PONTEFRACT COLLIERIES U19 1-0 BRIDLINGTON TOWN U19
Northern U19 Youth Alliance League – Eastern Division
Wednesday 25^th January 2012

Pontefract Collieries academy side climbed back to the summit of the Northern U19 Youth Alliance Eastern Division with a hard fought win against a Bridlington Town side who never gave up. Warren Redford got the game’s only goal midway through the second period after a relatively comfortable first half, yet had to hang on at the end as Brid finished the stronger.

The game kicked off at a fast pace, with Ponte controlling most of the ball. Some decent one touch passing on the edge of the box between first team player Rob Oldham and Redford saw the latter just given offside by the assistant’s flag on the far side.

Debutant Bradley Gresham was getting in plenty of space on the left side of midfield, leaving the Bridlington full back chasing shadows, one such run forward saw him find Lewis Osborne whose effort was just wide.

Leon Guest was the next to drive forward for Ponte, a great touch leaving his marker wrong footed, but his pass to Redford was unfortunately offside again. The Colls were enjoying a glut of possession and territory, but hadn’t really made Liam Giles in the Bridlington goal make a save.

Gresham was involved yet again on the left side, this time, Guest twisting in the box before laying the ball off to the winger who could only hit the side netting from an acute angle.  Soon after, Guest but a lovely ball over the top of the defence to Aaron Carrigan, Giles however was alert to the danger and was out quickly to save at the Ponte midfielder’s feet – the resulting play saw Gresham shoot over with a first time effort.

Bridlington’s first real effort on goal saw Anthony Parr hit a lobbed effort over the bar, not troubling Tom King in the Ponte goal.

Back at the other end, another one-two passing move saw Osborne blast just over the bar from outside the area. The same player then hit a free-kick which was easily saved by Giles.

Lee Warters hit an effort at Tom King as half-time approached, but the Ponte stopper easily saved the shot. Despite enjoying most of the ball, Ponte still had to be alert at the back, and in Karl Abbott and Ryan Waugh, they did excellently at centre-back to thwart any danger the away side posed.

With the half closing down, there was still time for Redford to thread a short pass to Carrigan whose shot was blocked, before Redford again hit a lovely volley directly from a corner-kick, which unfortunately was straight at Giles.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first – with the Colls on the ball and the first side to threaten the target. Carrigan broke down the right hand side and laid the ball into the path of Osborne but the striker snapped at his effort and the shot didn’t trouble Giles.

There certainly wasn’t a lack of ideas from Ponte’s attackers, as they tried everything to break down a solid Bridlington side. Another neat one-two, this time involving Gresham and Osborne, saw the latter put in a lovely cross for Carrigan who could only head over with the goal beckoning.

Osborne was involved again moments later, twisting his marker in the box before laying the ball on a plate for Redford, who side footed the wrong side of the post with the ‘keeper beaten.

However, it wasn’t all Ponte and a mistake at the back saw Ben Marshall evade the tackle before bursting through the centre, thankfully for the hosts the striker poked his effort just wide of the post with King beaten.

But that must have woken up the Colls as within a minute they had taken the lead. A trademark long throw in from Abbott was cleared but only as far as Kieron Wright. The defender embarked on a training ground move, passing to Redford, who duly returned the favour as Wright went on the overlap, before crossing a short low cross back again to REDFORD (61m) who coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net.

After taking the lead, Ponte didn’t sit back and Redford was again involved this time brilliantly turning his man in the centre of the park before running toward goal and firing off a blistering effort that Giles was equal to with an excellent one-handed save.

Ponte nearly conceded an equaliser soon after however, as from a corner kick, Bridlington broke down the other end of the field. With the Colls short at the back, Marshall managed to get in a lovely shot that looked all the world to be a goal, but the ball just struck the outside of the post and went to safety.

Rob Oldham burst through the middle, and had a decent effort on goal that was blocked, before Gresham’s follow up shot was saved.

The game was entering the last few minutes now, and Sam Waines hit a vicious dipping effort that just cleared King’s cross bar, before Lee Warters was even closer with a similar effort as Ponte hung on. Marshall managed to get beyond the defence one more time, but Ryan Waugh was on hand at the back with a textbook sliding challenge just as the striker was about to pull the trigger.

This was a hard fought, but ultimately deserved three points, especially after a first half that saw the possession count at some 70%-30%. There were a few hairy moments at the back, particularly in the last 10-15 minutes, yet this side had not played together for nearly 3 months before this fixture.

Under-19s manager John Redford said after the game, “It was a nerve wracking last few minutes, my heart was still pounding half an hour after the game! With Goole winning we knew we needed to get the three points today, no matter how they came, and it sets us up nicely for when we visit Goole on Tuesday next week. I couldn’t fault the players effort, but it definitely showed that we hadn’t played for a while. A major plus point today is also the fact that we haven’t conceded, and the defence can take full credit for that. It wasn’t one of our best games, but a wins-a-win.”

Teams

COLLS                                                                         TOWN

1        Tom KING                                             1        Liam GILES

2        Kieron WRIGHT                                     7        Jake HANSON

3        Grant CHAPMAN                                     5        John MORRITT

4        Karl ABBOTT                                         14      Sam WAINES

5        Ryan WAUGH                                        17      Levi FOX

6        Leon GUEST                                          8        Lee WARTERS

7        Aaron CARRIGAN                                   9        Karl FITZGERALD (C)

8        Robert OLDHAM (C)                               10      Ben MARSHALL

9        Lewis OSBORNE                                     15      Anthony PARR

10      Warren REDFORD                                   3        Charlie HOLDEN

11      Bradley GRESHAM                                  2        Sam JONES

12      Callum GREEN                              4        Darron ROOKES (for Holden 61m)

14      Kyle ALLEN (for Osborne, 79m)                6        Joe BRADSHAW (for Fitzgerald, 61m)

15      Ryan McDERMOTT (for Carrigan, 66m)

GOALS:

1-0 Redford 61m

Half-Time: 0-0

Full-Time: 1-0

BOOKED

Holden, Fitzgerald (Brid)