Central Midlands League (North)
Harworth Colliery Institute (3) 5
Craig Anderson 35, Chris Belshaw 38, 42
Matt Dent 72, Tom Pick 76
Thoresby Colliery Welfare (1) 1
James Scothern (pen) 13
Admission £3, Programme £1, Attendance 27
Harworth Colliery Institute:Mark Latham, Jordan Hardman, Shay Dunning, James Woodward, Stuart Needham, Chris Belshaw, David Reeve, Craig Anderson, Matt Dent, Gareth Sides, Tom Pick
Subs - Simon Brewster, David Cornthwaite, Tony Garner, Brendan Wilson
Thoresby Colliery Welfare:
Darren Milnes, Ash Bowen, Keenan Leeds, Wayne Lister, Tom Bryon, James Scothern, Tristan Burrell, Andy Palin, Joe Porter, Liam Black, Sam Stretton
Subs - Tom Smith, Ben Selby, Kurt Mason, Anthony Shaw
Tonight's win saw Harworth return to the top of the table, one point in front of second placed AFC Mansfield, who play at home against Kiveton Park tomorrow night.Glapwell are up to fourth having beaten Sherwood Colliery 1-0 at Hall Corner.
Tom Pick came close to unlocking the visitors defence, a couple of times, in the early exchanges, but it was Thoresby who opened the scoring on 13 minutes, after Joe Porter's shot hit James Woodward's hand and the referee pointed to the spot.
Yes dear reader (I know you're out there I've checked the viewing stats), it was another one of those "these things balance themselves out over a season" moments, that have been giving yours truly so much column inch filling material of late.
James Scothern dispatched the spot kick and the Edwinstowe based side were in front.
Craig 'Billy' Anderson smashed the ball home through a crowd of players from 20 yards out, to put Harworth back on level terms after 35 minutes.
And before half time, the home side had built up a commanding lead, thanks to a Chris Belshaw double.
His first on 38 minutes, was as outrageous a cross cum shot, that ended up in the goal, as I've seen in a long while, his second came via a pinpoint cross from Gaz Sides out on the right wing - and his third just before half time, err ... hang on, he missed that one when it looked odds on that he was about to claim a hat trick inside the space of 6 minutes.
Unlucky Chris!
Half time: Home team 3 v Away Team 1
Harworth started the second half off pretty much the same way they had finished the first, on the attack.Tom Pick dribbled his way into the heart of Thoresby's defence, but stumbled at the last moment and lost control just as he was about to shoot.
A few minutes later, Pick made a nuisance of himself in the visitors box again, but shot narrowly wide.
Tristan Burrell let fly with a long range effort on the Harworth goal, but Shay Dunning had anticipated the flight off the ball well and was on hand to clear the danger.
After 65 minutes, Andy Palin was shown a straight red card for a rash challenge on Craig Anderson.
Thankfully the damage to Anderson wasn't as bad as the crunching sound of the impact had initially suggested and he was able to carry on after treatment.
I'd like to think Palin's foul was more a case of a mistimed lunge, rather than a premeditated foul.
Either way, the referee had no option but to give him his marching orders.
It was damage limitation time for the visitors now as they reshuffled their pack, but Harworth soon had another goal, when Matt Dent was gifted a free header from a Gaz Sides cross.
On 75 minutes, Harworth sent on 3 subs.
The switch had an immediate effect, when one of them, Tony Garner, put the ball on a plate for Tom Dick with a precision through ball and the home side's number 11 finally got his name on the score-sheet.
Right at the death, Pick nearly scored again, but Darren Milnes in the Thoresby goal pulled off a class save, to keep the final score down to:
Harworth Collery Institute 5 v Thoresby Colliery Welfare 1.
Next up: AFC Mansfield v Kiveton Park, Wednesday 12th September
