Tuesday 29th September 2020
Pitching In, Northern Premier League, Premier Division
at the Martin & Co. Arena/ Northolme
Gainsborough Trinity (2) 5
Rod Orlando-Young 7, 10, 62, 83
Kamarl Grant 54
Whitby Town (1) 1
Jacob Hazel 45+1
Attendance: 421
"Will the real Gainsborough Trinity please stand up?" might've been the question on the lips of the Northolme faithful as darkness fell on this splendidly preserved time-capsule of a former Football League ground tonight. If it was, then over the course of the following ninety plus minutes, herein was the illuminating answer and irrefutable evidence that in spite of having suffered the ignominy of back to back three-nil defeats, as work continues apace to chop and change this Holy Blues side and mould them into a fighting unit in preparation for the long haul of the season ahead, things have started to take a turn for the better.
I can't imagine for a single moment that there was a single Trinity supporter present tonight, who left at full time feeling anything other than greatly enthused by the display that they had just witnessed.
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| No programmes or team sheets issued at the Northolme, until further notice. |
It would be easy to assume from looking at the full time match details above, that this overview of the game could've been subtitled "The Rod Orlando-Young Show" and it would be fair to say that the hosts number eleven was unplayable at times, but... Curtis Woodhouse's side had stand out players all over the park tonight, not least in the shape of the defensive youngster, Londoner: Kamarl Grant, whose eye-catching skill and fearless, confident approach to any given situation he came up against was quite awe-inspiring at times... and to top it all off, the loanee from Sheffield United, weighed in with a debut goal tonight too.
By rule of thumb, central defenders in the Northern Premier League win the ball and get it as far away from the danger zone as is humanly possible in double quick time, Grant however was adept at playing the ball out in an assured manner and distributing it effectively with seemingly consummate ease.
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| The Northolme's got a smile on it's face tonight |
But hey! 'When the going gets tough'... a week is long time in football and the well oiled cogs have been in overdrive behind the scenes, as moves have been made and players shifted about to address the needs required to amend the 'holy-blueprint'.
Luke Lofts danced through a trio of Whitby defenders on the right hand side of the area with all of the choreographed aplomb of Babs Lord cutting some shapes to Gilbert O'Sullivan's 'Get Down' in her prime, but had probably made himself dizzy in the process as he steered his shot into the side netting.
One swallow doesn't make a spring, but this performance raised the bar and put down a marker for the level of application and tempo that is going to be required to stay amongst the runners, riders and pacesetters this term.
Luke Lofts threaded a pass down the left-flank to Orlando-Young who tore forward and put the hosts ahead in the seventh minute with a well-weighted knock across the face of Shane Bland's goal, that went in via the far post. The livewire number eleven then doubled the hosts lead just under three minutes later, when he chased the ball past the advancing Bland, who'd had to come tearing out of his area in an attempt to make a last ditch clearance only to find that Jameel Ible had defected to the Gainsborough cause, as he headed the ball past the Whitby keeper, allowing Orlando-Young to run on and roll a shot just inside the left hand upright.
As the home crowd erupted at this 'a star is born' turn of events, the pragmatic cynic stood to the left of me said: "Bloomin' heck, that one nearly went wide... watch us throw this away and get a draw now!" Ah, the voice of dyed in the wool experience, raised on watching games from that exact spot in the ground, right by the touchline, since the days that Neil Warnock was still a lad... and a Trinity player.
Lofts' near miss, or that strange sound emitting from the PA speakers at intermittent intervals throughout the night, seemed to wake the visitors up and they started to get a foothold of their own, as James Martin and Jacob Hazel both went close to halving the deficit. Mackenzie Heaney's dipping free kick, was tipped away by Tom Jackson, who'd done well to reach the ball and deserved the large slice of luck that presented itself when Danny Rowe blazed his shot wide off the rebound.
In first half stoppage time, Hazel's close range header forced the ball just inside the post as Trinity failed to clear Heaney's right wing corner, which set the second half up nicely, as Mr Pragmatic grumbled, "Three-two to them now I reckon"... Ye, of little faith.
HT: Holy Blues 2 v Sea - Sea - Seasiders 1
Grant ghosted in to meet Martyn Woolford's right wing flag kick with a downward header to restore Trinity's two coal cushion and four minutes later, the visitors were reduced to ten men when Jonny Burn was sent-off for having been shown a second yellow card... it had been coming, as Burn had been 'competitively' putting himself about, sans very much assistance from several of his teammates in respect of him being the one that had to get a foot in and do all of 'firm but borderline fair' un-anaesthetic stuff. He's the sort of player that you'd want in your starting eleven every week... and was sorely missed by Whitby following his early departure.
Trinity almost scored what would've been a fluke goal, albeit a painful one, when Jassem Sukar's hooked clearance hit Tyler Harrison in the face and rebounded past the post.
Whitby had more chances in the game, mostly through the lively but ultimately frustrated Hazel, who was actually briefly registered by Gainsborough Trinity four years ago... and Marcus Giles put the ball wide when he was well placed to score.
But Orlando-Young still had unfinished business and after collecting a sideways knock from Lofts, who'd be put away by lengthy pass by Reco Fyfe, he paused momentarily then picked his spot and rolled the ball past Bland.
In the final analysis it was a surprise that Lofts and Fyfe weren't among the goals tonight, because they had both been creating havoc in the final third... and Fyfe was inches away from claiming one for himself as his half-volley cleared the crossbar.
It was Orlando-Young, who else!? That finally grabbed the fifth and final Trinity goal of the night when Matt Dixon rolled the ball down the right flank to Lewis Dennison whose pinpoint cross found the new cult hero of the Carlisle Street terrace, who nodded the ball home from close range.
Fyfe had an opportunity in the closing stages, when Dennison delivered another decent cross, but the Holy Blues number nine got under the ball and skied it high and wide.
I had the final touch of the ball tonight, when I booted that one back into the ground while I was walking back to my car.
FT: Gainsborough Trinity 5 v Whitby Town 1
Whitby now travel to Warrington at the weekend, which is of course where Trinity were beaten on Saturday afternoon.
Gainsborough themselves have got the weekend off, which is typical at a time when they've got some momentum going and the confidence born out of a decent performance to build on... they face Nantwich Town at the Northolme next Tuesday night now.
Enjoy your football, stay safe... and happy birthday Lauren, I'm glad you won the raffle tonight after donating so generously at AFC Mansfield last week.
