Ecclesfield Red Rose 3-1 Millmoor Juniors

Saturday 1^st December 2012, County Senior League Cup, 3^rd Round

An inspired second half substitution gave County Senior League Premier Division strugglers Ecclesfield Red Rose a rare victory and progress them into the Quarter Finals of the County Senior League Cup, at the expense of Millmoor Juniors.

With the score line goalless at the break after a balanced first period, it took less than seven minutes of the second half before the deadlock was broken, when Ryan Radford slotted the ball through to Wesley Bamford who beat two Juniors defenders and slotted the ball past Ben Brunt.

It wasn’t long before the Rotherham outfit were level. Jordan Lowe’s cross resulted in Robert Hayes rising higher than the Red Rose defence and bullet the header into the back of the net, just after the hour mark.

But then substitute Zac-Fleming Wright made the vital difference. A fabulous off-the-ball sprint by the Ecclesfield man, as the ball was played down the left from D’Ray Williams to Bamford, who whipped in a delicate cross which was met by the head of the replacement at the far post.

As play was stretched in the closing stages, Juniors threw men forward in the hope of an equaliser, but were punished for having too few defenders back. D’Ray Williams played in Billy Rowley who toyed with the short-numbered Juniors defence before sliding the ball through to another substitute Liam Boswell who broke the offside trap and slotted in his one-on-one beyond the bemused Brunt.

In a first half where clear-cut chances were scarce, it was Red Rose who controlled the early stages. The first opportunity of the game saw Josh Corker’s long-range effort go high and wide after three minutes. Soon after a D’Ray Williams header resulted in a comfortable save from Brunt.

It took until the eleventh minute for Juniors to have their first chance, a cheeky lob from Liam Royles was caught by goalkeeper Richard Radford. This looked to spring Juniors into life, Royles and Dean Smith had half-chances from headers, saved and sent over the crossbar, respectively. This was before Hayes would have felt he could have done better when he lost his marker but a poor header was gathered comfortably. Juniors had the final half-chance of the opening forty-five, but Lee Jordan, dressed in Millmoor’s luminous yellow away strip, would have felt he could have executed a brighter final ball, and the Red Rose goalkeeper collected the over-hit pass into his palms.

Both sides came out for the second half with more energy, as Royles sent an effort wide on 47 minutes, prior to Ecclesfield’s opener at the opposite end of the pitch. Rowley’s effort for Red Rose was then thwarted by Brunt.

Supporters may have felt Ecclesfield had passed up a golden opportunity. Williams found space in the Millmoor box but instead of slotting the one-on-one beyond the goalkeeper, which would have doubled Red Rose’s lead, he opted to find Bamford, but Brunt rushed to gather the ball at the feet of the first goalscorer.

Shortly after the equaliser, the best save of the game was produced. Royles’ shot looked destined for the top right, only for him to find it spectacularly denied by Red Rose’s Radford.

Juniors must have began to fancy their chances at this stage. They kept on the offensive and James Martin’s header sprang against the post from Dean Smith’s cross.

But Ecclesfield were rejuvenated by these missed chances, as Junior’s heads began to drop. Zac-Fleming Wright half-volleyed Billy Rowley’s layoff wide of the post, before D’Ray Williams sent a long-range effort wide with twenty minutes remaining.

Millmoor Juniors’ created little within the closing quarter. Robert Hayes’ powerful shot, which was caught by the keeper, was the closest they came; that before Zac-Fleming found the crucial finish which sent Ecclesfield 2-1 up. With two minutes remaining Liam Boswell nearly found a third, but the stretched Millmoor defence escaped temporarily as he sent it wide. But in stoppage time Boswell found the ball at his feet from Williams’ ball to complete the scoring.

Despite battling at the foot of the table, Ecclesfield will be delighted with the cup run and undoubtedly will see themselves with a good chance of going all the way.

Ecclesfield Red Rose Team: Richard Radford, Jake Slater, Ryan Radford, Ben Sanderson, Ben Brown, Ryan Keeney, Josh Corker, Billy Rowley, D’Ray Williams, Harry O’Neil, Wesley Bamford. Substitutes: Zac-Fleming Wright, Zarik Akran, Jake Ford, Liam Boswell, Ben Webster

Millmoor Juniors Team: Ben Brunt, Lloyd Gelsthorpe, Steve Bayston, Liam Royles, Jordan Lowe, Lee Williams, Craig Cooke, Dean Smith, Martin Jones, Robert Hayes, Lee Jordan. Substitutes: Ryan-Glyn Nicholson, Andy Haythorne, Michael Clarke