Retford United 1 v Armthorpe Welfare 1 - PSF

Wednesday 25th July 2018
Pre Season Friendly
at Cannon Park
Retford United (0) 1
Ryan Smyth 84
Armthorpe Welfare (0) 1
Jason Crsip 89 pen
Admission £4

Tonight marked the second time that I've seen both of these sides play so far this season... and come full time, I've still yet to see either of them win a game.

Armthorpe took to the field, sans any kind of numbering on their shirts, which kind of made player recognition awkward at times. 

But quite a few of them were familiar from round and about... so I'll stop making feeble excuses for what is likely to be a piss poor representation of the nights action and grossly inaccurate overview and soldier on.

Adam Stevens in the visitors goal commands his area well and Armthorpe have pulled off a bit of a coup signing young Leon Loftus to play in a wide defensive role. He's one player that I certainly expected to see plying his trade at a higher level than the NCEL first division this season, but he's still got time on his side to apply himself and move up to a higher grade, if that's what he wants to do. Whether on not that will be with Armthorpe, who will be looking to regain their NCEL Premier Division status this season remains to be seen.

Former Welfare keeper Liam Copley played in goal for the Badgers tonight, with Liam Bennett playing a deep defensive role in front of him to nullify the omnipresent threat of Darren Mansaram who was leading the front line for the visitors, but finding it difficult to create very much in the way of clear cut chances due to the 'combativeness' of his marker.

It was Bennett who almost broke the deadlock, ghosting in on the Welfare defence's blind side, but heading just past the wrong side of the post. 

Ben Castele and Ollie Lawrence were looking good for United, linking the defence with their attackers and on tonight's evidence, this combination could be a hit for the Cannon Park outfit, especially once Castele gets used to his midfield teammates and brings them into the game more, because at present his unfamiliar surroundings are probably the reason for him hanging onto the ball for a shade longer than he needs to. I'm sure that Reece Wesley, the assistant manager of this manor, will soon have him distributing the ball forward early, just like he used to do when he was a cultured Libero at the heart of a fearsome and hard as nails Maltby Main rearguard.

Alan Jackson tried his luck with a shot at the Retford goal from outside the area and Jordan Buckham headed wide when the ball ricocheted kindly in front of him.

It was the diminutive Jack Walters who came closest to breaking the deadlock before half time, when he attempted to lob Stevens from fifteen yards out, only to see his audacious attempt land on the top of the net.  

The visitors ought to have done better with a couple of chances beneath the shadow of the Badgers crossbar, but alas, amid the melee I couldn't tell you who missed either, or even both of those half decent chances, due to the lack of shirt numbers. 

HT: Retford United 0 v Armthorpe Welfare 0

As the midfield became ever more congested after the break, the vibe that this game was giving off, strongly suggested that it was probably going to finish nil-nil; especially when several players seemed to think that kicking each other was more infinitely more interesting than sorting out a few simmering flash points by asserting themselves on the ball.
But hey! What benefits would either side get out of a game of tippy-tappy football, stroking passes around at walking pace and barely ever putting a tackle in? Football in the real world isn't like that... and this was a far better way of preparing for the rough and tumble that starts again for real, any time soon, when industrial sized tackles and brute force become the norm again in the NCEL and CMFL.

Amongst several stop/start moments, that the match officials were dealing with in remarkably calm and restrained manner... for the most part.
As the clock ticked down, just after Armthorpe's travelling 'ultra', the infamous 'Acker' had shouted to the referee that he should get a couple of players some boxing gloves so that they could settle their differences properly, a game of football suddenly broke out... and with just six minutes remaining, Ryan Smyth took a 'Wesley-esque' knock forward down with an exquisite first touch and curled a peach of a shot round the Welfare's second half keeper to put the home side in front.
Ironnically, just moments before Smyth's self created strike, a disparaging Badgers fan had been moaning that his local team didn't look like scoring because they didn't have anybody up front who could finish.

But inside the final minute, one of those blokes in the red shirt without numbers on the back delivered a floating free kick towards the left hand post, where two similarly attired gentlemen were waiting to add a finishing touch... but they were denied by Matt Hancock who stuck up his right arm and handled the ball, before going over awkwardly on his ankle. Talk about taking one for the team!
But as he laid receiving treatment off of the pitch, Jason Crisp stepped forward and beat Copley from the penalty spot.
And that was that... there was no time for any more action and all told the draw was probably a fair result.
FT: Retford United 1 v Armthorpe Welfare 1

All told, a game that was probably a more competitive and physical battle than I'd anticipated, but if nothing else, both teams will now know who can be relied on to stand up and be counted when the going gets tough.

Hopefully Matt Hancock isn't as seriously hurt as he appeared to be... get well soon Matt!