Boroughbridge 2, Beeston St Anthonys 3

Goals conceded in stoppage time at the end of both halves condemned Boroughbridge to a third straight defeat in an incident filled game which they will feel should have been won. With Daz Ekin in charge for the first time this season, ‘Bridge should take heart though from a bright performance which on most occasions would have earned them all three points.

A brisk opening spell saw little of real danger from either side, but a great piece of opportunism after 24 minutes saw Lewis Whittaker catch Beeston keeper Codd  off guard with a 30 yard volley to open the scoring, a lead which was to last only 8 minutes, Sean Jeavons driving home from 12 yards to level as the home defence failed to clear. This was immediately followed by the first controversial moment of the game. Almost from the restart, Danny Purves surged along the right wing, delivering a lovely cross which was met by Ben Darville, but he saw his header come back off the bar. The ball was played back out to Paul Eagling who made no mistake with his shot, however the referee’s assistant flagged for offside and the referee disallowed the goal. Further controversy followed as Steve Tovey was the recipient of an elbow during another attack, but the officials saw nothing, certainly not a penalty, the only punishment being a yellow card to ‘Bridge captain Paul Vincent as the arguments raged. The half was becoming indisciplined, and ‘Bridge keeper Alastair Hogg was lucky to stay on the pitch following a tussle with Brennan, both players seeing yellow but only after a long discussion by all three officials. The last meaningful action of the half was provided by Lee Parker of Beeston, who shrugged off his markers near the penalty spot to leave ‘Bridge trailing at the break.

Beeston started well at the start of the second half, Parker, Brennan and Young all having chances, but the home side were in control, and began to dominate although without reward. As it looked like time might run out, a good delivery from a left wing free kick by Marcus Philpott was flicked on by Mark Tyson and Darville drove the ball home from 6 yards to restore parity. A lengthy delay whilst Hogg received treatment ensured that the second half would be a long one, and there was enough time for another refuted penalty claim from Bridge, followed by a second yellow and red card for Beeston’s Brennan. What most would consider the turning point though came as ‘Bridge were pushing hard, as Eagling connected with a Vincent cross, but amazingly his shot blazed over from only 3 yards. He later said he believed he was being closely marked; his “marker” was in fact his team mate Darville following him in. This was in the 87th minute, and quite predictably, the action switched to the other end of the park, Beeston being awarded an injury time penalty for a handball by Philpott,  Jeavons making no mistake from the spot to steal all three points.

Goals : Whittaker 24 (1-0); Jeavons 32 (1-1); Parker 45+1 (1-2); Darville 73 (2-2); Jeavons pen 90+1 (2-3)

BAFC MOM : Lewis Whittaker