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Saturday 4th September 2010
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Matches played Saturday 13th March 2010
A perfect 10, then heartache for Lindley.
The third attempt to stage the outstanding League Junior Cup game between AFC Hull Reserves and AFC Orchard, to complete the semi final line up, finally proved successful courtesy of the extra efforts of the Hull University ground staff – and the action was well worth waiting for, and after 120 minutes of normal open play had failed to divide the teams, it seemed the dreaded penalty shoot out was going to last forever!!
Both sides are capable of playing good football and look for goals rather than sitting back, and this was the pattern in the early stages of the game, but with both defences standing firm, the respective goalkeepers – who were later to have a massive influence on the outcome of the game - had very little to do until the 26th minute when Orchard winger Alex Lamplough broke through into the AFC Hull area and fired an unstoppable shot past keeper Gareth Lindley into the far corner to open the scoring.
AFC Hull needed to respond quickly but the chances of securing an equaliser before halftime looked remote as Brian Coulson, making a welcome return in goal for Orchard after other commitments had kept him unavailable, marshalled his defence well but Hull were given a lifeline after 42 minutes when awarded a debateable penalty which Simon Smith struck with venom and gave Coulson no chance of making a save, and at halftime the game was back to square one.
AFC Orchard replaced goalscorer Alex Lamplough with leading marksman Chris Joplin in an attempt to kill off the game early in the second half but though Orchard often threatened, the next goal would not come, despite the game gaining in pace and urgency with attack after attack from both teams.
A breakthrough happened after 71 minutes, in disappointing fashion from AFC Hull’s perspective, when a long downfield clearance by Orchard keeper Coulson deceived their defenders completely – but should have been dealt with - and Orchard’s Graeme ‘Bobby’ Hoff who ran tirelessly all afternoon, latched onto the ball to score, slipping the ball beyond the half-hearted closing down attempt of opposition keeper Lindley.
Orchard’s lead was to be short lived as three minutes later a mazy run along the by line by Hull’s Billy Tuttle and a shot from the narrowest of angles clawed his side level.
With time running out, and extra time looming, both teams opted for all out attack and on 87 minutes the deciding goal seemed to have arrived in Orchard’s favour with a replica route one goal from the boot of keeper Coulson, and similar defensive lapse, this time to Jamie Lamplough who made no mistake with his head.
From the restart AFC Hull stormed back and grabbed yet another equaliser after Billy Tuttle again showed his magical left foot dribbling skills and slipped the ball home to take the game to extra time.
Both sides in the first half of extra time seemed wary of making a mistake and the game play slowed down as tiredness – and cramp! – crept in, but the chances still kept coming for both teams but the half ended with an unchanged scoreline.
In the second half, both keepers came to the rescue of their sides, and the almost inevitable penalty shoot out became a reality.
AFC Orchard took the first penalty – and arguably set the standard – as both teams then ran through all their players with no one missing, and very few allowing either keeper to get anywhere near. A master-class in penalty taking!!
At 10-all on penalties it seemed no-one was going to miss and the two goalkeepers suddenly found themselves under intense pressure, as they became penalty takers.
Brian Coulson maintained the high standard of his team-mates, scoring with confidence, leaving Hull’s Gareth Lindley in a must score situation.
The heartache of missing a penalty was to befall Lindley, whose shot was struck well enough, and he beat his opposite number, but the ball struck the foot of the post and rebounded into the field of play.
The nerve wracking conclusion to the game earned AFC Orchard a semi final tie against Kingburn Athletic 3rds, and that success – in each round against difficult opponents - underlines just how far the team has progressed.
There was no change in the Premier Division title race which appears to have evolved into a two team race, with Pinefleet Wolfreton keeping the pressure piled on rivals Eddie Beedle, with a hard fought but deserved win over AFC Preston, while Beedle continued the chase overcoming Cavalier Wanderers with something to spare.
Quaddy Rangers’ game against the Lair had been in doubt, and lead to them taking the field without regular keeper Mark Foster who had to opt to work, forcing striker Dave Bettney to move into goal as his replacement.
The early exchanges were end to end, but Quaddy eventually opened the scoring through Simon Start., and were looking comfortable, until the Lair hit back with an equaliser.
Quaddy regained the lead when the Lair conceded an own goal, but an injury to Ian Robinson affected the side, and though an excellent substitute in Danny Thompson joined the fray, a bad defensive slip in the area by second substitute John Herbert allowed the Lair to level the scores for a second time.
Quaddy proved to be their own worst enemies, allowing themselves to be derailed by this, and a later error by keeper Bettney enabled the Lair to regain the lead.
Unfortunately, goal-keeping slips are unforgiving, which was harsh on Bettney as he saved his side on several other occasions.
Quaddy manager Nigel Taylor was disappointed his side had let points slip again, and was concerned that some players were merely going through the motions and need to rediscover their passion and commitment, or be replaced.
Willerby Holiday Homes were impressed with the new pitch at Anlaby which Cross Keys Cottingham have been required to move to, using it to advantage, keeping their title challenge going, in a strange match – from Keys point of view.
Keys stand in keeper Adam Grimmer gave away a penalty after 15 minutes of Keys domination to give Willerby the lead, and after another 15 minutes of a similar pattern of play, Willerby scored again!!
In the second half Cross Keys pulled a goal back before 15 minutes of madness saw Willerby increase the margin to 6-1, including an own goal by Grimmer who put a corner into his own net.
Two quickfire goals in the last five minutes by Keys gave the final scoreline a more respectable look.
Paull Wanderers were missing two players from the previous week, but still made the usual positive start to their game, creating the first real chance against AFC Piper after only 5 minutes when a left foot shot from Mark Sexton went just wide.
The second chance went even closer to being recorded when Sexton again shot from 25 yards and his effort beat keeper Jamie Walker but struck the crossbar and bounced off the line before being cleared by a defender.
With 20 minutes on the clock, Paull finally got their reward when Ricky Giblin was found by Mark Sexton coming in from wide right, and his shot, which took a slight deflection, beat keeper Walker in the bottom corner of his goal.
At this juncture, Piper had not threatened, but that was to change when James Sexton chested the ball down but lost control and Andrew Finnerty took the ball away, only then to be fouled by Sexton.
The resulted free kick was despatched into the net by Matty Warcup, giving keeper Paull Liam Smith no chance – leaving the side in disbelief having dominated the game.
The situation worsened for Paull, when in Piper’s second attack, they gained a penalty when full back Tom Briggs hacked down a Piper player, and Warcup recorded his second goal.
Paull remained confident that their overall play would enable them to get back on terms and veteran Terry Thompson duly finished from a pass from Sexton, as he redeemed himself.
The second half saw Paull really up against it when Briggs was red carded within five minutes of the restart, but Piper failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage, and they had to be cautious of being caught out on the occasions Paull counter attacked.
There was no further scoring in the game, although Paull’s Karl Smith thought he was going to cover himself with glory late on, but he failed to test keeper Walker in a one-on-one situation, putting his shot into the side netting.
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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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