A dramatic late comeback from Garforth Town could not overturn an early and unfair deficit in a heated and highly entertaining affair between two determined sides. Some outrageous officiating sadly tarnished a game in which either outfit could have claimed all the points, but the end result was an engrossing spectacle that saw Town display some impressive grit.
The worst possible start occurred for the hosts when a throw in led to a soft back post goal. Garforth regrouped to the point where Hotchkiss, Williams and Kelly were picking at the Bamber defensive lines, looking for openings to penetrate. Duncan Williams managed to fashion a chance out of nothing with a jinking run, bursting into the penalty box from the left channel before his driven shot was saved.
Jason St Juste showed flashes of his industrious nature, one such incident occurring when he turned his marker and tried to score with a speculative curled effort from 25 yards. A mere minute later, a through ball was latched onto by a suspiciously advanced Bamber striker, and, sickeningly, the opportunity was taken.
The second half began with a questionable free kick awarded to the visitors, and what commenced was a goal so soft it would be hard for the written word to do justice to it. At this point the fixture appeared dead and buried.
The Miner’s began to produce what they are capable of with a play of real quality. Hotchkiss curled an inch perfect ball across the field to St Juste, who controlled, cut inside and slid a cool finish into the Bamber goal to give the home side a real incentive to fight for the final third.
Not long after, an exchange on the left saw Mark Piper delicately chip straight to Greg Kelly’s head, and though his effort struck the crossbar the versatile Town man was able to convert the rebound, and the game was well and truly on.
Town created a plethora of chances with Haywood, Piper and Kelly all coming close to equalising. Captain Brett Renshaw met a corner with a towering header that struck the post and was scrambled up by a grateful goalkeeper.
The uphill struggle was worsened when Bamber snatched a late goal with a deflected header, but Town would further regroup. Kelly fizzed a ball across the Bamber goal, but St Juste arrived a fraction too late in a Gascoigne-esque moment. The icing on the cake occurred when a Town free kick was halted when a Bamber defended blatantly kicked Andy Rowan, and was sent off for his offence. Bizarrely, a penalty was NOT given, and instead the free kick was retaken. Readers are advised to youtube the Fabien Barthez/Ian Harte incident where Harte was kicked in the box away from play, and a penalty was rightly awarded, for more understanding of why a penalty should have been given.
Still, Garforth found the net again. A drifted corner was converted by Renshaw, who used his aerial threat well to power home a headed effort. Sadly, a fourth was out of the question with almost no time left, but there were encouraging signs from this high scoring match with another gutsy second half performance from a capable and determined Garforth Town outfit.
No comments:
Post a Comment