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11th August 2007
Gateshead Leam Lane 2 - 1 Gillford Park
Gillford Parks life in the Premier Division of the Northern Alliance got
off to an unsettled start after delays on the A69 slowed their eastward
progress and there was only thirty-minutes to kick off by the time of
their arrival.
With the co-operation of our hosts Gateshead Leam Lane, who were also
embarking on a new career in the Alliances pinnacle competition having
finished second last season under the guise of Wallsend, the match referee
Mr Steven Howland Scott delayed kick off and the game started ten minutes
after the scheduled 2.30pm.
Gateshead, resplendent in a new yellow and green home kit mirroring their
junior hosts pressured direct from kick-off and with few minutes on the
clock the referee showed little discretion to award the home side a
free-kick for a minor offence. The set-piece, taken twenty-five yards from
the Gillford goal, glided over the crowded penalty area and into the arms
of ‘keeper Jack Twentyman.
Twentyman, making a return to Premier football a season after stepping
from between the Northbank posts to join former team-mate Jimmy McMurdo at
Gillford, sent the ball up field in search of last seasons top scorer Lee
Otway, but instead concedes a throw in at the halfway mark.
The home side then continue to hold possession in defence looking to
release one of their bright yellow wingers, and a long ball manages to
find defender Craig McRobbie in the forward area of the field. McRobbie
plays it back to team-mate Graham McTagart but the Gateshead number 2
can't find a way past John Lee Allen who sends the ball over the
touchline.
Undeterred, Leam Lane hold possession and continue to probe the Carlisle
sides back-line, with danger-man Danny Olasoga constantly looking to
create chances, and it was to the Number 9 that the ball fell with ten
minutes played, but despite some neat play on the edge of the box the
pint-size forward can find no way through.
A short time later and it is the same man troubling Gillfords defence
after a clever ball finds Olasoga wide and in yards of space on the right,
but before the ball reaches him the linesman's flag has been raised and
his powerful shot past Twentyman is to no avail.
The mop-haired keeper sends the ball up field and almost immediately the
side in the new white shirts and black trim find themselves in the same
situation, when, after some good work in the corner by Steve Skinner, the
tall number 10 threads a through ball to Lee Otway who is flagged offside.
As the match develops into something of a contest and both sides settle
into the game it is apparent that the home side, in their first outing on
the pitch, are enjoying the majority of play but pose no real threat to
the Cumbrian's, with Gillford’s defenders on top in the final quarter.
A notable debutee is seventeen year old Rob Blake at right fullback, and
it is a through ball from the Crown Newlaithes player that is sent on via
Butler and out to Lee Otway to the right of the Gateshead box, but there
are no white shirts waiting to get on the end of Otway's cross and it is
cleared out of play. The throw-in comes through to Palmer who jumps under
pressure but can't make contact, and eventually the ball falls sweet to
Mark Butler, but the P.E. teacher shoots high and over.
The well equipped and spacious clubhouse sits tucked away to the left of
the entrance gate and the pitch is spread out in front of it, surrounded
by white rails erected over the summer as the new residents brought the
ground up to Alliance Premier standard, and in this first half Gilly play
away from the clubhouse, with Michael Falcus keeping guard for Gateshead
in the far goal.
In warm and sunny conditions the fifty-strong crowd are treated to a grand
contest with both defences searching for that one killer ball and neither
side afraid to play good football as they fight to take the lead.
With only ten minutes elapsed the Green and Yellow’s concede their first
free-kick of the game after double winning captain Robbie Short is fouled
in the centre of the park. Mark Butler knocks the set-piece forward and
out to the left in search of Otway but instead the ball flies aimlessly
straight over and, under pressure from Craig Thomson, is partially cleared
before finding its’ way back to the keeper.
The home side never let the Gillford defenders settle and set out to work
them for the entire ninety minutes, and after Falcus rolls the ball to a
defender it is sent up field. Nodded on with the aid of Gillford’s Mark
Butler the ball emerges from a tussle to go out of play and, after the
dugout side linesman Mr Patterson signals a corner, Liam Bones flag-kick
is headed over.
Both sides have a target man up front and look to find him with each
attack, and a mixture of bad luck and early running culminate in frequent
offside offences on the part of both Gillfords Lee Otway and Gateshead
Leam Lanes Dan Olasoga.
Although the home side enjoy the majority of the play Gillford continue to
pressure and neat play between Short, Addison and Thomson finds the latter
wide on the left, but his cross falls aimlessly into the arms of Falcus,
wearing red in the home goal.
As the sides passed the quarter-hour mark both Gateshead and Gillford go
close.
