Clinton welcomed the East Bladen Eagles to the Dark Horse Soccer Complex for a mid-week match on Wednesday evening. The match was the second of three straight home matches for the Dark Horses and they wasted little time establishing their dominance over the visiting Eagles. The home team put up a constant barrage on the Eagles defense and kept the pressure level high when East Bladen had possession of the ball. In the end the Dark Horses posted nine goals, mercy ruling the Eagles in the sixty-ninth minute with a 9-0 shutout.

The Dark Horses got on the scoreboard early when Luke Byrd, assisted by Andrew Warren drew first blood for Clinton with a goal in the fourth minute. The Dark Horses would strike four more times in the first half getting goals from Peter Darden, Ivan Palencia (2) and Ivan Ponce. The scores were assisted by Spell Carr, Andrew Warren, Donald Blue and Luke Byrd. With twelve shots on goal in the first half the Dark Horses kept the ball in the Eagles end of the field and took the comfortable 5-0 lead into the break.

Ivan Ponce opened the second half scoring for the Horses firing in his second goal assisted by Andrew Warren in the forty-fifth minute. Turner Wells headed in a Spell Carr corner kick in the fifty eighth minute to give Clinton the 7-0 advantage. Ivan Ponce completed the hat trick when Tyler Kersey found him in front of the Eagles goal with a beautiful pass in the sixty-fifth minute and Donald Blue put an end to the match with an unassisted goal at the 69:10 mark.

After the match Clinton head coach Brad Spell praised his team saying, “it is good to get the win and move to 2-0 in the conference. Once again we were very unselfish, we moved the ball well, a lot of people got a lot of playing time and I’m just really pleased with the way they played.”

The Dark Horses improved their record to 10-0-1 overall and 2-0 in Four County Conference play. Clinton will be back in action on Thursday evening, hosting Smithfield-Selma in their final non-conference match of the season, scheduled for a 6pm kickoff. Coach Spell discussed the upcoming opponent, adding, “they (Smithfield-Selma) are 4-1-1 and it should be a good game, they will be tough out for us.”

By Mike Carter

Sports Writer