Millmoor Juniors Under 21’s 3-3 Caribbean Sports Under 21’s

County Senior League Under 21 Division; Saturday 19^th December 2015

 

Two goals in the final five minutes from Caribbean Sports ensured the visitors a share of the spoils as Millmoor Juniors were held to their first league draw of this season.

The visitors had opened the scoring on twenty four minutes. A beautifully struck free kick from Josh Sugden from the edge of the box nestled into the bottom corner and beyond the diving Millmoor goalkeeper Brandon Greeves.

It wasn’t until midway through the second half when the ball hit the back of the net for the second time. A deep free kick from Sam Stacey was met by the head of defender Alex Scesby who nodded the ball home for Millmoor Juniors’ equaliser.

  The turnaround was complete six minutes later as Corey Cresswell capitalised on poor Caribbean Sports defending and slotted the ball calmly into the net.

The hosts made it 3-1 with eight minutes to go, with Stacey’s mid-range effort going through a crowd of players and into the top corner, leaving Tom Morgan in the visitor’s goal helpless.

With three points seemingly sealed, Juniors began to take their foot off the gas. Aaron Williamson slotted in a one-on-one to make it 3-2 before Andre Redhead’s neat turn and shot ensured a point for the Ecclesfield-based side.

Despite the credible result and performance, Caribbean Sports remain just one point ahead of bottom-placed Bawtry Town and are still in search of their first win of the season.

The competitive tone of the fixture was set almost from the first whistle. Within the opening five minutes Liam South suffered an injury, believed to be concussion and was sent to a nearby hospital.

The first chance of the game occurred on seven minutes. Millmoor’s Corey Cresswell was cleanly tackled in the penalty area, with the loose ball falling to the feet of Joe Yates who narrowly missed the target.

It was an end-to-end match throughout; moments later Nathan Owen’s dashing effort looked destined for the top corner, only to spectacularly tipped over by the Greeves.

  Sports continued to press. Aaron Williamson produced a powerful low shot from the edge of the box which was parried by Greeves. The striker reacted quickest, sending the rebound beyond the grounded goalkeeper but narrowly wide of the post.

On twelve minutes Sam Stacey almost opened the scoring with a shot of high quality; his half volley drifting inches wide of the post.

Chances continued to be created. Mitchell Osbourne’s cross for Caribbean Sports was met by substitute Connor Brady, who sent his glancing header wide.

Aaron Williamson’s low cross then found Hamza El Yogou, but the shot was straight at the goalkeeper, Greeves.

However the visitors opened the scoring with their next attack. A stunning free kick from just outside the penalty area floated over the wall and past the outstretched arms of the keeper.

At the other end of the field Millmoor appealed for a penalty after Stacey was tackled by Luke Allinson, only for the referee to wave away the protests.

Greeves’ blushes were spared when he slipped taking a goalkick. The ball fell to Williamson who sent his first-time effort just wide.

The second half continued to be a lively affair with chances aplenty continuing to be created by both sides.

Yates was inches over with a header from Sam Stacey’s corner before Scesby netted the equaliser on 55 minutes.

It was 2-1 on the next attack; Cresswell found himself in aches of space and slotted a fine shot into the corner of the goal.

Millmoor were oozing with confidence. Stacey latched onto a through ball from Cresswell only for the half-volley to disappear wide of the left post. 

Soon after Yates attempted a cheeky lob from the halfway line which was smothered by Morgan, before Cresswell’s effort was parried by the goalkeeper and hoofed away from the goal-line.

Morgan’s reflexes were soon called into action again. Cresswell played the ball through to Yates who fired a low shot which was required to be parried round the post, before Stacey made it 3-1 one minute later.

However a frantic final few minutes ensured. Williamson spotted Greeves off his line and his first time effort was smoothly slotted into the bottom corner for 3-2.

With virtually the last kick off the game, Redhead found himself with his back to goal. Neat skill allowed the striker to turn and escape the challenge from defender and goalkeeper before slotting the ball into the net to end the match at 3-3.

Millmoor Juniors Under 21’s team: Brandon Greeves, Alex Scesby, Luke Bann, Josh Wainwright, Joe Morgan, Liam South, Spencer Hunt, Corey Cresswell, Joe Yates, Sam Stacey, Jordan Beard. Substitutes: Danny Mould, Hussien Hadhrami, Billy Jackson.

Caribbean Sports Under 21’s team: Tom Morgan, Nathan Owen, Josh Sugden, James Whittaker, Luke Allinson, Mitchell Osbourne, Callum Sugden, Tiago Carvalho, Andre Redhead, Aaron Williamson, Hamza El Yogou. Substitute: Connor Brady

Millmoor Juniors Reserves 0-2 Caribbean Sports

County Senior League Division One; Saturday 5^th December 2015

A quickfire early brace from Caribbean Sports’ striker Rayon Ramsey gave visitors Caribbean Sports a deserved victory over Millmoor Juniors Reserves and sent the hosts slumping to the foot of Division One.

