|
|
Tuesday 7th September 2010
|
|
Matches played Saturday 22nd November 2008
Bitterly cold and blizzard conditions at times, but relief as all games completed.
The smooth transition through the season’s fixtures in the Amateur League is greatly helped when the League Cup competitions can be played as scheduled, but the prospect of that happening had looked bleak after a pile up of outside cup fixtures in previous weeks, which were still spilling over, and, with a weather forecast which predicted snow and bitingly cold conditions, it seemed, inevitable that there would be numerous postponements.
The reality, however, was that the predicted prolonged snowfall arrived late, and though the afternoon was bitterly cold and contained short wintery snaps, it was interspersed with pleasant mild sunshine, and all scheduled fixtures were able to go ahead and were completed.
Thankfully the second leg of two of the first round Senior Cup ties were unaffected, and Pinefleet Wolfreton were able to resume action against the Lair, with the advantage of a goal lead, but the match was still very much in the balance, and even more so after two minutes of action when Pinefleet failed to clear their lines and Rob Hunter ‘equalised’ from close range.
The Lair could have doubled their lead, being unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, but the referee waved play on, and for 20 minutes The Lair threw everything at Pinefleet who did well to withstand the pressure.
It was then Pinefleet’s turn to attack and in their first foray forward of the game, Gareth Monkman blazed the ball across the area and fortune was on Pinefleet’s side as a Lair defender turned the ball into his own net.
This was an unexpected bonus, and really kick-started Pinefleet and they took control of the game and soon scored their second goal of the day when Graham Waudby went clear and squared the ball to Darren Hemmings who coolly finished.
It was now all Pinefleet and they scored a quick fire third when Monkman broke clear and struck an unstoppable effort from an acute angle.
The tie was drifting away from The Lair, and soon after half time was beyond them completely when Waudby again broke clear to finish well.
The Lair kept plugging away but it was Pinefleet who scored again when Darren Hemmings put Andy Waller through and he finished ruthlessly. With Dave Laycock pulling the strings, Pinefleet scored a final goal when Monkman, Waller and Waudby exchanged passes and Waudby recorded his second success.
Despite the conditions, this was an excellent game, with the Lair never giving up, and with a bit more luck could have been ahead in the tie early and had that happened the result could have been totally different…..
AFC Preston travelled to Cottingham Road to face Quaddy Rangers, with the benefit of a goal advantage from the previous leg, but Quaddy had obviously resolved that there was a need to recover the deficit quickly, and started with all guns blazing, while Preston, in the early stages, still looked have remained in the dressing room, and within a few minutes Quaddy were level (on aggregate) when Dave Bisland scored following a corner with a strong header.
The snow fell for a while into the faces of the Preston defenders, and this handicap, and some marginal decisions which went against them, caused the team to fall apart and Quaddy took full advantage with goals from Simon Start (2) and Dave Betney, and at the break Quaddy looked in control.
Stern words from the touchline seemed to spark Preston into gear, and immediately they hit back in the second half with goals from Simon Kew and Craig Crane, the second a superb lob from 30 yards.
Quaddy started to lose their composure as Preston got on top, and with the aggregate narrowed to 5-4, it looked that for a while that the game was there for the taking, but Preston’s concentration failed, and a defensive error let in Mike Newdick who scored to give Quaddy the injection they needed, and a further goal from Mike Thompson completed the win.
After all Preston’s hard work, their head’s again went down, and so, with very little time left, Preston gave a quick burst of action to some players returning from injury, and it was good to see both Lee and Darren Wilson and Ian Mullins back on the field, in addition to the return of Simon Matson also in this game, and Preston’s season can only improve as these influential players turn out on a regular basis.
The Junior Cup draw paired together Paull Wanderers and Swiss Cottage, who, due to their reasonably close proximity, consider their matches to be local derbies, and so more than just a win was up for grabs here!!
The game started at a fast pace, if only to keep both sides warm on the Paull Foreshore as the snow started!! Paull played good passing football in the first 10 minutes, but, as has happened in almost every one of their games this season, then conceded a goal as the Swiss right back got up well to head home from a corner.
Swiss looked at ease for the next fifteen minutes, and allowed Paull little sight of the ball, until Paull gained a free kick from which Mark Rigione found Danny Wilbor who did applied the finishing touch with a neat little finish past the Swiss keeper.
