HKL NMU19L Division 1 North
at 'Swall Siro', Rotherham Road, Swallownest
Swallownest U19 (0) 1
Sam Goulden 58
Harworth Colliery U19 (1) 1
Marley Adler 20
Admission £2. Programme £1.
Swallownest:
Richard Chamberlain, William Hague, Chris Hudson (Jack Leitch 63), Dale Featherstone (Callum Mounsey 55), Adam Roberts, Steven Nettleship, Junior Gama, Oliver Lawrence, Conor Gregg, Sam Goulden, Josh Billson (Brandon Bagley 55)
Unused subs - Luke Kocura, Jack Booth,
Harworth Colliery:
Josh Court, Alex Hawkridge (Jack Ellis 84), Tom Hawkridge, George Agnew (Brett Garrett 67), Chad Jacobs, Ross Wicks, Morgan Rubie, Josh Dickinson, Max Curbin (Joe Smith 61), Marley Alder, Bailey Armstrong
Unused Sub -15 Pete Bassenger
In an evenly matched game, both team's saw plenty of the ball in and around the final third, but needed a bit more of a cutting edge, on a night when two well drilled defences rule the roost more often than not.
Sam Goulden tried his look from just inside the area as the home side broke down the right flank in the second minute, but he couldn't keep his shot down.
The lively Junior Gama dribbled into the visitor's goal area, but Josh Court saved at his feet.
Rubie Morgan and Marley Alder were applying pressure in tandem around the home side's area, but were coming up against some uncompromising defending from the south Yorkshire side... and when Ross Wicks had the chance to put Harworth ahead from close range, his shot as scrambled away for a corner.
Goulden and Gama both threatened the visitors goal as 'Swall' advanced towards goal from the right flank, but a great saving tackle from Bailey Armstrong and the close attention of Tom Hawkridge, slammed the Colliery back doors firmly shut.
Harworth forced a corner out on the left wing on twenty minutes and when the ball found it's way into a crowded goalmouth, Marley Alder was on hand to deliver the final touch and put the visitors in front.
Swallownest were almost on level terms just before the half hour mark, but when Chad Jacobs was adjudged to have fouled Steve Nettleship (there was contact), Conor Gregg crashed the penalty kick against the bar.
The visitor's countered and Max Curbin went to ground under a challenge from William Hague, but the Colliery's penalty appeals were waved away by the referee Medhi Najeri.
The match official then sent the Harworth manager Mark Latham off from the bench and instructed him to watch the remainder of the game through the clubhouse window, because he didn't appreciated the way his decisions over the previous few minutes had been questioned.
Both sides regrouped and a lull of tranquility descended over proceedings as Harworth almost scored a second, when Max Curbin rounded Richard Chamberlain but shot into the side netting.
Swallownest came back at their visitors in pursuit of an equaliser, but when Hague's free kick was only half cleared as far as Ollie Lawrence, he thumped his shot over the bar.
Right on half time, Josh Dickinson found himself a yard of space just outside the home side's area, but his powerful shot on the turn, only troubled the queue at the tea bar.
HT: Swallownest 0 v Harworth 1
Dale Featherstone and Josh Billson, exchanged a couple of decent passes as 'Swall' mounted a decent looking attack down the left flank, but Harworth were working hard to preserve their slender lead and were proving very difficult to break down.
With the ball pinging about in a bagatelle fashion across the Colliery area, Sam Goulden latched onto it and cooly planted the ball just inside the left hand post after 58 minutes.
Swallownest had been in the ascendancy since the interval and a goal for Mark Edwards team had looked increasingly likely for a while before Goulden struck.
Rubie sprinted into the area, but was intercepted by Hague before the pacey Colliery playmaker could get his shot in.
The game ebbed and flowed one way, then the other as Gregg went close at one end and when Harworth cleared their lines and broke forward Alder rattled a shot against the bar.
With the two sides shoring up their defences, most of the chances for the remainder of the game were of the long range variety, but there were still several close calls for both sides.
Brett Garrett and Joe Smith, Harworth's second half substitutes, both went close with half chances and Ollie Lawrence smashed a shot inches wide of the upright for 'Swall'.
The home side were well on top possession wise as they started the second half, but as the game entered the final few minutes, it was Harworth who almost snatched all three points... Joe Smith's effort was cleared off the line and when the rebound fell to Dickinson and he spotted a gap and would have snatched a late winner for the visitors, but one of his own team-mates (who shall remain nameless) strayed into said gap and 'defended' a crashing goalbound strike... and in stoppage time Dickinson hit the outside of the left hand post from ten yards out.
FT: Swallownest U19 1 v Harworth Colliery U19 1
Though the home side were a bit fortunate that the Colliery side hadn't clinched the game (twice) right at the end, the draw (which gace Harworth U19s their first point of the season) was a fair result, because Swallownest's three pronged attack of Junior Gama, Conor Gregg and Sam Goulden, had been causing Harworth's defence no end of problems just before Goulden's equaliser.
Off the pitch: these really are two smashing clubs, with some great people around ripping up trees for them... It is heartwarming to see that they are making steady progress at Step 7 of the non league pyramid, with an eye on moving up, at a realistic and sustainable pace, any time soon.
While more fashionable clubs in the area make a lot of noise, often from the rooftops, about their triumphs and ambitions, Swallownest and Harworth are just rolling their sleeves up and getting on with stuff... they certainly both have the right kind of people working for them and pulling it all together behind the scenes.
I've seen the plans that both of these clubs have and though Rome wasn't built in a day... it might have been if a couple of the guys who are the driving force behind this pair had been on the job.
