Bottesford Town 2:1 Pontefract Collieries
Baris NCEL First Division
Saturday 17^th Sept 2011

Pontefract missed the chance to leapfrop Handsworth and claim second place in the Baris NCEL First Division, after a listless first-half performance left them trailing by two goals. Pontefract rallied to dominate the game after the interval and reduce the deficit, but were unable to fully recover from their earlier sloppiness.

In the context of their season, this may prove a result far more damaging than the loss of a mere three points. Both starting central midfielders, Paul Haigh and Liam Ormsby, were lost to the game through bad ankle injuries, which will stretch the club’s resources over the coming weeks. With both players in such excellent form, the coming weeks will present a major challenge to Brendon Ormsby and his team. The fact that both players were injured by full-length, two-footed challenges from the same player, Josh Nichol, irked Ormsby senior, who was incandescent with the officials at the end of the game.

Although they will look externally in anger at the injuries to two key players, Ponte will only blame themselves for the result. Where they had been irresistible in the early stages against Shirebrook Town in midweek, here they were sluggish in the early stages, handing all the early initiative to their hosts. Bottesford took advantage, building momentum from the kick-off and pinning Ponte back inside their own half.

Bottesford took the lead as early as the fifth minute, when a good spell of sustained possession in the Pontefract half culminated in Scott Wilby being fed on the edge of the box. Wilby, unimpeded by any Ponte marker, steadied himself before drilling a low, near-post effort beyond the outstretched fingers of Lee Kelsey and into the net.

Ryan Poskitt dinked a good ball down the right wing for Greig McGrory to chase and, thanks to McGrory’s persistence, Pontefract had the relief of their first corner. Although the corner was cleared, Pontefract fashioned an opening for Steve Lyons, who blasted high and wide from inside the Bottesford area.

Will Ramsay was gifted with a half-chance when Bottesford’s Adam Martin tripped over a rolled clearance from his ‘keeper Robert Zand. Ramsay pounced on the loose ball, spotted Zand off his line, and lifted the ball goalwards, only to see his effort drift wide of the upright.

It was to prove temporary respite for Ponte. When an incisive Bottesford move led to the ball being slid across the face of goal from the right, Wilby was on hand to score his second and double the host’s lead.

It was no more than Bottesford deserved, for some good football and a positive intent. Pontefract, by contrast, could not complain about being two goals in arrears: they seemed lacking in energy throughout, unable to string meaningfull passing moves together, and toothless going forward. The first fluid move from the visitors petered out when Haigh – who had been the fulcrum of the move as he interplayed with Poskitt and McGrory to drive forward – slid a pass intended for Lyons into the feet of Bottesford’s skipper, Carl La Rocca.

Pontefract suffered a blow five minutes before the interval when Ormsby was flattened and, after receiving attention on the pitch, was replaced by Scott McGrory as his ankle swelled. The elder McGrory introduced some positive intent into Pontefract’s play, as the team finally seemed to wake up out of their torpor with the interval looming. Ryan Poskitt – who had spurned earlier invitations to run at Bottesford’s defenders – cut loose, stepping inside his marker before curling a delightful left-footed cross towards the younger McGrory brother. However, Greig McGrory was unable to get sufficient contact on the ball to steer it goalwards.

The visitors had their ‘keeper to thank for sending them into the interval with at least an outside chance of getting back into the game, with a brace of fine saves in the final minute of the first half. The first was pure instinct, flashing out a hand to block a close-range volley at his far post at the expense of a corner. The second was more routine, leaping high to save the header resulting from the corner.

Whatever Brendon Ormsby said to his team at the interval seemed to work. They seemed a different team, raising their energy levels and taking the game to their hosts. The renewed intent was rewarded with a goal in the 54^th minute, when Scott McGrory drove home from close range. The lead-up to the goal was representative of Pontefract’s approach after the interval. Will Ramsay, dipped his head and drove his team forward, before spreading a 45-yard diagonal ball into the path of Poskitt. Poskitt played the ball into the box, and McGrory was on hand to score, having pushed forward from midfield.

Steve Lyons narrowly missed out on his first goal for the club when a 30 yard left-footed drive dipped too late, following a good turn to create himself the space to shoot. Paul Haigh took up the mantle, skipping aside from a challenge in the middle of the park before driving forward and unleashing a shot high, wide and handsome.

As Ponte pushed forward in search of an equaliser, Bottesford were relying on counter-attacks. One such break-away was cut short by Johnny Forsyth, the Ponte skipper executing a professional foul inside his own half at the cost of a caution. Given the erratic nature of the referees decisions throughout the game, it would have not surprised either camp had the foul gone either unpunished altogether or over-punished with a red.

Within seconds, the referee was centre of controversy again, when Haigh was the second member of Ponte’s engine room to be taken out of the game by Nichol. Having initially allowed Pontefract the advantage – Haigh having released Ramsay a split second before being flattened – the referee brought play back just as Ramsay had cleared his marker inside the Bottesford box and was pulling the trigger to shoot at goal. With Rob Oldham replacing Haigh in the middle of the park, the makeshift nature of the midfield took some of the momentum out of Ponte’s quest for parity. However, Ramsay seemed on a mission to drag his team level, repeatedly dipping his shoulder and running at his opponents. Clearly the danger man, Ramsay suffered several kicks and trips – some of which were actually noticed by the officials – before being booked for dissent, which sent the Pontefract bench into incandescence.

In fairness to Ormsby, he was not alone in his criticism of the officials. This game, played between two teams with good disciplinary records and a commitment to playing the game the right way, was encouraged to descent into farce and rancour by a quite bewildering performance from the officials, which elicited reactions ranging from rage to belly-laughs from both benches and supporters alike. With the players seemingly sensing that poor challenges would go unpunished, the boots started to fly and tempers flared.

The theme of farce transmitted itself to Rob Oldham who, having put in a heroic effort to track back deep into his own half and break-up a Bottesford counter-attack, then proceeded to under-hit a back-pass to Kelsey, which was pounced upon by Carl Snowdon. Snowdon rounded Kelsey and slid the ball across the face of goal, inviting Lee Bogner to put the result beyond doubt. Much to Pontefract’s glee, the open goal was missed, and the visitors steeled themselves for one last push in search of a point.

A frankly bewildering performance from the referee was capped deep into injury time when, as Pontefract launched their last-ditch attempt to grab an equaliser, the official blew his whistle to stop the game and allow a returning Bottesford player to re-enter the field of play, rather than just wave the player back on.

It was a fitting final act for the game, which had included in its ingredients a flat first half from Ponte, oodles of frustration, a couple of needless injuries and a massive dose of farce.

For full Facebook photo album from the match, click here

Pontefract: Lee Kelsey, Dean Twibey, Stephen Edwards, Johnny Forsyth (capt), Tom Robinson, Paul Haigh (repl. Rob Oldham, 78), Ryan Poskitt, Liam Ormsby (repl. Scott McGrory, 40), Steve Lyons (repl. James Hicks, 83), Greig McGrory, Will Ramsay

Subs not used: James McDaid, Jack Hill

Goal: Greig McGrory (54)

Cautions: Will Ramsay, Johnny Forsyth