16.2.2008
Garforth Town produced the performance of the season with an emphatic hammering of hapless Geordie outfit Newcastle Blue Star in front of their delighted home supporters. The white-hot Yorkshiremen thrashed the visitors with three exquisite goals, and put the proverbial icing on the cake with a stoppage time comedy fourth.
Garforth engaged in some long ball tactics initially before establishing superiority, and once in control never looked like conceding the initiative. A long curled ball upfield from the right almost found stand-in captain Duncan Williams in position to score, but the goalkeeper reacted quickly and decisively, punching the ball away and injuring the teenager in the process. The ideal weather and pitch conditions contributed greatly to the standard of game play of show, and this was reflected in Garforth’s willingness to exchange passes in patient attacks rather than rely on the route one approach favoured by many lower and non- league sides. The crowd were roused by a quid pro quo situation that arose when a Town through ball to the lurking Mark Piper was expertly dealt with by the opposing keeper, whose vital clearance served as a through ball to his own striker. The Blue Star forward met similar goalkeeping alertness, and the ball was duly cleared.
With the visit of Newcastle Blue Star, it was to be expected that distinctive North-eastern accents would be audible throughout, and there were indeed three. Paradoxically, they belonged to Simon Clifford, Steve Nichol and Dave Williams – Clifford the Garforth owner, Nichol the joint-manager and Williams the Town pie-maker! This irony notwithstanding, the team were visibly buoyed on by their north-eastern contingent, and the subject of the frequent bellows from Town's mercurial owner Clifford, Karl Simpkins, duly shackled his opposing midfield counterparts well with Chris Kamara and the outstanding Greg Kelly.
The vocal attendees were enjoying the fare, and the light-heartedness was improved by the introduction of Rambo and Rocky musical excerpts in the 22nd minute for which a broadly grinning man in black was ostensibly the perpetrator. The music seemed to spur George Williams into action at least – his three crunching tackles in the space of twenty seconds roused the amused crowd.
George’s brother released Mark Piper through on goal, but the southerner was deemed offside. The same occurred minutes later, but Blue Star were being prised apart almost at will, and but for an alert linesman could well have found themselves trailing heavily come the end of the half.
A neat passing move on the left flank saw the ball rolled into Kelly’s path twenty yards from goal, but the goal-bound shot was painfully blocked. Blue Star responded with a rare, yet toothless attack, when top scorer Lee Novak fired a half volley yards wide from a good position. Soon after, a free kick was conceded by Newcastle on the left, and Luis de Melo’s low cross shot evaded all Town players when the deftest of touches would have converted the chance. Blue Star somehow escaped the first period with their clean sheet intact.
Garforth claimed all the early possession at the start of the second half, and while the preliminary passing movements were good, they were unable to apply the finishing touches. Finally, in the 52nd minute, Town managed to do that which they had threatened all afternoon, and broke the resistance of the Geordie defenders. Luis de Melo capitalised on poor goalkeeping after a Garforth attack seemed unsuccessful, and rounded the hapless Daniel Lowson before coolly slotting the ball low into the net.
Two minutes later, Greg Kelly burst through the centre from defence, and the ball was taken by de Melo. The former Spanish third division footballer committed the defender before playing in Adam Clark, who was unlucky not to score as his shot struck Lowson’s trailing leg as the keeper dived at his feet.
On the hour mark, an unjustly awarded free kick curled high over all Town defenders and was controlled by an opposition player. Somehow, Karl Spratt managed to maintain the parity with a fine save from point blank range, a fiercely struck seven-yard half volley. The grateful Town eventually cleared, and would soon benefit from the good fortune.
A Garforth attack caught Newcastle by surprise, and saw Simpkins attempt to head the ball through for Kelly. Fortunately, the nearby Blue Star defender slipped, and Greg capitalised by hopping over the stricken player before steadying himself with a touch and firing low past Lowson at the near post to send Town into raptures. Newcastle knew they were sunk, and offered no stern resistance from this point onwards.
After 81 minutes of play, assistant manager Vernol Blair was caught in a somewhat sensitive area, and a free kick was awarded after a subsequent Blue Star foul. Twenty five yards from goal on the right hand side, Kelly would find the net for the second time of the afternoon with a Rivaldo-esque curled top right corner finish. It’s just like watching Brazil.
Five minutes later, de Melo was marginally offside when he ran on to a measured through ball, and his delicate chip hit the crossbar.
With Town already anticipating their fine win, a stoppage time through ball by Blair saw the goalkeeper claim possession, and ineptly kick against the onrushing de Melo, who calmly watched Lowson’s frantic attempts to prevent the ball trickling into his goal, the culmination of a fine win for Garforth and a stepping stone to a formidable end to the season. Town were without their entire defence, and the only recognised defender Milton Turner was substituted with an injury at half time. Great credit must be apportioned to joint-managers Steve Nichol, Vernol Blair and Alan Billingham, who put together their side in the week to face a team with a budget eight times the size of that available to Town. This emphatic victory proved what Garforth Town are capable of, and should prove to pave the way for ensuing success at the Unibond level of the pyramid.
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