Brodsworth Welfare 1 v Harworth Colliery Institute 3 - CMFL North

Saturday 10th November 2012,
at the Welfare Ground, Woodlands, Nr Doncaster
Central Midlands League (North)
BRODSWORTH WELFARE (0) 1
Darren Fiedor 60
HARWORTH COLLIERY INSTITUTE (1) 3
Chris Belshaw 28, Gaz Sides 53, 85 (pen)
Admission £3, Programme £1
Attendance 21 (Rob Dawson counted them on his fingers)
Referee, Wayne Gray ... EXCELLENT!

Brodsworth V Harworth, take two.
A replayed game following an abandonment caused by a floodlight failure when the teams originally met back in August, when Harworth were leading 1-0 THE66POW 15.08.2012
Since their auspicious start to the season, Broddy have picked up a few new players and recently recorded wins over both Easington United and Westella Hanson, so today's game was potentially going to be a tricky one for Harworth, who had to reshuffle their pack slightly due to player unavailability and, of course, the absence of captain David Reeve, who's input is going to be sorely missed, through injury.
Hope your recovery is going well Reevie.
Today James Woodward was given the captain's armband.
In Mark Vickerage, Brodsworth have a player cum battering ram who's touch, combined with his battling attributes, will make a handful for a good number of defences in this league. He came close to opening the scoring inside the first ten minutes, but put the ball over the bar from 18 yards, to give the visitors back four a bit of a wake up call.

At the other end, Tom Walker was making himself busy and getting his crosses in, but Dominic Senior in the Brodsworth goal was just about containing the threat posed by the wide balls into his box.
Chris Belshaw put a dangerous looking ball in from the left wing, but Lee Edmondson couldn't quite keep his header down, or on target and the home side breathed a sigh of relief. In Lee's defence, the low glaring sun going down over the main stand at the Welfare ground would've made that one difficult for him to see.
Senior was on hand to turn the ball around his post from Paul Burns 20 yard effort.
But then Welfare's  stopper was beaten twice by Chris Belshaw in the space of a minute.
The first attempt saw Belly bulge the back of the net to head Harworth in front and the second skimmed narrowly wide of the upright.
Belshaw continued to be a thorn in the Brodsworth defences side, when he knocked a ball over them into the path of Tom Walker, but Dominic Senior had spotted the danger and ran from his line to claim the ball first.

Jordan Hardman combined with Gaz Sides down the right flank, who put over a measured cross for Craig Anderson, but the Broddy defence managed to get the ball away.
Shortly afterwards, Jordan Hardman went for goal himself, but his speculative 25 yard shot, err ... went a bit wide.
Brodsworth were keen to get back on level terms before the break and they almost were when Mark Vickerage, turned and shot narrowly wide on 43 minutes.
Harworth went straight back on the attack however and the last action of the first half was a long range dipping shot from Tom Walker that was a whisker away from doubling the visitors lead.
Half time - Brodsworth 0 v Harworth 1
Fingers crossed that the floodlights hold out this time.

The second half was only a few minutes old when Brodsworth's Steve Philips landed awkwardly after challenging for the ball and was unable to continue. He's a friend of a few of the Harworth lads and only livs across the road from Paul Burns and they were obviously upset to see him struggling.
Brad Maddison came on in place of Philips and Brodsworth reorganised their defence, but on 53 minutes Gaz Sides found a space in their rearguard and headed home a precision ball from Tom Walker, to put the visitors two ahead.
On the hour, in keeping with the trend for headed goals, Darren Fiedor came forward for a Jake Starbuck free kick and planted a free header into the Harworth goal. 1-2.

The visitors, knowing that Brodsworth now posed a real threat, went looking to restore their two goal lead. Gaz Sides shot was saved and Tom Padgett came very close to getting Harworth's third, but he put the ball wide of the target.

Craig Anderson had a great chance cleared off the line after Gaz Sides had played him in on goal. And Chris Belshaw's shot flew narrowly over after Tom Walker had played him in through the left channel.
Harworth were looking good now and finishing the game strongly.
Matt Smith looked lively when he came on from the bench, he was denied by Dominic Senior, down by the right post, when he tried turning a right wing cross from Gaz Sides home.
With five minutes to go, Tom Walker made a diagonal run across the Brodsworth box, he was going wide and just as he lined up to knock the ball into the six yard box, he was clattered from behind.
The referee, Wayne Gray blew up and pointed to the spot.
Brodsworth were up in arms, claiming that their man had got to the ball first.
However, it was a tackle from behind, in the penalty area and that is always likely to be a risky combination.
Walker's run had been impeded, in the penalty area, you could clearly hear the sound of both players boots rattling together and tackling from behind was outlawed several years ago.

So, applying the letter of the law, Mr Gray had no option but to award a penalty kick and, pardon the pun, was spot on with his decision. He also deserved a lot of credit for the calm and rational way he explained the situation to the players who spoke to him in the bar after the game. Likewise, the players who approached him, did so in a respectful and non confrontational way.
Gaz Sides stepped up and thumped the ball into the corner of the net and there was no way back for the much improved Brodsworth side now.
With two minutes remaining, the referee showed he was obviously a homer anyway ;-), when he booked Craig Anderson for a late challenge.
Today's win, propelled Harworth up to second in the table, two points behind AFC Mansfield.
The Bulls have games in hand, a plus 147 goal difference (a slight exaggeration) and Carl Haslam back from suspension next week.

But hey!
Little Harworth, the village team with 'nowt to spend, still keeping up with the front runners, as the season reaches it's midway point.
What a fantastic achievement that is in itself.
All the best Steve Philips, hope you have a speedy recovery.
   
Next up:
Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be at the Steve Asher Memorial Trophy game, between Grantham Town and Bottesford Town.