Harworth CI U19 0 v Southwell City U19 5 - NMU19L Division 2

Wednesday 2nd November, at Scrooby Road
Baris North Midlands U19 League Division 2

Harworth Colliery Institute (0) 0
Southwell City (2) 5
Grant Blackhurst 38, 75, 80
Tom Tyler 44, Joe Ness 77

(Goal times approximate, it was such a wet night I left my decent watch at home)

Admission £2 inc. programme, Attendance 40+

Harworth Colliery Institute
Tom Hogg, Liam Argyle, Matt Smith, Jason Markell, Liam Smith (C), Liam Ainger, Tom Sowden, Callum Tiffany, Jordan WAplington, Ryan Foster, Connor Gresham
Subs - Chris Leather, Christian Lukey, Kurtis Cockburn, Mike Fenton
Southwell City
Max Danby, Dan Gleeson, Nick Winn, Joe Ness (C), Kyme Howells, Rory Brown, Tom Tyler, Liam Gleeson, Chris Bowles, Grant Blackhouse, Ben Cree
Subs - Aaron Burns, Leuan Plume

Another miserable rain soaked midweek night in the Baris North Midlands U19 League Division 2 ... not that Southwell City would probably agree.

Liam Gleeson, the visitors number 8, is the sort of player who is capable of bossing a game from midfield if you give him the time on the ball ... and things looked a bit ominous for Harworth when he got in behind them inside the first five minutes but fired his effort wide.
Gleeson's wake up call, sparked Harworth into life and Connor Gresham broke into the Southwell box, but Rory Brown was in quickly to clear the danger.
Shortly afterwards, Liam Ainger swung a corner into the area, but Southwell's number seven Tom Tyler dealt with it before a Harworth player had responded.
On previous occasions when I've seen Southwell Under 19's play, it was their midfield players and forwards who have impressed me.
Tonight, though that was still the case, it seems they have tightened things up at the back too.
On the half hour another Liam Ainger corner picked out Liam Smith, but the Harworth captain headed over.
Harworth pushed forward again and Jordan Waplington knocked a great through ball over the visitors defence into the path of Tom Sowden, who missed an absolute sitter.
Southwell won a free kick outside the edge of the box. Liam Gleeson didn't really connect with his attempt to curve the ball and he hit it straight at the Harworth wall, but it was now the visitors who were turning the screw ... and pretty soon Grant Blackhurst had found the net and City were a goal to the good.
Blackhurst was by and large the best player on the pitch, which Harworth were to find out to their cost again before the break.
Not only is he a prolific striker, but when Grant drops back and holds off from the front line, he has the ability to unlock defences for his team mates too.
On 40 minutes, his slide rule pass released Gleeson, who's effort was cleared for a corner.
Tom Hogg did well to retrieve the situation and hold onto the ball from the flag kick, but Blackhurst was soon back again, when on the stroke of half time, he saw off two challenges and stroked the ball into the path of the in running Tom Tyler, who was never going to miss a chance like that.
Half time - Home 0 v Visitors 2
The Southwell players were out first for the second half.
Though Glenn and Hasan, the Harworth management team, aren't renowned for being knee jerk reactionary and angry types (they deal in level headed encouragement and motivation for the most part), I would sincerely hope that certain players were getting a REAL bollocking in the dressing room and being reminded of their responsibilities at critical moments.
Standing off players of Blackhurst's undoubted quality is asking for trouble and sometimes you reap what you sow.
The home side had been in the ascendancy for a short while in the first half, but they were up against it now. And pushing forward to try salvaging something from the game, was going to leave room at the back for the ever lively and very impressive Southwell side to exploit.
Make no mistake, although Harworth had contributed to their own downfall at both ends of the pitch, Southwell have got some quality players who weren't shy about performing on a horrible night weather-wise ... and they deserved to be ahead at the break.

Harworth worked hard at the outset of the second half as they strove to get back in the game, but in the final third Southwell were soaking up anything the home side could muster and still looking dangerous themselves on the break.
It was, to be honest, a bit of a cat and mouse game for a while, as the home side vaingloriously slogged on through the wind and the rain, while Southwell waited for their moment to pounce.
On 70 minutes Tom Tyler chased a pass into the box as Tom Hogg charged off his line to intercept the danger, there was no malicious intent on either side as they met head on and the Harworth keeper got a knock and stayed down.
After a few minutes of treatment, Hogg bravely carried on, but he was obviously struggling and gritting his teeth to get through the pain barrier for the remainder of the game.
To further compound Hogg's miserable night, five minutes later, Southwell floated a free kick into the box from midfield and Grant Blackhouse steered a looping header just underneath the crossbar to put the game out of Harworth's reach.
The wheels had come off for the home side now, heads had dropped and it was easy pickings for Joe Ness, the Southwell captain, when he picked his spot and fired home from the edge of the box two minutes later.
Southwell's third goal in a five minute collapse from the home side, saw Tyler returning the compliment for his earlier goal, when he set up Grant Blackhouse who completed his hat trick in style.

"Always look on the bright side of life ...
Da doo, da dooby dooby doo!"

As if by magic, Harworth suddenly remembered there were two goals on the pitch and Mike Fenton, on as a sub for the Colliery side, fired narrowly wide at the other end.
But it was a case of far too little, far too late.
Southwell's Aaron Burns played Tom Tyler clean through at the other end, but Tom Hogg, by now limping heavily from his previous exchange with the visitors number 7, got down bravely to save the initial shot and spread himself to make Tyler shoot wide from the rebound.
Harworth had spells of the game, at the start of both halves, where they had looked something like, but to be frank, the other 70 minutes had belonged to the vistors and their dominance had merited the final score of ...
Harworth Colliery Institute 0 v Southwell City 5

Under 19's football, it gives you a real appetite