Bridge Close Gap on local Rivals

Boroughbridge AFC 3, Knaresborough Town 2

West Yorkshire Premier League – 09.02.08

Boroughbridge were able to hold on to resist a Knaresborough fightback in a pulsating encounter at Aldborough Road on Saturday. Although the main talking point will undoubtedly be the double dismissal in the dying minutes, it should not be allowed to distract from a thoroughly entertaining match played at a high tempo throughout. Coming into the game from a very encouraging performance against League leaders Carlton, Knaresborough would have fancied their chances against a Bridge side without a League win since the last meeting of the two in late November. It was no surprise therefore that Knaresborough flew out of the traps and forced the early pace as is so often the case in these encounters. For the first ten minutes they looked capable of sweeping aside Bridge, yet were restricted to a solitary early strike by Liam Gray from outside the box which failed to threaten Alastair Hogg’s goal. It was somewhat a surprise therefore when Bridge took the lead in the tenth minute. Andy Layton’s cross from the left wing was left alone by Knaresborough keeper Gareth Dight but met at the far post by Danny Webster who got under the ball and saw his header come back off the bar, where Paul Eagling was waiting to bundle the ball into the net.

That signalled a period of much more equal possession, as Knaresborough inevitably dropped their pace allowing Bridge to gain a degree of control over the game that looked unlikely in the early minutes. The fact that the lead remained as a single goal was more down to a reluctance to pull the trigger when in scoring positions, both Eagling and Layton laying off the ball when well placed to shoot. Bridge received a warning shot on the half hour when a Tyson foul in the box went unpunished by the referee, but the back four looked solid and in command, half time arriving without much further drama, despite some impressive wing play from the visitors. Manager Daz Ekin seemed disappointed that his forwards had failed to further trouble the nervous looking Dight, but could take heart from the way his team had weathered the early onslaught.

Half Time – Boroughbridge AFC 1, Knaresborough Town 0

If Knaresborough had hoped to put Bridge under early second half pressure their plan was blown away in the 50th minute, when a Danny Purvis free kick from deep on the right wing dropped into the six yard box at the far post, where the onrushing Joe Beston made no mistake in heading the ball firmly into the back of the net to double the lead and give a degree of breathing space. The chance to extend the lead further seemed to arrive three minutes later when Eagling was sent sprawling in the area, but again referee Foster waived away what seemed a certain penalty to even up the Knaresborough claims from the first half. The tempo of the first half carried over too, and chances for both sides began to appear, but Knaresborough seemed to be restricted to long range efforts, Steve Davey and Alex Carter both having attempts before Hogg was forced into a fine save from Davey to keep his net intact. At the other end, Baz O’Neill turned an Eagling cross over the bar from close range, yet O’Neill made up for it shortly after on 65 minutes by running hard up the left wing before dropping a perfect cross into the path of Chris Stephenson whose looping header evaded Dight to give the home side a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead. The joy was short lived though, as Steve Coghlin was judged to have fouled in the Bridge area and within a minute Knaresborough had reduced the deficit from the spot, Matty Thompson’s firmly struck ball low to the right leaving Hogg a stationery spectator. This was the signal for Knaresborough to regroup and pick up the pressure to the levels of the opening minutes. Following a low shot from Steve Wilkinson which Hogg did well to tip round the post, Liam Gray saw his long range effort strike the bar and it seemed that time was running out for the visitors. With only six minutes to go though, Hogg was unable to hold the ball from a Knaresborough attack and McGivern was able to turn it in to set up what promised to be a frenetic conclusion. Two of the combatants had other ideas though, the referee judging that Davey had retaliated too harshly following an incident with Coghlin, and after consulting with his assistant, both players were despatched for an early shower. The delay in sorting out the confrontation seemed to disrupt Knaresborough more than Bridge, and Daz Ekin threw on Richard Donohoe in place of Charles Walbrook (himself a 64th minute substitute with Marcus Philpott for Webster and Purvis). After nearly four minutes of added time referee Foster blew to signal the end of a fascinating match that was a tremendous advert for the West Yorkshire Premier League irrespective of the closing scenes, and allowing the home side to close to within two points of their neighbours with two games in hand. For the visitors, they might feel that they should have completed an amazing recovery but were denied by the clock. The Man of the Match was rightly judged as Hogg who was commanding in goal and displayed fine skills in his shot stopping abilities. Manager Daz Ekin was rightly bullish about his hopes for the rest of the season and Bridge can now look forward to another derby away at Ripon on Saturday week.

Full Time – Boroughbridge AFC 3, Knaresborough Town 2

Man of Match – Alastair Hogg

Boroughbridge AFC – A Hogg, B Clayton, S Coghlin, C Stephenson, J Beston, M Tyson, D Webster, A Layton, B O’Neill, P Eagling, D Purvis. Subs – M Philpott, C Walbrook, R Donohoe
Goal Scorers – Eagling 10, Beston 50, Stephenson 65.

Knaresborough Town – G Dight, M Pearson, D Thomas, A Carter, J Harding, L Gray, A Kent, M Thompson, S Davey, J Bradley, C Hastings. Subs – F Lancaster, J McGivern, S Wilkinson
Goal Scorers – Thompson (Pen) 66, McGivern 84.