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On a unusually bright,sunny and calm February morning Quilligans took on a dangerous Highbury side at Collins Park. They gave a debut to Josh Woods in goal and to Andy Nuttall in midfield.
Quilligans attacked the clubhouse end in the first half and the opening exchanges were tight, Quilligans started to get in to the game as the half wore on with Phil Iaonnou hitting the post then Danny Rowe driving in to the box and passing when he was probably better off shooting.
A good interchange between the impressive Tosh Swallow and Phil Ioannou ended with Lee Catlow firing over. Quilligans were denied a perfectly good goal when Ioannou sprung the offside trap and the Highbury liner did what Highbury liners have done many times over the years and wrongly raised his flag to wipe it out.
Highbury then struck on the stroke of half time as Parker's cross was headed in at the far post.
Half-time 1-0
Quilligans were stunned in the first few minutes of the second half as Parker raced clear with the Quilligans liner flagging for offside and put Highbury 2-0 up. Referee Hay afer a long chat with the linesman decided to award the goal. Strange really when in an identical situation in the first half he decided to disallow Ioannou's. Quilligans long unbeaten home record which now stretches back over 2 years was under severe threat, but for the first time in the game they showed they have the character to go with their abundant ability.
Firstly a great run by Swallow down the left flank ended with Catlow pressurising a Highbury defender to bundle the ball over the line, then minutes later Catlow was put clear and he steadied himself before firing past the Highbury keeper to make it 2-2 after 57 minutes.
Quilligans now had their tails up, Jordan Spedding entered the fray and Ioannou switched the to flank and it produced an instant reward, with Ioannou sprinting through from the right and dummying the keeper before putting the ball in to the empty net for a 3-2 lead.
Highbury now seemed to run out of ideas and fitness but Quilligans still went searching for the killer fourth goal and Jordan Spedding delivered it when Danny Rowe's corner was flicked in to seal the win. Lee Catlow was then put in after some good midfield work and he grabbed his hat trick and make it 5-2.
In conclusion an important win for the Azzuri, with Quilligans having to recover from being behind at the break. All credit to them in doing that but they need to put away chances and not give teams any thoughts of a victory. However as last week they showed a refusal to lose which was admirable. Some key players were missing today - Thompson, Broadbent, Palmer, Sugden, Clowes and Cook, but overcame their absence to record an important three points.
Full-time 5-2.
Scorers
Catlow (2), Spedding, Ioannou (2).
Team
Woods, Brooks, Swallow, Bracewell, Gorrie, Nuttall, Pearson, Boal, Catlow, Rowe, Ioannou.
Substitutes
Spedding.
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