Staveley Miners Welfare arrived at Sheerien Park, home of
Athersely Recreation to the news that midfield loanee Derek Niven had decided
to move to Worksop Parramore and that, along with the suspension for picking up
too many bookings of top scorer Courtney Hastings meant that Brett Marshall had
to reshuffle the pack somewhat.
Staveley however have a thriving youth setup and with
their under 21 side sitting nicely poised in the HKL development league with 4
wins from 4 there is no shortage of players ready to step up to the first team
as and when required and replacing Courtney Hastings upfront was under 21
starlet Mohammed “TJ” Tijani Ibrahim and Charlie Oglesby came in at left back
allowing Steve Carty to revert to a more familiar role in central midfield
alongside Ashley Rawson making his first start following last week’s impressive
debut from the bench....
Following an impeccably observed minutes silence for the
events in Paris the Trojans got the game underway kicking towards the clubhouse
end on a very wet day which forced most of the crowd into the covered stands
and dominated the possession for most of the half…
As early as the fourth minute Kieran Watson used his
strength to hold the ball up and played in Jamie Brown for a diagonal run down
the left which took him into the box, a simple ball to Mohammed Tijani in space on the penalty spot
would’ve given Staveley more than a good chance to take the lead but Brown
elected to run towards goal and ran the ball out under pressure from Athersleys
Declan Welford.
Three minutes later it was Tijanis turn to hold the ball
up and a right left swerve on the spot out foxed the covering defender and
created the space required to slip in Adam Scott on the right but his cross was
cleared, but just moments later Kieran Watson raced onto through ball which saw
Lee Dawes in goal for the home side rush out to meet the ball and get something
on his clipped shot to the far post. Dawes again came to his sides rescue by
punching the ball clear following a Matt Varley header from the resultant
corner.
On twelve minutes the personal duel between Lee Dawes and
Kieran Watson once again went in favour of Dawes when he saved another shot
from Staveleys number 10 but it was
surely only a matter of time before the Trojans took the lead and it duly
arrived with a quarter of an hour gone…
Steve Carty connected with an Ashley Rawson cross from
the right but once again Lee Dawes saved but could only punch it out to
Mohammed Tijani who hit a rocket back towards goal where again Dawes saved but
fortunately he didn’t quite get the luck the double save had perhaps deserved
and Stave Carty was on hand to knock it past the stranded ‘keeper.
Athersely 0 – 1 Staveley MW
Ashley Rawson fired over a minute later but then the home
side realised there was a game on and had a decent spell of possession but
without creating anything other than balls into box which Ryan Musselwhite
aided and abetted by his defence was able to deal with.
Captain Matt Varley tried to get his team going again by
“requesting” that his team mates get creative talents Adam Scott and Jamie
Brown on the ball more…but it was Varley himself who created the next chance. After
receiving the ball from a Fabian Smith throw he spotted the run of Steve Carty
and delivered an inch perfect through ball which was that good Carty only
needed one touch to direct it across goal and forced a save once again from Lee
Dawes.
After half an hour Adam Scott and Jamie Brown did “get on
the ball” as requested and combined to create an opportunity for Mohammed
Tijani who despite being one of the smallest men on the pitch would have
increased the lead with a header had Lee Dawes not collected Jamie Browns cross
before it reached him.
The three main protagonists were involved again just
before half time a brilliant off the ball diagonal run from the edge of the box
to the by-line from Mohammed Tijani created space for Steve Carty to supply the
young striker and he in turn found Adam Scott who fired his shot over the bar
after cutting inside on one of his trademark moves across the edge of the box
coming in off the right wing.
Tijani was having arguably his best first team game to
date, a notion recognised by the home side as, just before halftime he was the
victim of a “robust” challenge from Tom Harban who also collected a team mate
in the process and a yellow card.
HT: Athersely Recreation 0-1 Staveley MW
An excellent first half performance where the only
disappointment was that it was only 0-1 and we’ve all seen it before that
failure to turn such dominance into a comfortable lead leaves you susceptible
to the sucker punch…
The fans needn’t have worried though as immediately after
the restart the advantage was deservedly doubled when Kieran Watson collected a
through ball, and finally got the better of Lee Dawes by sidestepping the
‘keeper and rolling the ball into the open net...
Athersely 0 – 2 Staveley MW
With fifty minutes on the clock it was almost three
Kieran Watson had been played in by Adam Scott and his shot across goal was
turned in at the far post by Mohammed Tijani who was adjudged to be in an
offside position. Perhaps the ball was already going in but it was no means
certain and Tijani in doing what all strikers would do had done the right
thing.
A quick look at the pregame stats suggested that so far
this season the home side have been a lot better in the second half than the
first and the way this game went would certainly back that up thanks in part to
the introduction of substitute Jack Owen, but although the possession shifted
in favour of Athersely the chances created were still few and far between with Matt
Varley being the main reason for this as time and time again the Staveley Captain
led by example and kept the penguins at bay.
Staveley adapted to the change in momentum and reverted
to a counter attacking style and knocked the stuffing out of the home side in
the 63rd minute when on the break Mohammed Tijani carried the ball
from inside his own half to just on the edge of the area and with options to
the left and middle he went right to Steve Carty who steered the ball home for
his second of the game.
Athersley 0 – 3 Staveley MW
To their credit Athersley kept going and on occasions
caused panic in the Staveley box but they were undone once again by a stunning
Adam Scott effort, collecting the ball under pressure he had the presence of
mind to go backwards to find space in which he turned and ran at the tiring
defence and after beating three or four players still had the ability and the
energy after 84 minutes of playing on a heavy rain lashed pitched to slot it
between the posts.
Full Time Athersley Recreation 0 – 4 Staveley MW
