Hayden Habetz enjoys 'excellent' debut as Tadcaster Albion sink Penistone Church

American striker Hayden Habetz scored on his Tadcaster Albion debut as the Brewers beat Penistone Church. Picture: Keith HandleyAmerican striker Hayden Habetz scored on his Tadcaster Albion debut as the Brewers beat Penistone Church. Picture: Keith Handley
American striker Hayden Habetz scored on his Tadcaster Albion debut as the Brewers beat Penistone Church. Picture: Keith Handley
American striker Hayden Habetz made an instant impression on his Tadcaster Albion debut, helping the Brewers to their first win in four matches.

The 20-year-old opened the scoring as Mick O’Connell’s men recorded a 2-0 home victory over Penistone Church on Saturday afternoon.

Habetz, who has scored more than 100 goals during his time as a student with i2i Academy, broke the deadlock just before half-time, but it was his overall performance leading the line which really impressed Albion’s manager.

"I thought he was absolutely excellent,” O’Connell said.

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"He was bright, he looked sharp, he held the ball up, he made good runs. He is quick, he is very robust and one of those strikers who creates his own chances.

"He is a proper number nine. He is quite slight but he comes short and holds the ball up when you want to get up the pitch, he competes and he runs his socks off.

"Some of his runs and his movement around the box was excellent. He’s hit the cross-bar and then he has got his goal, which was a really calm striker’s finish. He sat the goalkeeper down, rounded him and then passed the ball into the net.

"So, I couldn’t really have asked for much more from him on his first time playing at this level.”

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After Habetz had opened the scoring by rounding the Penistone goalkeeper and slotting into an empty net, Luca Bolino wrapped things up for Albion in the 71st minute when he won and then converted a penalty.

Victory lifts the Brewers up to 15th place in the NCEL Premier Division standings ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Pickering Town.

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