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Saturday 7th January 2006
Stocksbridge Park Steels 3, Bridlington Town 1
Town are now free to concentrate on winning promotion after being dumped
out
of the League Cup by fellow Division One outfit Steels, who are now proving
to be somewhat of a bogey team for the seasiders. After a solid first half
showing highlighted by a superb goal from Ben Eastwood, Town slacked off
after the break, and the class of ex-Whitby and Farsley Celtic striker
Stefan Zoll told, as he was the catalyst behind all three of his sides
goals.
On a gloomy and damp day, the home side had again cemented their reputation
for producing the best playing surface in the league despite the elements,
and both sides were able to bring the ball down and play flowing football.
Town wideman Steve Underwood linked well with Paul Wilson in the opening
minutes and Steels ‘keeper Steve Hodgson had to be smartly off his line
to
gather. Leading scorer Paul Palmer then wriggled free form the attention of
ex-Barrow centre-back Karl Colley to flash a shot across the face of goal.
Town opened the scoring on 18 minutes with a goal of stunning quality from
Ben Eastwood. Allowing a long clearance to fall over his head some 25 yards
out, and with Colley in close attention, he let the ball bounce once before
hooking a fantastic curling shot over Hodgson into the far corner.
Steels looked for a quick reply, with Town defender Carl Giblin getting in
a
last-ditch tackle to deny striker Ben Walker as he was teeing the ball up
on
the edge of the area. Seasiders’ goalkeeper Nick Baxter, despite journeying
straight to the game from a night shift at work, then produced a fine
one-on-one stop on the half-hour from Dave Cockerill to prevent a certain
equaliser.
In the closing minutes of the half, a fine Town move down the right brought
Wayne Wallace into the action, and the leggy wideman strode past 2
challenges to find Palmer in space on the edge of the box. He laid a
first-time ball to Eastwood, but the striker was hustled out at the death
by
Colley and Dan Anson. Zoll showed an ominous hint of what was to come on
the stroke of half-time with a 25-yarder that shaved Baxters’ post.
Steels made a change at half-time with Duncan Richards replacing Carl Smith.
A quiet opening to the second period had chances at a premium, but Zoll
ended all that with a moment of sublime skill on 57 minutes. Picking up the
ball 30 yards out, he turned to crash a brilliant dipping effort that Baxter
somehow appeared to have fingertipped onto the bar. The strike deserved a
goal in itself, and Richards rewarded Zoll’s endeavour and his manager’s
tactical acumen by diving to head the rebound into the empty net.
Steels now began to dominate, and Zoll was again at the hub of the attack,
Giblin blocking the striker’s goal-bound header on the line. Town had
a
great chance however on the break to regain the lead in almost identical
fashion on 64 minutes, Wallace and Thacker linking to find Steve Heath
rising at the far post, only for the Town defender to also see his header
hacked off the line.
Steels put the game to bed with a lightning double strike from Ben Walker.
Unsurprisingly, Zoll set up the first on 70 minutes with a slide-rule
diagonal ball to the far post, and then a similar effort on 74 minutes. Andy
Ring this time provided the ammunition with a low cross, and Walker again
made no mistake with a crisp finish into the far corner.
Town were not quite dead, and more fine work from Wallace down the right
almost released Eastwood on 85 minutes, but the Steels rearguard, again
superbly marshalled by Colley, looked a formidable unit, and Town ran out
of
time.
With a vital league match against top-six outfit Kendal at Queensgate
looming, certainly most of the Town supporters were not too upset at the
outcome of this match. Stocksbridge look a match for any side in the
division at home, and will surely be at the business end of the table come
May. The number of games in hand may prove their undoing, but they look
capable of doing Town favours against other sides in the top six. Town will
look to give Steels their comeuppance when they meet at Queensgate in the
league later on in the season.
Teams:
Stocksbridge PS
Hodgson, A.Smith, Lowe, Anson, Schofield, Colley, C.Smith, Hawes, Zoll,
Walker, Cockerill
Subs. Hannett, Richards, Ring.
Bridlington Town
Baxter, Hyam, Wallace, Tomlinson, Giblin, Heath, Underwood, Thacker,
Eastwood, Palmer, Wilson.
Subs. Baker, Fyvie, Ramsay