Pontefract Collieries 3:2 Handsworth
Saturday 23rd October, 2010

Pontefract Collieries face leaders Staveley next Saturday, with the two teams lying clear of the pack in the promotion places after the Colls beat Sean Bean’s Handsworth side at Beechnut Lane on Saturday.

However, although the team have scored valuable and hard-fought victories both last week and this, Simon Houghton and his management team will be concerned that the team seem to have gone off the boil following their masterclass at Eccleshill United at the start of the month. Instead, this win owed much to the spirit in the team, rather than superior quality in their play.

As Houghton prepares for what could be the most important two months in the club’s history, he continued to shuffle his pack, keeping his full squad of players involved through artful rotation of players. This week: Carl Fothergill and Lee Garside – carrying a back injury from a freak coat-related incident – lost out in the starting line-up to Craig Stephens and Jason Bentley up front; Josh Wright missed the game through suspension (although illness would have ruled him out in any case), allowing Paul Haigh to resume his role in the engine room; the holiday-bound Paul Staniforth remained on the bench in favour of the versatile and influential Luke Smith, while the recovering Matt Wilkinson and Johnny Forsyth also warmed the bench. Surely, all will be required to make their contributions in the coming weeks, and the quality sitting on the home bench augurs well for the remainder of the season.

Following the pattern of several games at Beechnut Lane this season, the Pontefract team started on their heels as their opponents made the early running. Andrew Joburns – the one Pontefract player who must be considered “rotation-proof” after a run of commanding performances between the sticks – was called upon within the first 15 seconds of the game, as he saved Ryan Johnson’s shot.As the Sheffield outfit dominated early territorial advantage, Johnson and Alex Torr showed clever interplay, with Johnson shooting powerfully towards the Pontefract net, with Joburns diving to his right to save. It took Pontefract a full ten minutes to put together a fluid move, with Paul Haigh and Craig Stephens combining to tee up Jason Bentley, who was harshly judged offside as he set his sights on goal.

Unusually for the Pontefract team, it was three players who started on the pitch who grabbed the goals as they took all three points from the Sheffield side – breaking the usual pattern of substitutes making game-changing contributions. First on the scoresheet was Luke Forgione – in front of his delighted family who were Match Ball Sponsors for the day – when the Colls centre-half rose above the Handsworth defence to head home a Joe Thornton corner.

Within seconds, the scores were level, when the excellent Torr strode towards the Ponte goal, unhindered by any pressure from midfield or defence, before shooting hard and low to Joburns’ left and into the corner of the net. The quick response seemed to awaken the Colls, with Bentley providing some good approach play before setting up Rian Sykes for a shot that was, in the end, comfortably handled by Handsworth ‘keeper Sneath. Handsworth responded, with Johnson shooting towards the corner of the net, with Joburns proving the equal, palming the ball away for a corner. As the game reached the half-hour mark the game became increasingly open, with Joburns called up again when David Cockrill turned Luke Smith before shooting powerfully towards the roof of the net from six yards out. Joburns’ save bettered anything that he had managed to date, although the fact that the Pontefract stopper was proving to be the busiest player on the pitch was starting to cause concern to home bench and supporters alike. At the other end, Bentley was denied a clear run on goal by an errant linesman’s flag when the Ponte player had clearly run from an onside position to latch onto a pass from Haigh.

However, Bentley was not to be denied for long, owing his opportunity to an ill-judged  back-header by Handsworth centre-half David Kippax, which fell short of his intended target, ‘keeper Sneath. Bentley calmly controlled the ball, rounded the keeper with an excellent piece of close control, and rolled the ball into a gaping net to restore his team’s lead.

Within seconds of the re-start, Handsworth could have equalised again, when Torr beat Twibey, before whipping a dangerous cross into the “no man’s land” between Joburns and his retreating defence, only to see Cockrill – arriving at the far post – unable to direct his shot goalwards. As the game reached the half-way stage, Rian Sykes was booked for a clumsy high-foot which made painful contact with the ear of Torr. Following a delay while Torr was revived and Sykes reprimanded, the resultant free-kick was chipped into the box and met with a firm header which was comfortably handled by Joburns, bringing the first half to a close with the Colls grateful to have held onto their lead.

