Handsworth Parramore 6 v Clipstone 0 - NCEL Prem

I know I am, I'm sure I am, I'm H.A.P.P.Y!

Thursday 21st April 2015
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
at the Windsor Foodservice Stadium
Handsworth Parramore (3) 6
Gareth Griffiths 8, 48
Kieran Wells 38, 42
Jon Froggatt 83
Alex Rippon 88
Clipstone (0) 0
Admission £5. Programme £1.50. Attendance 123

A text message I received during the game read:
"There doesn't look to be many there mate, same as last night again?"
Six more actually! But not everybody has got the time, spare cash and inclination to watch football every single night of the week, now the weather is playing ball and allowing clubs to catch up with their fixture backlogs.... just sad, dandruff flecked, lonely and severely unfashionable anorak wearing cheese rangers like me.
Besides, I could've countered that message, by saying that at least Handsworth Parramore and Maltby Main announce 100% genuine and honest attendance figures, unlike some, who quite blatantly don't.
There is only one team in this division, that is guaranteed to get a size-able following both home and away and they play the majority of their games, as tenants, at this very ground.

After last night's turn of events at Maltby, the onus is on Handsworth (and Cleethorpes) to focus on winning their remaining games and they fulfilled that remit tonight, to keep the pressure on Tadcaster, against an opposition side from whom you never quite know what you are going to get.
In the words of the host club, this was a potential banana skin.
As it turned out, the margin of victory was a very comfortable one, even though the visitors could perhaps have pointed to a couple of mistakes that the referee made at pivotal moments of the game. Not that the Cobras would have scored half a dozen goals themselves as a consequence of Chris Akers, the match referee, visiting Spec-Savers en route to the ground tonight, so the Ambers would've won anyway.

The home side sounded their intentions early on, when Ash Burbeary went close with a shot from outside the area.
Clipstone were then forced onto the back foot when Danny Buttle crossed for Kieran Wells to knock the ball to Steve Warne who in turn laid it sideways to Tom Claisse and when the visitors defence blocked his shot the ball rebounded to Simon Harrison who strucjk a first time shot over the crossbar.
Buttle played another teasing cross into the six yard box and Ellis Wall needed to put the ball behind because two Parramore players had got between Steve Hernandez and the cross at the near post.
But the home side opened the scoring from the resulting corner, when Gareth Griffiths rose to nod Buttle's corner into the back of the net.

Alec Denton came close to equalising almost immediately, but David Ratcliffe who is deputising for 'Archie' Sneath in his absence, made light work of collecting the ball, with an assured catch from what was his first touch.
Burbeary was well placed to get in between Richard Patterson's cross and Alec Denton and he was involved again shortly afterwards when he turned Liam Royles cross away at the expense of another corner. 'Burbs' is proving to be a great signing for the Parras.
James Ashmore planted a trademark dead ball delivery in to Nicky Walker, but his shot was charged down by Connor Smythe.
The home side were absorbing a lot of pressure for a while and on the balance of play around the midway point of the first half, you wouldn't have predicted a 6-0 drubbing was on the cards for Billy Fox's side.

Denton shot over from Walker's knock back after Royles had put in a great cross from out on the right and Ellis Wall came even closer, when a Cobras corner was cleared and the ball fell to him 20 yards out, but Ratcliffe tipped his spanking shot over.
Amid no small amount of controversy, the visitors had a goal disallowed that would have levelled things up, when Ashmore's long range shot was parried by Ratcliffe and Salt who was following the flight of the ball knocked it over the line. The goal was scored when the ball came off of an opposition player and to compound matters Salt wasn't offside when Ratcliffe touched it. It was a bad call by the referee in my humble opinion.
Handsworth decided that Clipstone had been having far too much fun for their liking and somewhat against the run of play, the man of the moment Keiran Wells knocked the stuffing out of a very useful looking 'Clipo' side, with a two goal salvo inside four minutes.

Ratcliffe's long clearance bounced in front of Hernandez on the edge of his area, Wells went up with him and nodded the ball over the visitors keeper, before running on and knocking the ball into the open goal.
Some of the Clipstone fans seemed to think Wells had fouled their goalie, but the ball was there to go for and much as I regard 'Nando' as a good mate, Wells did nothing wrong.
the 'Ginger Assassin' bagged a second goal shortly afterwards, when Chris Salt blocked two of his shots on the line, but couldn't do anything about the third one.
Just before half time Salt did enough to restrict Froggatt to a tame header from Buttles left wing cross and Hernandez took the catch easily.
HT: Handsworth Parramore 3 v Clipstone 0

In spite of their very good showing in the first half, the game was as good as over for Clipstone, just three minutes after the interval.

Wells collected the ball from a throw in and Patterson had to intervene to prevent him from shooting and in doing so, he knocked the ball out of play. 

Clipstone allowed Buttle's corner to travel all the way through to Griffiths at the back post, who put the ball just inside the upright to all but sew up the game for the home side.

Michael Trench was having a full on one versus one personal duel with Burbeary from his left back berth and 'chatting' non stop to the linesman out on that side, but it was amusing enough stuff for the most part.

Froggatt headed yet another Buttle delivery over the bar, with Wells possibly standing close by, unmarked and better placed. But a strikers instincts are to go for goal and be selfish, so you can't knock him for that.

Ashmore picked out Salt with a decent ball from out on the right flank, but when the rangy centre half got his header on target and Ratcliffe stretched his fingertips to help it over the bar, the referee awarded a goal kick.

It wasn't going to make any difference with the score already being 4-0, but I would suspect that Mr C Akers will not be getting a Xmas card from the Clipstone FC committee this year.

Hernandez saved Burbeary's free kick down by his right hand post, after the Handsworth number 7 had been nudged by Patterson as they both chased the ball shoulder to shoulder.

Will Eades blocked an attempted shot by Walker and when the rebound dropped to Ashmore he shot over the bar and onto the roof of the stand.

Burbeary set the ball in motion when he passed the ball forward to Luke Fletcher who knocked a defence splitting ball through to Simon Harrison whose ball across the face of goal was met by Froggatt as he dived to head in Handsworth's fifth goal.

Trench was shown a straight red card when he went in on Warne with his studs showing. He was clearly frustrated and agitated by some of the match officials decisions earlier in the game, but with the Notts Senior Cup Final at the home of football (Mansfield Town) less than two weeks away, the timing of his suspension couldn't be any worse... especially for an unnecessary challenge so late in a game where the score is already 5-0 

To rub salt into Clipstone's wounds, from the resulting free kick, Burbeary aimed the ball to the far post where Alex Rippon forced it over the line to make it 6-0 with just two minutes to go.

FT: Handsworth Parramore 6 v Clipstone 0

Ellis, ask your mate to stop playing with his bits

Although there is no doubt that the match officials made several wrong calls, Handsworth demonstrated tonight how to rise above all of the shouting and finger pointing and just get on with the game. 

So credit where it is due. 

They're using a very canny rota of squad rotation to get them through the backlog of games and resting players once they've made a telling contribution. 

The Ambers are unmoved by any other team's plight or results and Micky Godber, Mark Ward and the unsung hero Steve Smith are doing a grand job of keeping their players focusing solely on their own destiny.