Grimsby Borough 2:5 Pontefract Collieries
Baris Northern Counties East League, First Division
Saturday 28^th January, 2012

Ponte Colls stretched their lead at the top of the Baris NCEL First Division with a convincing win against Grimsby Borough on Saturday.

With Ian McLean’s loan spell ended prematurely and Nick Handley missing the game – the Colls’ Assistant Manager joining stalwarts Paul Haigh and James Hicks on the injured list – Brendon Ormsby was forced to shuffle his back four again. Tom Robinson partnered Gary Lumley in the centre of defence, with Stephen Edwards returning at left back. The youngster put in a fine display.

However, the headlines belong to Lee Kelsey and Ryan Poskitt. In a first half in which Pontefract dominated possession, poor defending allowed the hosts to break through their back line on five occasions. On four of these, Kelsey came to his team’s rescue, with a last-ditch challenge from skipper Dean Twibey preventing a goal on the other. With Kelsey performing heroics to keep his side level at one end, Poskitt provided the magic at the other, scoring two terrific goals to give his side a lead that they would not surrender: the first, direct from a corner; the second, a left-footed strike after jinking round three Grimsby defenders.

Ponte pressurise the Grimsby goal in the opening minute

The game started with both teams laying out their attacking intentions in front of the fans. Pontefract forced two corners in the first minute. When Ryan Poskitt’s original effort was cleared, Poskitt picked up the ball himself, whipping the ball across the face of goal and inviting a decisive touch. When the invitation was declined, Grimsby’s David Unsworth was relieved to clear the ball behind for a second corner, which was swung in by Poskitt and headed over the bar by Gary Lumley.

From the hosts’ first attack, they should have taken the lead. When Josh Fuller was played in by a measured pass, he raced clear of the Ponte defenders and bore down on their goal. However, he was denied by Lee Kelsey, who dived at the player’s feet to smother the ball. Minutes later, Grimsby repeated the trick, when Andrew Taylor danced through the static Ponte defence to put himself on a one-to-one with Kelsey. However, Kelsey was perfectly positioned, made himself big, and blocked the Grimsby man’s shot.

With Pontefract enjoying the bulk of possession, but Grimsby seemingly cutting through their ranks every time they crossed the half-way line, goals seemed inevitable. Ponte came close when Liam Ormsby took a 30 yard free-kick, which had been awarded for a foul from behind on Duncan Bray. The inspirational midfielder rifled his shot towards the roof of the net, but Lee Cook stretched his fingertips to tip behind for a corner.

Gary Lumley heads clear for his team

Poskitt’s corner was met by Tom Robinson, but his goal-bound effort was deflected behind for another corner, which came to nothing when the referee penalised Bray for a foul on the ‘keeper.

James McDaid and Bray combined in a fine move down the left flank which resulted in Bray sliding a pass into the feet of Poskitt, who had vacated his berth on the right flank in favour of a foray into the box. Poskitt had the option to hit the ball first time, but tried to bring it under control, and the delay allowed Grimsby to clear the danger.

With Ormsby and Scott McGrory on the rampage in the Ponte midfield, the hosts’ midfielders reverted to a series of fouls on the pair. Ormsby almost punished them on the half hour, but his 35 yard free-kick sailed inches wide of the upright.

Lee Kelsey denies Grimsby with one of a series of fine saves - The Colls "Schmeichelesque" 'keeper faced five one-on-ones in the first half, without conceding

Grimsby counter-attacked down the right flank, and when the ball was played into the box, a series of quick, short passes eventually freed Taylor at the far post. Again, the gifted Grimsby player was denied by Kelsey, who pulled off another fine save.

Ormsby tried his luck from long-range again, this time from open play, sending a 30 yard piledriver towards the bottom corner of the Grimsby net. Ormsby was denied by a flying save from Cook, who parried the ball away. Although McDaid won the race to the rebound, he was unable to keep his follow-up effort down, and the hosts escaped.

Ormsby turned provider, inviting Steve Lyon to chase a ball down the right channel. Although Cook had anticipated the move and raced out of his area, his attempted clearance was skewed, and Lyon pounced on the loose ball. With the ‘keeper stranded, Lyon attempted an audacious curling effort, which was headed clear by a retreating Grimsby defender, much to the chagrin of Bray, who was in a better position than his strike partner to capitalise and felt that he should have been fed.

