Woodley Sports 0 - Garforth Town 1

26-9-09

The White Rose triumphed in an ugly smash and grab battle in Lancashire, as Woodley Sports fell by one goal to zilcho at their own Neil Rourke stadium. The home side’s nickname is the Steelmen, but they were melted down on Saturday in a close game settled by a well-taken Duncan Williams goal.

An initial feeling out process saw many long balls, with the only sniff of a chance coming from a chased down header back to goalkeeper Morgan from the halfway line. The only noteworthy chance in the opening twenty minutes came from an excellent Woodley cross could have been converted from eight yards. The inept striker missed the ball. Save for that, Garforth’s makeshift defence performed well, marshalled by Milton Turner.

A low cross was drilled in by Town standout Chris Ovington to Carl Fox, but the defender did just enough to prevent him getting a clean strike. Greaves came close with a shot following a good set up from Ovington, and Woodley hit the post, missing the subsequent rebound.

Ovington carved the last two chances of the first half, with a side-foot effort that missed, then an eye-catching burst of pace to fire in a cross that was not met.

Duncan Williams tried a Paul Gascoigne circa 1996 when he tried setting up a shot after kick ups over a defender, but he overshot it. Woodley had a header saved by Morgan, who turned in a dependable performance. Both Greaves and Ovington tried shots from outside the area, and both were saved comfortably.

The magic moment occurred on the hour mark. A ball up the right wing to Darren Thornton saw the striker cross low to Williams, who turned away from goal to off put the defender. As it was, though the new angle was ostensibly more difficult, and that the ball had bobbled, Williams managed to lob the goalkeeper to his far post and open (and close) the scoring.

Tom Klaisse almost burst through the middle later in the game, only for the keeper to come out and claim. The match was not one of breathless exhilaration, of constant goal scoring opportunities and melodrama, but it was a valuable win. Barring a minor incident in which two Woodley players appeared to raise their hands and make contact with Garforth players (with no action taken) not much more happened, and Garforth closed out the game to return back to God’s Own Country east of the Pennines with the points.

An ugly win can be as good as a pretty loss, for morale. And in a long season, morale is important, particularly for a side that won two recent promotions with dramatic late surges up the table. This win could prove more vital than its smash and grab, unexciting features and characteristics implied or were felt at the time, and with plenty of points to play for, Town are only four wins away from the prize positions. It’s a crack, they’re back yeah and standing on the rooftops shouting, baby I’m ready to go…