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Saturday 5th November 2005
Woodley Sports 1 Bridlington Town 2
A tremendous never-say-die display from Billy Heaths’ side, who overcame
every setback that 90 minutes of football could possibly throw at them.
They came away from Manchester with another precious 3 points from a real
nail-biter to keep them top of the division on a day when all but one of
their closest challengers slipped up.
An unfamiliar surface of artificial grass at Lambeth Stadium allied to
continuous misty drizzle from the off proved the first obstacle against a
side who were obviously more aware of how the pitch would behave in the
conditions. Woodley’s intentions were clear in the opening minutes, as
the
ball was sprayed wide to wingers Mario Daniel and Luke Horrocks. Daniel in
particular looked a very slippery customer, and Town left-back Martin Ramsay
had to be at his very best to deal with the threat.
Woodley earned a corner on 4 minutes as Town ‘keeper Nick Baxter turned
a
shot from Chris Curley around his left hand post. The ball was swung in,
only for the dominating figure of Steve Heath to rise and head the ball away
to safety. Daniel was involved again as Town failed to capitalise on
Heath’s clearance with another jinking run and cross that was cleared
well
by Carl Giblin.
Town took the lead in their first real attack on 7 minutes after a fine
one-touch move that cut the home defence apart. Martin Thacker delivered a
throw-in on the halfway line to Giblin, and the ball was then moved rapidly
through Paul Palmer to Paul Wilson, whose first time diagonal ball across
the 18-yard box was finished by Steve Underwood, arriving with perfect
timing to slot the ball under ‘keeper Danny Higginbotham.
Woodley replied with a good move of their own, as Daniel found Wes Wilkinson
in a central position. He laid the ball square to Carl Healy, whose shot
flew narrowly over the bar from 20 yards. They went one better on 17
minutes, as a foul on Daniel earned the home side a free-kick 35 yards out,
which Chris Young floated a free-kick into the Town box. Baxter called for
the ball, but under pressure from Healy and Wilkinson, flapped the ball into
the path of Young, who cracked the ball back into the unguarded net from the
six-yard line for the equaliser.
Town were unbowed, and went straight back on the offensive. Ali Benson
controlled a long pass from Thacker, and linked well with Palmer who tested
Higginbotham from the edge of the 18-yard area with a first time shot. This
time, Town got their reward for a spell of pressure in the 22nd minute. The
ball was played square across the field by Shaun Baker to find Ramsay wide
on the left. He played the return pass into the path of Wilson in space 25
yards out. Without breaking stride the Town winger clipped a superb low
curling shot beyond Higginbotham low into the right hand corner of the net
to reclaim his side’s lead in quite stunning fashion.
Town’s pattern of play was disrupted shortly before the break, as Steve
Underwood came out of a 50-50 challenge just outside the Woodley box with
a
knee injury. The wide man bravely attempted to run the knock off, but
succumbed after a couple of minutes, and was replaced by Chris Hyam, himself
returning after a spell out through injury.
Half-Time
Woodley Sp. 1 Bridlington Town 2
The second half was only minutes old when Town suffered a crashing blow.
Wilkinson and Baxter challenged for a long ball into the box, and clattered
into each other. It appeared to be innocuous enough, but Baxter had caught
a blow to his face, and clearly was in no state to continue. He was helped
off to leave Town without a recognised ‘keeper for the remaining 40 minutes
of the game. Wayne Lewis took the gloves from the unfortunate Baxter, who
was taken to hospital for x-rays on a suspected broken jaw. No blame could
be attached to the Woodley man who was simply doing his job chasing down a
loose ball, and the game resumed to be played in the usual competitive but
fair manner.
Town now had to re-assess their entire gameplan, with a more defensive
effort necessary to protect Lewis in goal. James Tomlinson had come off the
bench to fill the gap left by the substitute ‘keeper, and the youngster
produced a monster of a display to drive back the Woodley midfeld time and
again. Now back to full fitness, the Town man has few equals in this
division and the home side had no answer to his drive and commitment.
Such was the attitude and spirit shown by Town to the setback, the home side
actually struggled to test Lewis with a shot on goal. He got to a corner on
the hour mark to fist the ball away, but the back four as a unit managed to
answer all the questions that Woodley could ask without the ‘keeper being
troubled. Hyam in particular enjoyed an impressive return to the side,
offering top-class defending on the right flank, coupled with genuine pace
to keep the Woodley defence on their toes when Town were able to get
forward. The closest the home side came to parity were 2 efforts on 70 and
72 minutes from Young and Horrocks that skimmed the bar from distance.
With six minutes of added time as a result of Baxter’s injury, both
sides
made substitutions as the game entered the closing stages. The home side
puzzlingly withdrew Daniel, who had remained a constant threat to Town down
the right flank, and perhaps then their chance had finally gone. Matt Fyvie
replaced the hard-working Ali Benson, who on another day would have perhaps
seen his efforts rewarded with a goal. Town were able to run down the clock
to leave the field to a deserved standing ovation from the travelling
faithful.
Teams:
Woodley Sports.
Higginbotham, Swannick, King, Young, Ojinnara, Lomax, Daniel, Curley,
Wilkinson, Healy, Horrocks.
Subs: Headley, Gee, Wright
Bridlington Town
Baxter, Lewis, Ramsay, Baker, Giblin, Heath, Underwood, Thacker, Benson,
Palmer, Wilson.
Subs: Hyam, Fyvie, Tomlinson