BOROUGHBRIDGE 4 OSSETT COMMON ROVERS 0
It was déjà vu for Bridge as they again faced a side fighting for their Premier Division survival but on this occasion the margin of victory was an injustice to the contribution of the visitors who missed a raft of gilt edged opportunities in an oscillating contest. After only two minutes Bridge conceded a silly free kick which then worked in their favour as it was collected by Alastair Hogg, cleared upfield, flicked on by Ben Jones and Paul Eagling reacted the quicker to slot past the advancing Phil Wood and 10 minutes later the Ossett keeper was at fault when he let a cross from Jones slip through his grasp for the second. Minutes later Marc Keane was off target for the visitors before Ben Darville put an Eagling through ball wide of the mark and Danny Webster and Darville then combined to set up Jones who fired over from close range. In a mistake ridden, all action first half Hogg pouched a fierce Nicki Croisdale free kick with cow and banjo a fair analogy to describe the miss of the half by Mark Griffiths. Having escaped just ahead of the break Bridge gave the ball away straight afterwards but again Ossett failed to capitalize on a great opportunity as Johnny Brundred created space for himself only to miss the target from ten yards out. Webster twice tried to search out colleagues when in a better shooting position himself before the profligate Griffiths wasted another great opening and Sam Sweeney was denied by Hogg when clear on goal. The Bridge keeper then produced an excellent save from a 20 yard free kick that deflected off the wall but on 73 minutes the Ossett challenge dissipated when Eagling added his second following an astute Ben Mudd pass. Mistakes and chances continued with Eagling giving the score a flattering look with his hat trick and probably the best goal of the afternoon in the last minutes. Just like the first it was the quick thinking Bridge keeper who showed the simplicity of the game as he picked out Eagling with a precise clearance and the striker travelled twenty yards, drifted by two defenders, before drilling a left foot shot into the corner of Wood’s net.
MOM PAUL EAGLING