Swallownest 3 v Chesterfield 1 - WVH NMU19L

Thursday 3rd November 2016

Worksop Van Hire North Midland U19 League

at the Swall Siro, Rotherham Road, Swallownest

Swallownest (1) 3

Dale Featherstone 5

Joe Parkin 70

Louis Ballard 90+2

Chesterfield (0) 1

Owen Murphy 53

Click on team sheets to enlarge

Swallownest stretched their unbeaten run for the season to five games, out of five starts, to finish the night sitting comfortably in second place in the WVH NMU19L (North) table.
The home side got off the mark after just five minutes, when an attack down the Spireites left flank pulled the Derbyshire side's defence all over the place and as Jazz Crane left his line to assist with his side's desperate rearguard action, it left the goal wide open for Dale Featherstone to open the scoring, from close range, as he side footed a pass from Louis Ballard into the back of the net.

If you didn't know otherwise prior to kick off and were asked to speculate on which of these sides was connected to a Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League side and which represented an EFL League One club, you could have been forgiven for thinking that the team in blue were from Chesterfield... but they weren't
'Swall' were dominant in the first half and the Spireites goal led a bit of a charmed life at times, but the home side only had a single goal lead to take in at half time, despite their non-stop up-tempo work rate.

Ironically, it was only after the visitors started to apply themselves slightly more, following the introduction of the impressive Owen Murphy in the second half, that Swallownest applied the finishing touches, to a job well done.
The South Yorkshire side almost doubled their lead, just minutes after Featherstone had opened the scoring, when Aaron Boardman stooped to get his head on Ballard's cross, but the ball skimmed over the bar.
Tom Gardiner looked to stand his ground as he fronted up to Junior Gama as he advanced on the right wing and was left red faced as Gama drilled a precision pass through the Spireites full back's legs for Featherstone that Ollie Rowley had to clear at the expense of a corner.

Ben Tunnicliffe tried to get some momentum going for the visitors through the left channel, but was stopped in his tracks by firm but fair tackle by Boardman, who was excelling out on the right for 'Swall'.
Freddie Russell made himself some space on the left hand side of the visitors penalty area and wasn't far away from doubling the lead as his angled shot fizzed over the bar.
Luke Kocura combined with Joe Parkin and the live-wire Gama, as the home side passed the ball around quickly and made their opponents look decidedly ordinary.

Besides dealing with the home side's threat on the floor Crane also had to be alert to deal with a number of long throw ins from Danny Cook, aimed for the six yard box.
Featherstone crashed a twenty yard shot just past the left hand upright while Cook saw his effort from the left hand side of the area deflected wide.
The Spireites pushed forward and forced a corner, but 'Swall' defended well and cleared the ball forward to Parkin who raced forward and drew Crane from his line, but planted his shot wide.
The linesman's flag was already up when Jack Hood pulled off a great save from Jack Varley and when Owen Murphy netted off the rebound, his strike was ruled out.
HT: Swall 1 v Spireites 0

Wot! No Granville!?

'Twas good to catch upwith the Nostell massive tonight.

Swallownest came out all guns blazing from the restart, with Featherstone and Ballard combining to set up Gama twelve yards from goal, bur he was thwarted by Crane.
Since coming on as a substitute for the visitors in the first half, Murphy had looked a cut above all of his team mates as an attacking threat and they certainly weren't embarrassed about adopting a horses for courses direct approach to the game, hitting searching long balls towards their number 15 at each and every available opportunity.
Hood came off of his line and forced Murphy to run wide and with no other Chesterfield players in the home sides half he was forced into shooting from to acute an angle to keep the ball on target.

But Murphy was soon advancing on the home side's goal again, chasing another lengthy pass into his path, but when he nudged the ball past the advancing Hood, the 'Swall' keeper managed to drop to his right and get a hand to the ball to maintain his side's lead.
Having absorbed a spell of pressure from the Spireites the home side pushed forward and won a free kick out on the right wing. The ball found it's way through to Josh Billson, who couldn't quite keep his shot on target as he leaned slightly backwards and cleared the bar with a half volley.
Having had a let off at one end the visitors went straight down the other one from the goal kick and equalised in the fifty eighth minute as Murphy stooped to connect with a sweeping left wing cross and headed the ball past Hood.

The visitors almost turned the game on it's head when Gardiner's free kick cleared the bar, but Swallownest brushed themselves down and regained control in the seventieth minute, when, amid a flurry of activity in the Chesterfield goalmouth, the visitors struggled to clear their lines and Parkin thumped the ball through the narrowest of gaps to regain the lead.

Jamie Knox planted a free header inches wide of the upright and Gama spanked a twenty yard shot over the bar as Chesterfield only half cleared a corner into his path.

The referee David Hunt waved away the home side's penalty appeals as Ballard's goal bound shot hit Tom Kinlin's arm, but the offence was judged as unintentional... even though it had prevented a goal being scored.

Chesterfield countered, but Murphy, with the goal at his mercy, miscued his shot, with the clock ticking down.

Parkin and Ballard both went close as the home side pushed forward looking to cement their win, but two minutes into stoppage time, perhaps in an act of karma for the unawarded penalty a couple of minutes before, Ballard gambled on a run as Danny Cook knocked the ball towards the left hand side of the visitors area and Kinlin completely mistimed his attempted clearance and left the 'Swall' number 10 with a clear route to goal and he emphatically dispatched the ball past Crane to make it three-one.
The final action took place in the home side's goalmouth, when, in the ninety fourth minute, Gardiner's long free kick was flicked on, but Hood collected the ball and any faint hopes that the Spreites had of clawng their way back into the game were gone.
FT: Swallownest U19 3 v Chesterfield U19 1