Ormsby found Lyon again – this time with the striker facing away from goal. Lyon shielded the ball and laid it into the path of Bray, who took a couple of strides towards the Borough area before sending a left-foot shot inches wide of the far post.

Having broken through the Ponte ranks on several occasions with some good passing moves, Grimsby were then gifted a one-on-one appointment with Kelsey, when a series of errors and missed challenges released Taylor. Incredibly, he was denied again by the Schmeichelesque Kelsey.

Grimsby must have been sick of the sight of Ponte’s in-form ‘keeper. Without his interventions, the hosts could have scored four times in the opening 35 minutes of the game. Four became five when Josh Fuller was slid through, only to be denied again in a one-to-one. When Nathan Emsom was slid through a minute later, Kelsey’s services were not required as skipper Dean Twibey got in on the act, pulling off a magnificently-timed last-ditch challenge as the Grimsby man shaped to shoot. When a ball into the box was diverted goalwards by Taylor, Kelsey flung himself full length to deny the hosts again, somehow even managing to hold onto the ball and deny the hosts the chance to capitalise on any rebound.

Kelsey had kept his team in the game with six superb saves during the opening half. Such was his team’s debt to their ‘keeper that, even though he was barely troubled in the second half and, even though his team went on to score five goals, he was the unanimous and unopposed candidate for the Man of the Match award for his 45 magnificent minutes.

Ryan Poskitt's inswinging corner nestles in the back of the Grimsby net

As the clock ticked towards the interval, Ryan Poskitt had clearly seen enough of The Lee Kelsey Show and decided to stage his own production. Poskitt, who had been involved in many of Ponte’s most threatening moves, scored twice in four minutes to ensure that his ‘keeper’s heroics were not to be in vain.

The first, incredibly, was the second time Poskitt had scored directly from a corner during the season. However, where his first – at home to Hemsworth – was wind-assisted, this effort was pure skill. From the moment the ball left the winger’s foot it had goal written all over it. Although Cook managed to get a fist to the inswinging ball, he could not prevent the ball from nestling in the net. If Poskitt did not regularly repeat the trick, the goal would have been considered a fluke.

Ryan Poskitt scores his - and Ponte's - second goal.

There was no doubt about the quality of Poskitt’s second. When a Liam Ormsby free-kick was cleared, Poskitt picked up the loose ball on the edge of the Grimsby box, jinking around three men before cracking in a left-footed shot beyond the dive of the despairing Cook and in off the far post.

Without Kelsey, Pontefract could have easily re-entered the dressing room five goals down. With Poskitt’s interventions, they reached the break with a two-goal lead.

After the interval, Pontefract corrected the lapses that had allowed the hosts to generate repeated clear runs at Kelsey’s goal. Instead, the visitors ran rampant. Steve Lyon executed a delicious flick when pinned against the sideline by two markers to escape with the ball, before sending a left-footed cross towards his strike partner, Duncan Bray. Bray’s attempt to chest the ball down backfired, and Cook gathered the ball. Then it was Dean Twibey’s turn to feed Bray with a cross, this one coming from the right. The Colls’ Assistant Manager rose to meet the angled cross, but could only glance his header wide of the far post.

Another Poskitt corner finds it way home - via Duncan Bray at the far post

Bray was eventually rewarded in the 56^th minute, when another viciously inswinging corner from Poskitt found Bray in the perfect position to stab the ball home. With the team three goals to the good, Ponte almost made it four when Bray and McDaid combined with an incisive move down the left wing which culminated in McDaid’s cross being headed over the bar by Scott McGrory, who had burst through from midfield to fill the gap vacated by Bray.

Having failed to score from a handful of opportunities in the first half, Grimsby finally beat Kelsey in the second, when Josh Fuller found himself on the end of a fine move to blast home.

Rather than galvanising the hosts, the goal seemed to spur Pontefract on to stretch their lead. Lyon showed his quality with a good run down the right, laying the ball into the path of Poskitt on the edge of the box. Poskitt’s shot beat Cook, but also cleared the crossbar and the winger was denied his hat-trick.

