Post by slush on Oct 24, 2006 6:36:33 GMT
Stiffs pay for first half failings
Easington Utd Reserves 1 – 4 Northfield Athletic
THE Eastenders Reserves were brought crashing back down to earth as Northfield Athletic left Low Farm with all 3pts on the back of a convincing 4-1 success.
John Clarke’s side had been looking to build on their impressive win at Reckitts ahead of next week’s meeting with unbeaten leaders Old George.
But some shoddy defending in the opening half-hour allowed the ER Senior Country Cup holders to establish a three-goal lead and a stunning individual goal just two minutes into the second half effectively killed matters; this despite the visitors playing over half the game with ten men following a second yellow card to one of their number.
With Luke Jeffery having failed to recover from a knock sustained last weekend, Pasha Brown came in at right back, while Steve Eldon’s return to the nets was the only other change to the eleven which had brushed Reckitts aside the previous week. ‘Biff’ McNaught, Ricky Biglin and Stu Campbell formed the bench.
A poor start by the Eastenders enabled Northfield to get quickly into stride and they struck on five minutes; poor defending allowing them time and space inside the box to open the scoring.
Three minutes later only Eldon’s fingertip save to his left prevented it being 2-0 as Northfield again carved out a good shooting opportunity.
Hero of the previous week Darren Thompson should possibly have added to his season’s tally from Easington’s first real opening on 10mins but his lob over the stranded keeper was misdirected.
On 12mins it was Adam Metcalf’s turn to pass up an opportunity. A fine cross-field move involving Hooley, Cousins and Senior saw the ball arrive at Metcalf’s feet just to the right of goal but, with time and space, he sliced horribly wide.
While these moments gave the home support hope, the apparent lack of understanding at the opposite end was providing much cause for alarm.
And the locals were punished for more of the same on 25mins with a goal that summed up their day. First Cousins’ weak pass back towards goal failed to find Hooley, allowing the speedy Ben Davy to break and set up another opening for his centre-forward. When Eldon did really well to get down and block the first shot, the striker was still allowed to turn and tuck the rebound inside the near post with two Easington defenders having failed to cover the line.
The third came five minutes later after another swift break by Davy down the Northfield right, the ball being transferred swiftly between three players, leaving an easy finish from just inside the box.
Small signs of encouragement were evident just before half-time. Thompson was slightly unfortunate not to get better connection on Brown’s angled cross that caught the visitors’ defence flat-footed. Then the visitors saw their number reduced by a second yellow card for dissent.
If this, combined with a half-time rollicking from the boss was meant to provide a way back, it failed just two minutes after the restart when Davy simply toyed with the defence before sliding the ball past Eldon for a sublime goal.
And that was just about that. Having introduced Biglin at the break, Clarke also brought McNaught and Campbell into the fray in the vain hope of prompting a revival.
But despite plenty of effort and no shortage of promising openings, the final ball or quality finish was often sadly lacking from the Stiffs’ armoury.
When they did manage a worthwhile attempt on goal, the visitors’ stand-in keeper was equal to the task; that is until Campbell whipped home an excellent free kick just two minutes from time.
Easington: S Eldon, P Brown, M Hooley (R Biglin), C Senior (S Campbell), C Foster, D Campbell (A McNaught), A Metcalf, T McLaughlin, L Smith, D Thomson, J Cousins
Easington Utd Reserves 1 – 4 Northfield Athletic
THE Eastenders Reserves were brought crashing back down to earth as Northfield Athletic left Low Farm with all 3pts on the back of a convincing 4-1 success.
John Clarke’s side had been looking to build on their impressive win at Reckitts ahead of next week’s meeting with unbeaten leaders Old George.
But some shoddy defending in the opening half-hour allowed the ER Senior Country Cup holders to establish a three-goal lead and a stunning individual goal just two minutes into the second half effectively killed matters; this despite the visitors playing over half the game with ten men following a second yellow card to one of their number.
With Luke Jeffery having failed to recover from a knock sustained last weekend, Pasha Brown came in at right back, while Steve Eldon’s return to the nets was the only other change to the eleven which had brushed Reckitts aside the previous week. ‘Biff’ McNaught, Ricky Biglin and Stu Campbell formed the bench.
A poor start by the Eastenders enabled Northfield to get quickly into stride and they struck on five minutes; poor defending allowing them time and space inside the box to open the scoring.
Three minutes later only Eldon’s fingertip save to his left prevented it being 2-0 as Northfield again carved out a good shooting opportunity.
Hero of the previous week Darren Thompson should possibly have added to his season’s tally from Easington’s first real opening on 10mins but his lob over the stranded keeper was misdirected.
On 12mins it was Adam Metcalf’s turn to pass up an opportunity. A fine cross-field move involving Hooley, Cousins and Senior saw the ball arrive at Metcalf’s feet just to the right of goal but, with time and space, he sliced horribly wide.
While these moments gave the home support hope, the apparent lack of understanding at the opposite end was providing much cause for alarm.
And the locals were punished for more of the same on 25mins with a goal that summed up their day. First Cousins’ weak pass back towards goal failed to find Hooley, allowing the speedy Ben Davy to break and set up another opening for his centre-forward. When Eldon did really well to get down and block the first shot, the striker was still allowed to turn and tuck the rebound inside the near post with two Easington defenders having failed to cover the line.
The third came five minutes later after another swift break by Davy down the Northfield right, the ball being transferred swiftly between three players, leaving an easy finish from just inside the box.
Small signs of encouragement were evident just before half-time. Thompson was slightly unfortunate not to get better connection on Brown’s angled cross that caught the visitors’ defence flat-footed. Then the visitors saw their number reduced by a second yellow card for dissent.
If this, combined with a half-time rollicking from the boss was meant to provide a way back, it failed just two minutes after the restart when Davy simply toyed with the defence before sliding the ball past Eldon for a sublime goal.
And that was just about that. Having introduced Biglin at the break, Clarke also brought McNaught and Campbell into the fray in the vain hope of prompting a revival.
But despite plenty of effort and no shortage of promising openings, the final ball or quality finish was often sadly lacking from the Stiffs’ armoury.
When they did manage a worthwhile attempt on goal, the visitors’ stand-in keeper was equal to the task; that is until Campbell whipped home an excellent free kick just two minutes from time.
Easington: S Eldon, P Brown, M Hooley (R Biglin), C Senior (S Campbell), C Foster, D Campbell (A McNaught), A Metcalf, T McLaughlin, L Smith, D Thomson, J Cousins