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MATCH REPORT:
Whickham (Away): 16th February 2010, NL Division
2.
F/T 0-2 Jones, Skelton
Having suffered the
heartache of a replay defeat in the FA Vase, it
was important we didn’t let it affect our
season’s main aim of promotion as we made the
midweek trip up to Whickham.
Burto made four
changes from the team that took on Whitehawk,
with Richie Ward, John Seaton, Benn Thompson and
Rob Jones all returning to the starting eleven.
Having won the toss,
we started the game kicking down hill, and were
soon on the offensive.
Seaton got himself
into a good position having lost his marker but
ran into trouble in the box and was out muscled
by Gary Andison.
Josh Myers and Rob
Jones combined well on eight minutes to win a
corner that Benn Thompson jumped well to head
wide.
Whickham’s first
chance came on 11 minutes as Mark Pattison’s
short corner to Andison saw the defenders cross
come shot beat everybody as well as the far
post.
On 16 minutes
Thompson bustled his way past Anthony Lowrie to
get into the box and with only the keeper to
fire past, decided to square the ball to the
onrushing Jones. Rob still had a lot to do but
fortunately got onto the end of the pass and
squeezed the ball under Stephen Robinson from
close range to give us the lead.
Jones tried to
return the compliment on 29 minutes when he too
was in a good position to pull the trigger but
chose to pass. On this occasion, Thompson was
crowded out by the defence.
A minute later Andy
Raw tried his luck with a left foot shot from
distance that looped over the keeper but also
over the bar.
Whickam came close
to equalising on 35 minutes after catching us on
the break. A good Marske build-up came to an
end as Dom Gamble’s cross was too deep for
anyone in the box, and the home side quickly
moved the ball up the other end. Graeme King
slid onto the end of Pattison’s cross come shot
from the left but could only manage to steer the
ball into the side netting.
Half-time:
Whickham 0 v 1 Marske United
We made a positive
start to the second half kicking up the bank.
Having put together a string of 10-12 passes,
Gamble was sent away down the left and put a
superb cross into the box that Robinson had to
punch away under pressure from Thompson.
The ball fell to
Seaton on the edge of the area who was brought
down when about to shoot, but the ref played
advantage as the ball fell into the path of
Jones who shot straight at Robinson.
Myers broke through
on 54 minutes but couldn’t find Thompson with
his final pass, then minutes later the ball
broke kindly in the box between Thompson and
Jones. Thompson was first to it but blasted his
shot into Robinson’s legs.
Having missed
chances to put the game to bed, Whickham almost
got back in it on 58 minutes as we failed to
deal with Pattison’s excellent cross in to the
box, which Carl Pennington put narrowly wide.
Gamble got forward
again on 65 minutes after latching on to a
Thompson header. His cross to the far post
found Jones whose header at goal forced Robinson
into a good save.
The pressure was now
on for Whickham, but we were still unable to
find an elusive second goal.
Andison curled a 40
yard shot at goal on 68 minutes which Brendan
Ledgeway left to go over. However, he was given
a scare at the last minute when the ball
suddenly dipped, and ended up hitting the back
stanchion of the cross bar.
Owen Dixon replaced
Myers on 70 minutes and was soon on the
offensive.
Having totally
outpaced his marker he was brought down with the
ball in the box, but the referee waved play on
to what even Whickham had thought was a blatant
penalty.
Whilst we were still
contesting the penalty, Whickham broke straight
down to the other end and caused panic in the
box as we failed to get the ball clear, Ross
Peareth hitting a final snap shot just wide from
a good position ten yards out.
Our second goal
finally came five minutes from time as
substitute Tommy Raw broke away and unselfishly
squared to Craig Skelton who made no mistake
with his finish.
Ledgeway made an
excellent hanging save from Pennington’s looping
header on the 90 minute mark, and in injury time
Tom Raw found Gamble with cross field pass and
the left back smacked the cross bar with a shot
from the edge of the box.
Full-time:
Whickham 0 v 2 Marske United
Team:
Ledgeway, A.Raw (Roberts), Gamble, Swalwell,
Ward, Taylor, Seaton, Myers (Dixon), Thompson,
Skelton, Jones (T.Raw).
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