Scott McGrory's long-range spectacular makes the game safe for Ponte

The fourth goal was not delayed for long, however. With Grimsby struggling to clear their lines, Pontefract hunted them down, with the pressure eventually paying off when an attempted clearance was cut off by Scott McGrory, 40 yards from goal. The midfielder – who was enjoying his best all-round performance for some time – took a touch before rifling a magnificent effort into the top corner of Cook’s net.

With the hosts broken but unbowed, they called upon Kelsey to repeat his first half heroics, when Fuller’s shot was parried away by the Ponte ‘keeper. Emsom pounced on the rebound, but sent his shot high, wide and not so handsome. Emsom then fed Lee Stephenson, whose shot was blocked by Tom Robinson.

The hosts pumped the ball forward in search of a way back into the game, but they were repeatedly denied by the commanding head of Gary Lumley or, on more than one occasion, by the calm intervention of skipper Dean Twibey.

Having seen his engine room partner score from long range, Liam Ormsby chanced his arm again. His 35 yard effort was vicious and dipping, but again he was negated by the fingertips of Cook, the Grimsby ‘keeper denying Ormsby a goal that would have capped a masterful performance at the heart of the Ponte team.

With the game becoming stretched, Ormsby senior rang the changes, introducing Connor Rollinson and Greig McGrory into the fray to re-energise their attacking play and Gareth Roberts to firm up their defence. The changes worked a treat, with Rollinson putting in a high-energy performance to pose a new set of problems for an already-tiring Grimsby team, and McGrory adding bite to the Ponte front line.

Rollinson pushed the hosts backwards with a run down the right wing, beating two men before eventually over-running the ball with two strikers poised to meet his cross. The youngster repeated his rampaging run moments later: this one straight through the middle of the park rather than the flank, setting up Greig McGrory, whose powerful shot was deflected wide of the far post.

Rollinson then fed Greig McGrory on the right flank, his fellow substitute sliding the ball across the face of goal and into the path of Lyon, who stretched out his leg to reach the ball but was only able to direct it into the side netting.

Steve Lyon wheels away after scoring Ponte's fifth goal of the afternoon

The same two players combined for Ponte’s fifth. The goal showed McGrory at his best. Firstly, McGrory closed down Grimsby’s Sean Baker, hassling and harrying the centre-half until the player stumbled and McGrory robbed the ball. Having forced a turnover of possession, McGrory ensured the opportunity was not wasted, running towards goal and drawing Cook towards him, before selflessly squaring the ball to the unmarked Steve Lyon, who made no mistake to continue his fine run of scoring form.

Lyon almost scored again in the dying minutes, but his curling left-footed effort from the edge of the box was saved by Cook.

Instead, it was the hosts who would have the final word, when veteran John Taylor volleyed home a corner from the left, his effort flying through a forest of legs before nestling in the back of Kelsey’s net. Having kept a clean sheet despite being Pontefract’s busiest performer in the first half, it was ironic that Kelsey had been beaten twice in a second period during which he had barely been troubled.

The win means that The Colls end January with a six point advantage over 2^nd placed Handsworth, with Glasshoughton dropping to third after a home defeat by Hallam. With the month having started in the best possible way when The Colls defeated their Castleford neighbours to hit the summit, this third consecutive win suggests that they have overcome the jitters that saw them follow the Leeds Road win with two defeats.

The Colls face Shirebrook Town in Nottinghamshire next Saturday as the season enters it’s final quarter, with the Pontefract team well placed to push on and achieve their promotion and title ambitions.

To see the full Facebook photo album from the game, click here

Pontefract: Lee Kelsey, Dean Twibey (captain), Stephen Edwards, Tom Robinson, Gary Lumley, Scott McGrory, Ryan Poskitt (repl. Connor Rollinson, 62), Liam Ormsby, Duncan Bray (repl. Gareth Roberts, 79), Steve Lyon, James McDaid (repl. Greig McGrory, 62)

Sub unused: Andy Bugg

Goals: Ryan Poskitt (38,42), Duncan Bray (56), Scott McGrory (62), Steve Lyon (84)

Cautions: none