26.2.2008
The 107 loyal fans that made their way to the Genix Healthcare stadium this cold Tuesday evening were rewarded with a winning display by Garforth Town, who thoroughly outclassed hapless Lancashire outfit Radcliffe Borough. An early horror show from defender Andy Scott gave the Miner’s the lead, and despite the unmerited equalizer the visitors snatched, justice eventually prevailed with a second half winner and Garforth gained three more valuable points to remain on the fringes of the play-off places for promotion to the Unibond Premier League.
Radcliffe surprised the home defence early, when a looped ball found a Borough attacker through on goal in the second minute. The pressured striker guided his shot past Karl Spratt, but the ball bounced wide of the Garforth goal. It would prove to be a moment of attacking rarity for the visitors.
Garforth did not take long to respond, and an incisive passing movement down the left wing after only four minutes culminated with Luis de Melo sliding the ball through to the overlapping Casa Simpkins, whose run into the penalty area and shot elicited a save from Phil Priestley, only for the catastrophic error of the defending Scott, whose attempt to clear found the back of his own net. It made for uncomfortable viewing.
The wind was making play difficult, as several balls overran and attempted clearances and high passes were rendered unpredictable and potentially dangerous, such as when a simple midfield tackle saw the ball fly over the Town centre backs, leaving Michael Oakes with only Spratt to beat. The attentive goalkeeper narrowed the angle however, and saved the Borough mans’ low struck effort.
Halfway through the first period of play, a through ball from stand-in captain Duncan Williams released Simpkins down the right channel, but the midfielders’ hopeful back heel to the waiting Mark Piper was intercepted. A minute later, Greg Kelly tried his luck with an ambitious curling left footed free kick from 40 yards.
A sustained attack of four minutes duration drew appreciative applause from the Garforth faithful, owing to several clearances being controlled expertly by Ben Small and Chris Kamara, both of whom endeavoured to return the ball upfield from the right wing and further pressurise the Lancastrians defence. Only stout resistance prevented the Yorkshiremen furthering their lead over their misfiring visitors, and the increase in deficit appeared inevitable.
A high ball in midfield fell kindly for Stuart Howson, who when almost through on goal squandered his fortune by shooting high and wide. A corresponding Garforth attack saw Simpkins and Kamara feed Piper, whose low shot was unproblematic for Priestley. On the half hour mark, Duncan Williams was teed up on the right edge of the penalty box, and proceeded to outfox his opponent with a shimmy before attempted to find the top left corner with an ostentatious high, dipping curl. The effort went narrowly wide, earning more applause from those watching for the vision and ability he displayed.
Soon after, Williams demonstrated the step-over before gliding past his marker in midfield, and after directing the ball past Radcliffe captain Simon Kelly was horrifically hacked to the ground, with only Priestley to beat. The act went unpunished, and a vital goal scoring opportunity was denied the home side. The free kick was curled unexpectedly low by Greg Kelly, but found only the side netting with Priestley motionless.
A driving run from Kelly, on excellent form in recent games, saw the apparently astray ball unexpectedly lined up for the Town man via the heel of a back peddling Borough defender. Greg evaded the lunge of a desperate Radcliffe centre back before cutting his shot back across goal. With Priestley again comprehensively beat, the ball skidded narrowly wide.
With Garforth heavily in the ascendancy, it was disheartening for the previously inconspicuous visitors to claw back the deficit with an undeserved, sudden goal in the 38th minute. An unthreatening counter attack resulted in a corner, which was decisively headed past Spratt by Borough captain Simon Kelly.
Garforth hit back with an immediate burst down the left wing between Simpkins, de Melo and Mark Piper, which led to the Brazilian Soccer Schools Southampton graduate fire a curling cross-cum-shot to the far post. The effort would probably have been converted were it not for the disadvantageous wind blowing in the opposite direction.
A marauding Borough player cut in from the right before unleashing a speculative shot from distance. The experienced Spratt saved with ease, but was somewhat more troubled when a lofted ball from midfield was carried by the wind and almost caught him unawares. The Geordie did well to tip the ball over the bar, despite pressure from the Radcliffe strikers. Garforth would end the half with the Mancunians’ on the back foot.
Both sides began the second half quite warily, and the first five minutes proved uneventful and cautious. A Luis de Melo turn opened a gap in the Radcliffe midfield, and the former Spanish third division footballer released Simpkins with an excellent measured through ball into space. An excellent, desperate tackle denied Casa a one on one opportunity to regain the lead for Garforth, but the subsequent attack allowed de Melo a shot that was saved.
Another atrocious tackle on Williams saw another free kick granted to the Miner’s, and the fine de Melo curling effort sailed just over the bar. The next run of play saw Greg head Simpkins through on goal, but Priestley proved alert and claimed the ball. A ten minute period of tit for tat possession football ensued, with Town’s midfield enjoying the lions share of the ball while the Lancastrians were ostensibly content to retain their even goal tally.
Former Leeds Brazilian Soccer Schools attendee Mark Harding made his Garforth Town debut in the 70th minute, and the side immediately won a corner. The ensuing goal scramble was cleared to Mark Piper, whose shot surprised Priestley and the ball was fumbled. Harding opportunistically stole in to try to toe-poke the ball into the goal, and while Priestley recovered sufficiently to prevent this occurrence the ball rolled into the path of Simpkins, who made no mistake from six yards to recover Garforth’s numerical advantage, which was indicative of the dominance in play.
With ten minutes left of the game, Ben Small tried an audacious lob from 50 yards that left the stranded Priestley resembling the forlorn spectre of Peter Schmeichel, as the Great Dane helplessly watched Phillipe Albert of Newcastle United chip his side’s fifth goal in a famous rout. On this occasion, the dipping ball would spare the keeper’s blushes by striking the woodwork, but the magnificence of the attempt still lingered.
Five minutes later, with a free kick awarded far from the Borough goal, Small would attempt the same stunt, from the same distance, with less success. Joint-manager Vernol Blair expressed his opinions at this venture, which were predictably unprintable!
Radcliffe Borough unsportingly tried to claim an undeserved equaliser with both Chris Kamara and Duncan Williams injured, but this duplicity went unrewarded as Spratt once again saved from point blank range.
Garforth’s authority in midfield stemmed from the technical superiority of Williams, Simpkins, Harding, Piper and de Melo to their counterparts, hatchet men Martyn Forest, Craig Dawson et al, and the seemingly narrow score line was offset by the underlying comfort of the victory. With some apparently easier fixtures forthcoming than the likes of Curzon and Bradford Park Avenue, Town can look to drastically increase their points tally in the coming months to ensure that the promotional push is not merely a pipe dream, and that the Garforth Town bandwagon continues rolling onwards and upwards towards and into the realms of the unfulfilled prophecies of its owner.
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