Wednesday 16 August 2017

Worksop Town 3 v Bridlington Town 2 - NCEL Prem

Wednesday 16th August 2017
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
at the Windsor Foodservice Stadium
Worksop Town (1) 3
Mark Simpson 28 Pen
Jake Currie 75, 87
Bridlington Town (2) 2
Fraser Papprill 16
Brett Agnew 40
Admission £5. Programme £1.50. Attendance 390
Wednesday night is 'Currie Night' on Babbage way... and some like it hot!
A draw would've been a fair result on the balance of the whole ninety minutes of play, but neither of these sides had any intention of settling for a point and Jake Currie's thunderbolt of a strike in the 87th minute was worthy of deciding any game.
I could go into superlative meltdown, describing just what a great advertisement tonight'a feast of football was for the NCEL, but I am sure that everyone present would agree that the quality of this fixture between two of the fancied clubs in this division spoke for itself.
Curtis Woodhouse conducts his pre-match team talk
Mitch Husbands went close, as early as the second minute, when he crashed a shot wide from the edge of the 'Brid' area. And moments later Michael Trench tested James Hitchcock with a low angled shot.
Having put on an entertaining sideshow with his 90 minute scrap against Maltby's  Lee Hill on Saturday, it was obvious that Steve Wankiewicz was going to right in the thick of it again (and he wouldn't have it any other way), when Brett Agnew clattered into him, to lay down his gauntlet for the the night. A challenge that the solid centre half was only too happy to accept.
Fraser Papprill opened the scoring and drew first blood  for the visitors, when he squeezed Joel Sutton's header past Jon Kennedy, via a slight deflection in the sixteenth minute.
A respectful minutes silence in memory of Brian Hardy
Jake Day went close to doubling the Seasiders lead shortly afterwards, but Wankiewicz had tracked his run and cleared his lines with a no nonsense interception, while shooting the 'Brid' number ten a look that suggested he shouldn't try that sort of thing on in his vicinity.
A Tigers attack broke down and Hitchcock collected the ball, but the linesam had spotted an off the ball infringement and beckoned to the referee, who after consulting with his assistant, awarded a penalty and cautioned Jack Walters for pushing Jake Currie in the chest.
Mark Simpson kept up his goal per game ratio for the Tigers, with an emphatically struck spot kick.
"Didn't he use this photo on Saturday too!?"
Sutton lobbed the ball over the Worksop defence for Agnew to run onto, but he drilled his shot straight at Kennedy. But the same two players struck again five minutes before the break, when Sutton played Agnew in on goal with a defence splitting diagonal pass on the prolific striker shot across Kennedy and his low, precise strike,nestled just inside the right hand post. Sutton almost claimed a goal for himself when his long range free kick whizzed just past the top left stancheon of the Tigers goal and right on the stroke of half time, Jack Walters long free kick caught Kennedy off his line and he had to back pedal at speed to tip the ball away.
HT: Tigers 1 v Seasiders 2
Worksop came out for the second half looking as if they had all had a couple of cans of Lucozade Sport and three Shredded Wheat apiece as they raised the tempo and took the game to their visitors.
Agnew showed that he is just as adept at defending as he is terrorising opposition defences, when he headed Steve Woolley's right wing corner away, with the Tigers big guns moving in.
Wankiewicz found the back of the net from Woolley's right wing free kick, but the whistle had already sounded for a foul before 'Vank' had even reached the ball.
Kennedy did well to turn the ball away out of the top corner of his net from Agnew's header, while Day fired over on the half volley from Sutton's right wing delivery.
Trench took a return ball from Simpson and unleashed a twenty five yard shot towards the 'Brid' goal, but Tim Taylor put himself in the way and the visitors cleared.
Simpson made a mazy run into the Seasiders area, seeing off two challenges in his wake, but his shot was deflected past the right hand post.
But Simpson was on hand to set up the opportunity for Jake Currie to equalise from twelve yards, after the Tigers had broke forward swiftly from end to end to even the game up.
Wankiewicz headed narrowly wide from Jack Barnett's cross and it looked to all intents and purposes as if this lively and entertaining game was going to finish two apiece.
Bridlington closed their ranks and snubbed out a late Worksop attack, but the loose ball fell to Currie just outside the area and... CRASH! By heck lad, he banjoed that ****er and no mistake. The Tigers number nine had won the game with one hell of a strike. You don't stop them!
FT: Worksop Town 3 v Bridlington Town 2
A spider colony in the roof of the stand.
Well, we found them interesting.
Both sides were roundly applauded off the pitch for the part they had played in a great game of football. 'Brid' will be disappointed not to have taken at least a point tonight, but Worksop's second half comeback and Currie's sublime winning goal was deserving of the result... albeit a very close run thing. 
I enjoyed that.