With the ball thrown into play close to the Cumbrian's goal John Lee Allen
heads a good clearance to Skinner who in turn feeds the ball through to
Otway, but once again his pace defies him and the linesman's flag is
raised high to signal the offside. From the resulting long free-kick
possession falls to Craig Nesbitt and the left-winger tries to turn inside
and head for goal, but new-boy Rob Blake is strong at Right Back and
forces the ball out for a throw. McTagarts ball in is headed wide to the
left of Gillford stopper Jack Twentyman.
Sensing an advantage the Newcastle side begin to play long, accurate balls
with Olasoga posing a constant and potent threat and it is one of these
balls that finds him on the left of the Gillford box on 18 minutes.
Blake, wearing number 2 and otherwise enjoying a solid performance, sees
his debut turn into somewhat of a dark affair after he innocently and
accidentally clips the Number 9 directly in front of the senior linesman
but, despite Mr Patterson’s flag staying firmly down, the referee reacts
to award the homesters a penalty that is converted, after much
protestation from the players in white, by Gateshead's Craig McRobbie.
Now on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline and with nothing to lose on the
clubs Premier debut, Jimmy McMurdo’s side begin to play further out and
look to move up field, but as they do so Liam Bone is almost immediately
played through on the right, with only the head of Tom Brocklebank,
wearing Number 5 on his Gillford debut, thwarting his forward run. From
the resulting throw-in Olasoga is again given a chance to stretch the lead
but shoots just wide to the keepers right.
With the rather dubious penalty still hanging over his head Blake redeems
himself after twenty-six minutes when, after Tom Brocklebank again heads
the initial danger away, a corner is sent low to the edge of the box. The
resulting shot has all but the seventeen year old debutante beaten and he
is on hand with a strong boot to take the plaudits, after keeping Gillford
firmly in the contest.
Two minutes shy of the half-hour mark Olasoga again finds himself in space
in the left hand corner but with no support and as he waits for a target
for the cross both Allen and Blake arrive on the scene in white shirts.
The Leam Lane number 9 is going nowhere, however, as the duo bear down on
him under instructions not to dive in and Blake takes the initiative to
poke the ball out for corner.
The flag kick is sent toward the away goal by Liam Bone but is greeted by
the shrill whistle of the main-in-black, who reprimands Rob Houghton for
pushing in the box. The ball makes little progress from the restart,
however, as the home side once again pressure the visitors down the right
and Danny Palmer is called upon to yet again head the ball into the open
field behind the Gilly goal.
The corner is played in to Houghton and the number 8 nods it on across the
goal mouth, but to the frustration of the hosts there is no-one waiting at
the far post. Once again Olasoga is on hand to chase the ball and
skilfully keeps it from rolling out for a goal kick, but as he turns back
towards the box the small forward cant get past Butler and the ball is
played upfield and eventually rolls out for a throw.
The trend of the game is now one of counter attacks but to the frustration
of the visiting outfit it is the hosts who look to have the more dangerous
final product, and Gillford are unable to pose a serious threat to Falcus’
goal.
On forty-three minutes the Green and Yellows again launch an attack down
the right through Liam Bone, but the Number 7 can't get past Danny Palmer
who feeds the ball through to Lee Otway. The tall forward, playing at
Number 9, demonstrates strong running and is inches away from scoring
after a 1-2 with Darren Addison but just as he steps up to strike home the
Gateshead custodian gets his body in front of the ball and, although it
escapes his grasp, is cleared out for a corner from which Gilly are marked
offside.
As half-time is on the fore Gillford demonstrate increasingly attacking
play but despite their best efforts are still unable to mark that crucial
equaliser, with the best chance falling to Lee Otway after an excellent
through ball finds the ex-Carlisle City striker unmarked and onside, but
his indecision proves costly as he attempts to take it around the keeper
and a defender gets back to thwart his attempt with a last gasp block.
With normal time exhausted the referee halts play for a minor clip, and
the free kick is played through the Gillford rearguard and out for a
Gateshead corner. Bones corner progresses only as far as the first man but
John Lee Allen can't make a decent contact and any number of Gilly
defenders get a foot on the ball to send it back out of play.
The resulting corner does not prove costly as, after Twentyman gets a
strong fist to the ball, the home midfielders' shot glides aimlessly wide
of Jacks right-hand post. From the restart the ball is played short to
Blake at right-back, and he makes progress up the right before sliding it
through to Steve Skinner. The Cumbrian's are granted one last chance to
equal the scores as Skinner is fouled but from the free-kick he gets a
poor contact and the ball ends up in the hedges behind the far goal.
Once again Leam Lane look to counter down the right through Liam Bone and
his cross is met by both Houghton and Main, and despite a collision
between the pair the ball ricochets off the post and out of play.
Twentyman sends it up field but only as far as Houghton who again threads
a neat ball to Dan Olasoga in space and with the goal to his right, and
once again the home side are denied by the woodwork as the ball rebounds
off the outside of the top right corner.