Within five minutes, however, Swiss got back in when a repeat, unchallenged corner movement produced a second goal.
If Swiss thought that they were about to repeat last year’s final appearance, they reckoned without Paull’s resolve, as Paull came out fighting for the second half and playing as a team, and, in contrast to the first stanza, not giving the ball away and pressed Swiss back at every opportunity.
It was no surprise when Paull levelled the scores, Liam Frazer coming through from left back before hammering the ball goalward where it took a deflection off a Swiss defender before going in.
If this goal was considered fortunate, then the third goal was top class when Mark Sexton and Mark Darnell played a nice 1-2, leaving Sexton to set up Karl Smith who struck the ball so sweetly from 25 yards that it rocketed in the top corner of the Swiss goal - leaving some Paull players thinking they had recruited Steven Gerrard into their team!!
Paull needed to stand strong in defence, particularly to nullify the threat of Swiss’s danger man Ben Bassett, but he was closely watched by Paull man of the match, James Sexton.
Paull were able to seal their quarter final place when, with eight minutes left, Mark Sexton found the head of Tommy Donnelly, who nestled the ball in the net.
On the league front, Premier Division leaders Sutton Fields Rangers began very slowly and needed the wake up call of a two goal deficit scored by SC Electrical’s John Riley and Jordan Poucher, to spark them into life.
The game was hard fought, and played for a time in blizzard conditions, and contained three penalties, two of which were converted by Lee Jones for Sutton Fields, in addition to a quality, match winning strike for his hat-trick goal, which brought his tally to eighteen goals in eight games.
Building works adjacent to Hessle Sporting’s home pitch prompted a switch of venue to AFC Hull’s 3G pitch at the University, and on the coldest day of the year so far, AFC Hull were expecting a difficult game against the high riding Hessle team who had only lost once all season and boasted a 100% victorious away record.
Hessle Sporting decided to play into the biting northerly wind in the first half and were facing a severe blizzard after just a few minutes, which made conditions very difficult for both teams.
AFC Hull who opened the scoring on 14 minutes when stand-in striker, and usual winger, Nathan Nicol followed in to pick up a parry by Hessle keeper Karl Sherriff, and took the ball round him before knocking it into an empty net.
After 20 minutes, Hull left back Damon Brooks limped off with an ankle injury and was replaced by Ashley Smith, and ten minutes later the snow, which appears to have been localised, abated and Hessle began to assert themselves in the game, forcing the ever reliable AFC Hull keeper Craig Lindley into a string of fine saves.
Following a defensive lapse by AFC Hull, Hessle Sporting found themselves in a two-to-one situation, going on goal, and the ball was squared to the wide open Hessle front man, who looked odds on to score, but Hull's centre half and skipper Jaime Gascoigne stretched every sinew to get a vital touch and knock it out of the waiting striker reach, and the margin remained at 1-0 at the break.
With the snow on the pitch having melted, AFC Hull came out strongly, and their usual passing game was soon in full flow, making it difficult for Hessle to gain any meaningful possession.
After 51 minutes AFC Hull’s tricky left winger and prolific scorer Mark Friston jinked his way through the defence to drill a low shot past the keeper to double the home sides lead.
The pressure was maintained and five minutes later, midfielder Sean McFaul beat the onrushing keeper to a 50/50 ball on the corner of the box, took one touch, and placed the ball into the net from a tight angle.
Dale Carty was the next Hull player to pick up a knock, but the momentum was not lost when he was replaced by winger Chris Buckley, and with Hull top scorer Sam Nicholson determined not to miss out on the scoring action, the score was extended further when he netted after 63 and 70 minutes, the second being a penalty after a Hessle defender was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area.
Hessle launched a rare attack after 74 minutes and Mike Winn pulled a goal back, but Hull were still not finished and Jason Watson, capped a great battling display in midfield, with a deserved goal as he skipped through the defence to slot home.
With the rest of Division 1 in league cup action, AFC Hull, who have also benefited from playing on their all-weather pitch, when other games have been postponed, now enjoy a massive eleven point lead at the top of the league table.
|
|
Match Reports
|
24th April 2010
17th April 2010
10th April 2010
3rd April 2010
|
Personalise
|
Personalise
this website to feature the division which you're most interested
in.
|
|
