Old Blackburnians 5 Preston Grammar School Associates 1

ANDY Haworth's dad is coming in for a bit of stick lately.

For every time his son appears in Sport Extra he either hogs the pictures or plays a blinder - prompting everyone into thinking that Haworth senior has Sport Extra connections.

So what does junior do to take the heat off his dad?

Plays a blinder and scores a hat-trick!

Still only 17, Haworth ran the show from midfield.

Not a player to bark instructions or shout for the sake of it, Haworth simply lets his feet do the talking.

And Preston Grammar School Associates had no way of dealing with him.

Poor old Preston.

They had to play a centre half in goal, blood two 15-year-olds in midfield then had a defender sent off in the first half for a reckless challenge. And, to add insult to injury, their best player scored an own goal!

Old Blacks may have struggled if their visitors had a full strength side and they wasted too many chances from the endless supply of opportunities they created.

But at least they were making chances - with Haworth coming closest when he hit the crossbar before the first goal went in.

The odds that it was going to come from a goalkeeping error weren't very high and so it proved.

Mark Rigby's poor goal kick fell straight to Mick Preston, who controlled the ball just outside the area and returned it with interest. Keiran Keigher then rounded off a fine run with a shot that flashed just wide before Quinton Birchall forced Rigby to produce a good save.

The Old Blacks then doubled the lead through Haworth who played a neat one-two with Keigher before flashing a shot past the bemused Rigby.

Any chance of a Preston comeback ended shortly before half time when Richard Brown was sent off for pulling down Lee Taylor when he was clear through on goal.

Haworth grabbed his second and the Old Blacks' third when he again combined with Keigher to score from just inside the area.

Then Haworth turned provider only for Taylor to see his shot saved by Rigby.

To Preston's credit, they never let their heads drop and they continued to look for that illusive goal.

And they got it, but unfortunately it was in their own goal!

Taylor whipped in a low and hard cross that Gareth Holt attempted to clear up field but instead saw it squirm off his boot and into his own net.

It was a blow for the left back as up until then he was Preston's best player.

There was also a hint of an own goal about the fifth but Haworth was not going to be denied his hat-trick as his shot deflected off the head of a Preston defender on the way in.

But at least Preston can take satisfaction in scoring the goal of the game.

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