Eaton Socon 4, Rushden + Higham United 0

5th October 2024 :: Spartan South Midlands Division One

A RUSH OF GOALS KEEP EATON ON A HIGH
Another home win and clean sheet against Rushden & Higham United extended Eaton’s winning streak in the league to seven games, leaving the eagles in second place behind Irchester United on goal difference.

A quick start from Eaton gave them the perfect boost when a cross from Jake Williams found Hayden Armiger at the back post, who then squared to Dom Mason to calmly finish on seven minutes.

Rushden themselves briefly threatened with long throws and dangerous free-kicks up into the penalty area but keeper Shay Griffiths commanded his area well, taking some awkward balls in the air, to ease the pressure.

Ben Hickling and Jakob Buckle also had to be alert at the back with good blocks to concede corners from Rushden, as Eaton had a sloppy ten minute spell. With scorer Mason having to go off injured early on thirty five minutes, it was Stanley Dawkes who was brought on to replace him.

Armiger then sent Stanley Ayre through on goal only to see Rushden’s keeper save well. Another good ball from Armiger gave Williams the chance to finish on forty one minutes however, the keeper pushed his effort away, only for Ayre to misfire the rebound from an awkward angle.

A first half of very few chances though it was Eaton who were looking more of a threat going in 1-0 at half time.

Eaton started the second half well with Hickling firing a pin point ball out to Williams who crossed for Ayre to make no mistake from inside the area, firing in low to make it 2-0 on fifty four minutes. This second goal saw Eaton put the game to bed within the next ten minutes when Armiger ran onto a Griffiths kick to fire home on sixty four minutes. He was then put through again on sixty nine minutes from a great Dawkes run, to finish in similar fashion to his first goal to make it 4-0. This scoreline allowed Eaton’s substitutes Josh Kane, Ryan Vale and Lloyd Makhanya good game time with Ayre, Mark Ansell-Carter and Hickling all being replaced.

Eaton were still pushing for more goals with Armiger being denied a hat trick after Rushden’s keeper made a double save, along with chances from Jaiden Fitzpatrick and Makhanya who both failed to capitalise from good scoring positions.
Rushden were then reduced to ten men on eighty three minutes when their number ten was finally sent off after pretty much kicking every Eaton player throughout the course of the game.

Eaton’s fine run continued as they saw out the remaining ten minutes to keep a seventh clean sheet and another home win for the eagles, with the back four yet again being well organised to close out any attempts Rushden had, with blocks from Billy Roberts and James Ducket in the ninety-fourth minute showing how much keeping a clean sheet meant.

Manager Craig Smith was again pleased with a strong second half performance from his squad that is “gelling very well”. Armiger’s second half clinical finishing killed off the contest but Smith awarded Player of the Match to Billy Roberts for his box-to-box energy and faultless midfield display.

Goals: Mason, Ayre, Armiger (2)
Player of the Match: Billy Roberts