Thursday 28 January 2016

Swallownest 0 v Handsworth Parramore 5 - HKL NMU19L

Thursday 28th January 2016
HKL North Midland U19 League
at 'Swall Siro', Rotherham Road, Swallownest
Swallownest (0) 0
Handsworth Parramore (1) 5
Matt Morton 14, 66, 73,
Lewis Elshaw 57,
Harry Groombridge 86
Admission £2. Programme £1
When these two sides played earlier in the season at Olivers Mount, see HERE, the Ambers won by four goals to two.
One of Swallownest's goals that night was scored by Mitchell Dunne, who has subsequently switched camps and moved the short distance up the road to link up with Handsworth.
Swallownest will be pleased that Dunne didn't score tonight, but he made a telling contribution to the game, before he came off in the 70th minute.
Tonight, the visitors maintained their 100% record by having won 10 games out of ten and subsequently they have won the HKL NMU19L championship.
Hats off and congratulations to Handsworth who just keep on coming up with the goods, year after year. Evidently the scene is already set for the next phase of the Ambers production line, as their coach Dean Bamforth revealed on his Twitter account tonight,that 11 of this championship winning squad were still only 16 years old.
Tonight the heavens opened as the teams were warming up and the wind and the rain took turns over the ensuing 90 minutes to make things as unpleasant as possible for both teams as they tried to get to grips with the conditions. Swallownest's groundsman will probably have a little cry to himself when he sees the pitch in the morning.
Match referee Josh Bramall and his assistants Mark Beard and Aden Tanriyar deserve a lot of credit for their handling of the game, on what must've been a trying night on a wet and windy hillside.
The champions elect opened the scoring on 14 minutes, when your defence half clears the ball from a goalmouth to the edge of the area, Matt Morton is probably the last person you'd want to see lurking there with intent... without any hesitation the prolific striker calmly dispatched a thumping shot past Jack Hood to set the visitors on their way to a championship clinching victory.
Swallownest almost delayed the title party when the visitors conceded a penalty. But Ewan Doman saved Callum Mounsey's spot kick and things went downhill from there for the hosts.
Dunne got his first sight of goal, but Steve Nettleship got a firm challenge in to thwart his former team mate.
Sadly, Nettleship was involved in a collision shortly afterwards and sustained a bang to the head. during a lengthy stoppage both team's medics went to his aid and though he was eventually able to walk back to the dressing room, albeit in a dazed condition, the home side's number 6 would take no further part in tonight's encounter.
Swallownest line up
Hopefully Steve Nettleship recovers fully ASAP and is back to doing what he does best in the very near future. Get well soon Steve.
When play got back underway, Billy Wright attacked down the right flank, but his low driven cross to Danny Bent was smothered by Hood by his left hand post.
Morton cut into the Swallownest area but was halted in his tracks by a firm tackle by Jacob Rickards, who had come on in place of the injured Nettleship.
Morton threatened again but Hood plucked the ball off of his head from Dunne's right wing corner.
Ollie Laurence tried his luck from 20 yards but Doman held on to the wet ball. as it moved about in the air.
Harry Bamforth exchanged passes with Morton on the edge of the area, but Kris Eggerston blocked his shot at the expense of a corner. Dunne whipped the ball in to Oliver Beaumont whose header was cleared off the line by Chris Hudson.
Danny Bent knocked a measured through ball into the path of Dunne, but Eggerston blocked his run with a timely interception.
The 'Swall' lads were evidently intent on not giving their ex striker an easy passage tonight, but I'm sure he was enjoying the challenge anyway.
HT: Swallownest 0 v Handsworth Parramore 1
And during the interval the rain came down even more heavily.
After the break, Parramore underlined why they are the champions of the HKL North Midland U19 League (North) this season and turned the screw on their hard working neighbours.
Bamforth fed the ball through for Dunne to flick on, but Eggerston thwarted him again.
Of course, the former Swallownest player was always going to find himself enough space to escape his markers attentions at some point, but when he clipped a firm strike at the hosts goal from 10 yards out, Hood twisted and tipped the ball over.
Hood had to be alert again from the resulting corner to keep out Elshaw's header, but Handsworth were turning up the heat now and almost doubled their lead when Morton took the ball round Hood but saw his angled shot deflected around the post. Having got the rehearsal set piece out of the way, Elshaw made scored from Dunne's flag kick and the silverware was now in sight
Swallownest, realising that it was now or never, pushed forward, but the Ambers captain Wright, hooked away Patrick Menye's cross into the visitors six yard box.
Handsworth Parramore line up
Dunne fouled the lively Junior Gama out on the right flank and Josh Hill's wind assisted free kick into the box almost ended up in the goal, but the ball dropped narrowly wide of the back post.
It was a case of 'game over' when Morton scored Handsworth's third from a well taken free kick 20 yards after 66 minutes and inside ten minutes he struck again to claim his hat trick.
The prolific Ambers marksman almost got a fourth goal as he fizzed a free kick past the upright from out on the left hand side of the area.
On 86 minutes, in a moment that typified Swallownest's night, Gama delivered a corner from out on the right wing to Brandon Ashmore whose goalbound header hit one of his own team mates and bounced to safety. To rub salt into the wounds, Handsworth immediately turned defence into attack and Harry Groombridge bagged a goal for himself to complete the Ambers title clinching victory.
FT: Swallownest U19 0 v Handsworth Parramore U19 5
CONGRATULATIONS TO HANDSWORTH PARRAMORE
U19 CHAMPIONS!