West Yorkshire Premier Division First Team 1 - 2 Bardsey
Two goals mid-way through the first half gave Bardsey the upper hand in this tightly fought match between two well organised sides.
Bardsey had the better of the early exchanges. In the 7th minute Hudson was forced to make a good save at the near post from Dickinson’s snap shot following a free kick. A few minutes later, from a corner on the right, Grimston rose unopposed at the far post, only to head wide. Sherburn’s only serious response came in the 18th minute, when from a free kick, Philiskirk was forced to beat out Foreman’s header as it hit the near post.
Sherburn seemed hesitant at set pieces, and the visitors took the lead mid way through the first half. Grimston headed down a free kick, for Dickinson, twisting and turning, to shoot into the far corner. Ten minutes later and they were two up. This time Sherburn’s defence failed to deal with a corner from the left, and Carry forced the ball home from short range. Bardsey continued to create chances and finished the half strongly. The visitors could have had a third going into half time, when the ball was pulled back from the byline, only for Carry to shoot well wide from 10 yards out.
Sherburn needed an early goal after the break, and in the 50th minute Booth’s speculative diagonal cross found its way to Williams, who headed the ball into the far corner. The home team switched to 4-4-3 when Priestly came on for Williams in the 73rd minute, but the hoped for rally never materialised. The game drifted into stalemate, and on the hour Jollands limped off after two heavy tackles to be replaced by Dixon.
The home team’s frustration began to show, when Hill was booked for a clumsy challenge, and Hudson had to make another good save, low down at the near post. Sherburn had one last chance to level. In the 90th minute Mark Bradley, tightly marked by Hedley for most of the game, finally made enough space to get a shot away, only to see Philiskirk beat the ball out for a corner.
***
West Yorkshire Alliance Division 1 Ossett Common Rovers 2 - 2 Reserves
The reserves travelled to Ossett hoping to continue their unbeaten start to 2008 but began slow, allowing Ossett time on the ball and too many opportunities to shoot, kept out by some excellent goalkeeping from Liam Quirk. After a sloppy opening, Sherburn soon began to push for an opening goal but struggled in the final third, until Limbert slotted home after picking up a parried shot from the keeper.
An injury to Ryan Hudson forced an early substitution with Ross Williams taking his place. A spell of fantastic one-touch football ended in Liddle scoring Sherburn's second. The reserves then went on to miss more chances to finish the game, and were punished when with only ten minutes remaining Ossett scored two quick goals against a tired second team. Notable praise went to Jackson, Jordan and Sharp. Manager Iain Macdonald is now looking forward to doing the double over Ripon City reserves next Saturday.
***
Selby and District Invitation League Division 2 Rothwell Town 2 - 1 Third Team
A lack-lustre performance from the third team helped Rothwell close the gap in the league table today, ending an eight match unbeaten run for Sherburn. Rothwell dominated early whilst Sherburn found themselves chasing shadows, and two goals in quick succession had the home side looking comfortable. Scott Hudson was beaten by a good finish at his near post before miscalculating a long ball and finding himself too far off his line for the second, punished moments after Johnson had missed a clear opportunity to score.
Manager Paul Roberts made three substitutions at half time and changed his formation to an attacking 3-4-3 in hope that they could achieve a similar comeback to last week. Within ten minutes Collins brought a player down in the box conceding a penalty, but Hudson made up for his previous error with a comfortable save. Sherburn created more and more chances but were unable to capitalise, forcing three excellent saves from the Rothwell keeper, notably from substitute McGarry after Collins headed a free-kick into his path.
With ten minutes to go Jamie Potter was dragged down for a penalty and Johnson sent the keeper the wrong way to give Sherburn a lifeline, and in the last minute Sherburn may have equalised but a dubious offside decision halted a one-on-one with the Rothwell keeper.
Paul Roberts showed his disappointment to the players afterwards, but the third team will be relishing another chance to beat Rothwell in a few weeks time.
***
Sponsors & Affiliates
