched up his second league hat-trick of the campaign when he broke the offside trap to score.

Spartans looked to add to their first half tally and did so seven minutes from the break.  Murray Hand found his way into the box only to have his shot saved, the rebound coming off the head of an unfortunate EduSport defender and Alexandre Nevez on the line, the ball hit the back of the net.

HT: Spartans 4-1 EduSport Academy

Gaffer Atkinson made a swap early in the second half, with Jordan Smith coming on to replace Lewis Hall who had been cautioned in the opening period.

The impact from Smith was almost instantaneous when he selflessly was involved in a one-two with Dawson when it may have been easier for him to slide home himself.

Smith did get onto the scoresheet and it was a touch of class that got him there.  Through on goal, the youngster rounded the replacement keeper before sliding home from the narrowest of angles to make it 6-1.

Spartans made another change with Robbie Urquhart taking over between the sticks from Blair Carswell.  Unfortunately the first touch of the ball the replacement keeper had was to pick the ball out of the net from a headed goal as EduSport pulled one back.

The home lead was then halved when a mix-up between defender and keeper saw the second own goal of the night.

Two late goals gave the outcome a more balanced reflection on the game with Smith scoring another courtesy of some well worked piece of individual skill and Dawson rounded off a good day at the office with a final strike deep into injury time.

Full Time: Spartans 8-3 EduSport Academy