In the dying stages neither side can pose any real threat and, under
threatening and cloudy skies, the sides trudge off for half time.
Straight from half-time Gillford look a more positive and threatening
team, with Skinner, Otway and Thomson all creating chances, and after a
Gateshead throw into the Gilly box the away side break up field, only to
be denied as Falcus sweeps possession from beneath Lee Otway and clears
the danger with a strong boot up field.
In a reversal of the first half every ball in these opening stages is
falling for Gillford and Addison picks up the keepers kick on the right,
with Foster on hand to clear it out for a throw. Skinners throw to Addison
is headed immediately back to Gillfords number 10 and, somehow, he is
ruled offside by the lino on the other side of the field.
A short while later Thomson picks up a long ball from the back and knocks
it down to Skinner but after turning his marker the good work is betrayed
as he shoots high with the goal in his sights.
Making his debut as a half-time substitute Martin Blake, cousin of
right-back Rob, works hard under pressure in the far right corner and
between him and Skinner the ball is worked to Otway in the sixty-second
minute, but again he is flagged off by the far-side linesman.
With Gillford on top in this opening twenty-minutes the home side make
their first sub as Number 16, Philip Arnott, replaces the impressive Liam
Bone on the right wing. From the restart the ball finds Skinner wide on
the right and he plays it in to Addison who, along with a Leam Lane
midfielder, takes a tumble on the edge of the box.
Skinner lines up the free-kick but it falls just a couple of inches the
wrong side of the home bar. In the heated discussions that followed
amongst the men in black and the men in green and yellow referee Steven
Howland Scott hands Craig McRobbie the first yellow of the afternoon.
As the ball is knocked around the midfield it finds its way to the edge of
the Cumbrian's box but, despite his protests, Tom Brocklebank’s challenge
is ruled illegal. The resulting free kick hits the wall but after a bit of
work finds Dan Olasoga who is able to knock it high to his right and into
the away goal, and a short while later Rob Houghton’s speculative shot is
deemed to be sailing over by the Gilly keeper, but it dips at the right
time and only a miracle (and a few inches) keeps Gateshead from extending
their lead further.
The quality of the game then descends as the ball becomes stuck in the
middle and the picky referee picks both sides up for almost everything but
it is still the Green and Yellow of Gateshead Leam Lane that looks most
likely to grace the score sheet next, and on seventy-seven minutes Mark
Irwin heads wide in space at the back post after a home corner.
On seventy-five minutes strong running through the centre of the field by
Addison finds Martin Blake whose cross is headed skilfully on by Otway,
but Skinner can't find that extra bit of pace and the ball is scooped up
by the keeper.
Gillford continue to push forward but the home side, comfortable in their
two-goal lead, soak up all the pressure and continue to pose a threat on
the counter attack, though despite his goal marksman Olasoga is rather
anonymous in this second half.
With just under ten minutes to go the referee blows for pushing by home
midfielder Irwin and again Skinner lines up the kick on the edge of the
box. It's a case of third time lucky as on this occasion Skinner is not to
be denied and his shot sails accurately to the helpless keepers left.
In the dying stages Gillford really pressurise the home goal but with a
sea of white in front of him a home defender clears the ball up field and
the game is stopped to deal with an injury to Keith Main. From the restart
Palmer takes possession and plays it through to Butler whose accurate shot
is sent off target by the foot of a home defender and sails behind the
near goal for an away corner.
Nothing comes of this chance and the tables are dramatically and instantly
turned as the home side break free and, in a 1-on-1 situation with
Twentyman, the midfielder shoots to his left and scores only to see the
decisive mark chalked off for handball.
Frustrated at the lack of a card for the offending striker, the Gillford
players crowd around the man in black and Steve Skinner is shown yellow
for his protests.
Despite the reprieve, Gillford have no time to move up field and score the
equaliser, as the ref blows for full-time.
Gateshead LL: 1. Michael Falcus 2. Graham McTagart 3. Keith Foster
4. Craig McRobbie 5. Dean Newton 6. Mark Irwin 7. Liam Bone 8. Rob
Houghton 9. Dan Olasoga 10. Keith Main 11. Craig Nesbitt 12. Craig Musham
13. Paul Marsden 14. Michael Sutcliffe 15. Scot Kerr 16. Philip Arnott
Gillford Park: 1. Jack Twentyman 2. Rob Blake 3. Craig Thomson 4.
Mark Butler 5. Tom Brocklebank 6. John Lee Allen 7. Darren Addison 8.
Robbie Short 9. Lee Otway 10. Steve Skinner 11. Danny Palmer 12. Carl
Campbell 13. Jimmy McMurdo 14. Martin Blake 15. Andy McClelland 16. Darren
Noctor |