HOWDEN CLOUGH 3 BOROUGHBRIDGE 2
After starting their campaign with an excellent victory Bridge finished it in the opposite fashion with a disappointing result that in many ways was a manifestation of their season, some good some bad but in between too many inconsistent displays. Bridge began the game positively and created several good chances which they failed to convert and then went through a crazy ten minutes of defensive disarray only for the home forwards to be equally profligate with their shooting. This pattern continued until the 38th minute when Joe Kensitt took advantage of yet another mistake to put Howden ahead but a minute before half time Paul Eagling collected an Andy Layton through ball to coolly slot home the equaliser. In the second half Bridge again dominated the early chances with Eagling, Nick Murphy and Danny Webster all off the mark before the usually reliable Paul Vincent failed to hit the target from the penalty spot. In the 65th minute it was Howden’s turn, in the form of Dayne Laycock, to shoot wide from the penalty spot and then, after Bridge missed three one on one chances, Kyle Laycock put the home side back in front via a Steve Tovey deflection. Murphy and Eagling combination set up Danny Webster with the equaliser in the 86th minute, Paul Eagling blazed over from six yards two minutes later and with time just about up on the clock Bridge still had one more calamity in their locker which was gratefully accepted by Dominic Verity. Sam Mellor made three excellent saves for his side during the course of the game but those apart a conservative estimate of ten eight in Bridge’s favour would reflect the number of schoolboy opportunities that went begging.
MOM MARCUS PHILPOTT