Hanwood down Tolland 4-0 to keep Pascoe Cup finals hopes alive

Prolific striker Daniel Johnson bagged a hat-trick as Hanwood kept their Pascoe Cup finals hopes alive with arguably their best performance of the season.

Michael Cimador opened the scoring in the first couple of minutes for Hanwood and from there the visitors never looked back as proved far too good for the Wolves.

While Hanwood remain unmoved in fifth position on the ladder, the win helps the Griffith club close the gap on some key rivals and lifts them to just one point off second spot.

Hanwood coach Anthony Agresta stopped short of labelling it his team's best performance of the year but is happy with the direction they are headed in.

"You know what, against Leeton a couple of weeks ago I thought our boys played pretty well. I think it's just a shift in attitude the last couple of weeks," Agresta said.

"Even today, I didn't have to say much. The boys knew it was a pretty important game. I think you can see from the way they started that they really stepped it up today.

"Yeah, I'd say that was one our better performances."

Johnson was the star for Hanwood, producing some clinical finishes to ensure his team made the most of the chances they were creating.

He started with a crisp left foot strike to put Hanwood 2-0 ahead after 20 minutes, and then got a clever touch to the ball with his head to beat the keeper and make it 3-0 just before half-time.

Johnson's third was his best effort, making the most of a free kick that never left the ground from directly in front, just outside the box.

He was helped from the ground with an ankle injury late in the contest but Agresta is confident it was nothing serious.

The Hanwood coach was happy with his striker but was careful not to throw too much praise in his direction.

"As a striker, that's what he's there to do," Agresta said.

"But yeah, today they were goal scorer's goals. In and around the box and pretty clinical. It's good for him to get on the scoresheet."

Hanwood face Wagga United next Sunday then have Tumut and the bye to finish the home and away season.

With competition fierce for the four spots in the Pascoe Cup finals series, Agresta is well aware of the importance of every game.

"The last couple of weeks, having a couple of weeks off, we spoke about it on Thursday but the next three weeks are a pretty important three weeks," he said.

"We've just got to keep trying to pick up points and see where we end up at the end of the year."

Johnson and captain Anthony Agresta, who was another of Hanwood's best players, were both yellow carded for having too much to say to the referee in the second half.

Lake Albert 3 (J Rankin, J Curran, M Redamwang) d South Wagga 0

Hanwood FC 4 (M Cimador, D Johnson 3) d Tolland 0

Henwood Park 2 (D Watson, OG) d Tumut 1 (J Goode)

Wagga United 2 (K Crevatin, M Crawford) drew with Young 2 (P Hislop, R Lacey)

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