The second half started much as the first had – with the Sheffield side on the offensive. Handsworth actually had the ball in the net on 48 minutes, although the whistle had already blown for a hand-ball in the build-up. Pontefract responded by pushing forward, with Poskitt shooting hard across the face of goal. The ball ricocheted to Joe Thornton, who crossed towards Bentley, whose header was deflected wide for a corner.

When Handsworth broke from the corner, a left-wing cross was headed towards his own goal by the retreating Sykes, although Joburns was superbly positioned to deal with the “friendly fire” from his midfielder. Colls responded with the best move of the match, with Haigh influential as he twice won the ball in the midfield, before releasing Joe Thornton. Thornton beat two men before feeding Bentley, who was unable to give the move the perfect finish. As the game became end-to-end, Handsworth’s Cockrill shot powerfully at goal, with Joburns stooping low to catch the ball at his feet. Joburns was called upon again almost immediately, when Tom Roebuck sent a looping header over the Ponte defence. Joburns showed remarkably movement to track the ball – never taking his eyes from it – before tipping it over the bar for a corner. The Pontefract ‘keeper then raised his masterclass of goalkeeping another notch by rising above a crowd of players to fist the resultant corner away to safety.

Pontefract responded by taking the game to their visitors, and forcing a series of corners as the game passed the hour mark. They were denied a third goal when Forgione’s headed effort was ruled out for offside, although they did not have to wait much longer to extend their lead.

The third goal was a scorcher, with Joe Thornton turning his marker inside out, before teeing the ball up onto his favourite left foot, before sending a powerful shot into the roof of the net. With Fothergill replacing the injured Bentley and Staniforth returning to the side to shore up the defence, the home side steeled themselves to protect their lead against a determined opponent. Handsworth almost reduced the deficit when a left-foot chip drifted inches wide of the post, before Kippax missed a golden opportunity by blasting over the bar from eight yards following a chaotic melee in the Pontefract box. Houghton further strengthened his rear-guard by moving Luke Smith into the engine room alongside Paul Haigh, and the two of them were acting as supplementary defenders, charging down Handsworth efforts on goal. When Cockrill headed across the goalmouth in the direction of his strike partner Johnson, Forgione showed all his class to calmly nod the ball gently into the arms of Joburns. 

As the game entered its final throes, Man of the Match Andrew Joburns did extremely well to hold onto a wicked shot from Leon Wainman that bounced awkwardly in front of him, completing the full repertoire of skills in a fine exhibition of the lonely art of goalkeeping. However, there was nothing that the Ponte ‘keeper could do about the second Handsworth goal, when Wesley Hill latched onto an intelligent headed pass by Cockrill to smash home and set up a grandstand finish as the visitors chased an equaliser.

With the Colls sitting deep for the last five minutes, Handsworth took heart and repeatedly pumped the ball into the Ponte area. With a mere two minutes remaining, the home side escaped an almighty goalmouth scramble, with Handley, Smith, Staniforth, Forgione and Twibey throwing their bodies in front of the ball as the away side lined up to shoot. As the referee’s whistle blew, the overriding feeling amongst Pontefract players was one of relief, as they released that they had held onto the three points despite not playing to their own high standards.   

Regardless of his team’s poor performance, Houghton will be pleased that his side have beaten yet another of their key promotion rivals, and maintained their unbeaten run to eight games. However, the team will be well aware that they will need to raise their game to maintain their challenge – starting with “the big one” next Saturday at Staveley.

Pontefract Collieries:

Andrew Joburns, Dean Twibey, Luke Smith, Nicky Handley (captain), Luke Forgione, Paul Haigh, Ryan Poskitt, Rian Sykes (repl. Lee Garside, 80 mins), Jason Bentley (repl. Carl Fothergill, 72 mins), Craig Stephens (repl. Paul Staniforth, 75 mins), Joe Thornton

Subs not used: Johnny Forsyth, Matt Wilkinson

Goals: Luke Forgione (14), Jason Bentley (30), Joe Thornton (66)

Bookings: Rian Sykes (44), Paul Haigh (57)