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Sunday 5th September 2010
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Matches played Saturday 2nd February 2008
Inter charting successful course - but watch out!!
Although strong winds went a long way to improving the condition of the waterlogged pitches around the city last week, the interspersed rainy periods meant that the decision on whether a pitch had recovered sufficiently to be declared fit for play was, of necessity, a last minute determination, and, in some cases brought a difference of opinion between the ground authorities and the match official.
The Premier Division top of the table clash at Longhill between Inter Charter and Kingburn Athletic was one such game that remained in the balance but, eventually, got the nod, and the game proceeded on a pitch which played, and stood up, very well, and produced an excellent contest which remained in the balance throughout the 90 minutes of skilful action.
The performances of goalkeepers Mike Draper (Inter Charter) and Ben Hamilton (Kingburn) did much to keep the scores down as both produced brilliant stops and saves, while at other times preventing goals by spreading themselves and forcing shots to be rushed and steered wide of the goal.
The first half saw an end-to-end encounter after Inter Charter had taken the lead in the 7th minute, a goal which Kingburn responded to through Marcus Robinson 10 minutes laterand the score rightly remained tied at one goal apiece to the break, although the slightly more aggressive Charter side would probably argue that this was only due to Hamilton’s heroics.
The second half began with Inter Charter looking to take the lead, and centre forward Glenn Morfitt looked a particular threat with some deft touches and clever runs, and it was little ironic that a pass which was intended for him was intercepted by Matt Lucid who powered forward unchallenged and played an inch perfect pass which split the Charter defence wide open and Lee Mason took the ball in his stride to shoot Kingburn into the lead.
This proved to be the wrong move in the context of the overall game, as Inter Charter suddenly took a firm grip of the action, and in a period of domination, there was an inevitability that they would level, and a sweet finish by Morfitt, who capitalised on a poor clearance, ensured that this was the case.
A second, class finish by the same player turned the score into Charter’s favour, but Kingburn were by no means out of the game and Charter were grateful to keeper Draper for preventing further goals being conceded.
Inter Charter’s task was made harder fifteen minutes from time when defender Ian Jackson needlessly became embroiled in questioning a decision, which resulted in a red card being brandished by the referee.
Charter defended well as Kingburn tried to press home their numerical advantage, but with time running out, Kingburn left themselves stretched in defence, with the inevitable result of Charter adding a fourth goal with virtually the last kick of the match, Morfitt’s neat touch and deflected shot, again producing the opening.
With the double completed, and the only team to have beaten Kingburn so far, Charter would hope they have seen off Kingburn’s challenge – but much football remains to be played – and they would do well to keep looking over their shoulder at both Pinefleet Wolfreton Reserves and Crown FC who both have several games in hand and will fancy their title chances.
SC Electrical seem to have had more luck than most in completing fixtures – albeit, not the last two weeks, and returned to a lofty second place in Division 1 when they recorded a 2-0 win over Cottingham Hotspur.
SC Electrical applied early pressure, and took the lead following a corner when Paul Featherstone finished from close range when he reacted first to a rebound.
Unable to shake off recent cobwebs, SC Electrical then found it hard to get into their stride, and in a tight, but scrappy game, should have fallen behind, but poor finishing by the Cottingham strikers was to prove to be costly.
The second half saw Cottingham enjoying the better of the exchanges, but their finishing did not improve. SC Electrical introduced Mike Wordingham and changed the team around a little, and this almost produced the desired effect when he went close with his second touch, but still the game remained in the balance until minutes from the final whistle, when, as Cottingham threw everyone forward, good work by Andy Dook provided the pass for Wordingham to score to seal the result for Electrical.
SC Electrical achieved an extra bonus from the game, as, in addition to the match points, they were also able to celebrate the return from injury, for his first game of the season, of Billy Beaumont.
Paull Wanderers hoped to prove that they are in a false position in the league when they faced high flying AFC West Hull on the Foreshore, having shared the points when they last met, but this time the points were needed for widely differing reasons - West Hull to open a bigger gap at the top of the table while Paull were looking to climb away from the drop zone. The omens were promising for Paull, who, for only the second time this season, we able to pick the same side.
However, the game did not start well as Paull let in West Hull’s top scorer Mike Neylon with only 2 minutes on the clock, and then faced a massive up-hill task to get into the game, and the chances of achieving that were minimal as West Hull ran the show for the whole 45 minutes, Paull’s contribution only being the creation of two half chances.
Paull needed to get at the West Hull defence early in the second half, but within 35 seconds of the restart West Hull had increased their lead – and from this point the game was as good as over, with Paull seemingly not at the races!
West Hull took full advantage to run the game scoring three more good goals, with Mike Neylon contributing a match tally of four goals with the other score coming from man of the match Wayne Stabeler.
Paull could have conceded more goals but keeper Mike Lowde produced the sort of outstanding form that was previously his trademark……providing Paull with the only plus they took from the day.
Only one game escaped the clutches of the weather in Division 2, but it did provide an encouraging result for The Courts who battled out an eight goal game with AFC Piper, and although the Courts failed to record their first points, this new, emerging side should be cheered by the competitive 5-3 scoring margin.
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Match Reports
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24th April 2010
17th April 2010
10th April 2010
3rd April 2010
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