The away side took the lead with their first shot on target. Ross Barrow’s tricky run down the left was followed by a pinpoint cross to the head of David Heffernan who was denied by the crossbar, only for Ramsey to slot home the rebound.

Their second goal, a moment later, stemmed from a Daniel Harriot long throw and was neatly finished by Ramsey who was in the right place at the right time.

Barrow almost added a third Caribbean goal, cutting inside from the left and manoeuvring into space before thrashing an effort against the crossbar on the stroke of half time.

The same player was denied by the woodwork, shortly after the interval too. The attacker dispossessed Charlie Pocock in the area before drilling his effort against the right-hand upright.

The victory moved Caribbean Sports to third in the league table, above Denaby Main and within three points of Wombwell Main.

Millmoor were undone almost from the kick-off. Ramsey opened the scoring after under three minutes, tucking in Heffernan’s rebound before doubling the lead two minutes later.

Caribbean continued to dominate for long spells; Anthony Holmes’ low cross was met at the far post by Ramsey but the effort was denied on the line by a defender.

The visitors showed excellent link-up play throughout the game. Luke Parwana found Ramsey who fed a neat through ball into the path of Stacy Sharif whose shot required the excellent reflexes of Brandon Greeves to keep it out.

On fourteen minutes Barrow was played through one-on-one. His effort was parried by Greeves, but the ball continued to slide towards the goal-line and required a covering defender to keep it out.

 Caribbean pressed and pressed, Ramsey’s low cross from the left was met by Heffernan but the one-on-one effort fell wide of the right post.

Millmoor had pace amongst their ranks and looked dangerous on the counter attack. At the end of a clever move, Ben Jordan fired a long range effort wide of the post.

Holmes then produced a curling free-kick from the left and Sharif’s resulting header denied by the goalkeeper.

Millmoor captain Chriss Howard then played a perfect ball onto Thomas Daredes who spirited clear one-on-one in a central position, but Thomas Parker was quick off his line to narrow the angle and the Junior’s striker placed his delicate lob just wide of the post.

Four minutes later Howard then released a curling shot from the edge of the box into the goalkeeper’s grateful hands.

Caribbean’s Barrow was in fine form. Upon receiving the ball from Gavin Davis down the left flank, he cut inside, bypassing two defenders before whistling a shot wide of the right post. He then crashed an effort against the bar on the stroke of half time.

In the second half Sports continued to be the better side. Barrow snatched the ball from Millmoor’s Charlie Pocock before drilling his shot against the post. He then sent a long range effort wide after a neat build-up with Stacy Sharif.

In the 58^th minute Harriott’s free-kick breezed just over before Barrow was denied by Greeves once again.

Barrow then intercepted a loose ball which sent the attacker clean through but the shot failed to hit the target.

Substitute Lewis Turnbell almost added a third goal at the death for Sports, but his powerful effort was pushed behind by a busy Greeves, to end the game at 2-0.

Millmoor Juniors Reserves are now winless in the league since the 31^st October, whereas Caribbean Sports haven’t suffered defeat since their loss at Wombwell Main at the very start of October.

Millmoor Juniors Reserves team: Brandon Greeves, Jordan Beard, Spencer Hunt, Charlie Pocock, Josh Walsh, Chriss Howard, Billy Jackson, Ben Jordan, Jake Duckenfield, Thomas Daredes, Mused Saleem. Substitute: Liam Hannah.

Caribbean Sports: Thomas Parker, Dan Tourzani, Anthony Holmes, Robert Shelly, Daniel Harriott, Gavin Davis, Ross Barrow, Luke Parwana, Rayon Ramsey, Stacy Sharif, David Heffernan. Substitute: Lewis Turnbell.

Swinton Athletic 0-2 Houghton Main

County Senior League Premier Division; Saturday 14th November 2015

The excellent understanding of Houghton Main attackers’ Ashley Emmett and Kieran Hirst proved to be the decisive difference in Saturday’s County Senior League Premier Division promotion clash with Swinton Athletic.

The pair combined in both goals as Main left the Mexborough Athletic Club ground with a 2-0 victory after scoring at the midway point of the first and second halves.

The visitors took the lead in the 25^th minute. Good work from Hirst down the left and a delicious, pin-point through ball to Emmett allowed the Number Seven to compose himself before calmly slotting the ball beneath the Swinton goalkeeper, Dan Morton, and into the back of the net.

Eighteen minutes from time the points were sealed. Jekyll and Hyde defending from Swinton’s Ben Pankovics and Jon Billups allowed Emmett’s to break away with the ball at his feet, before a low ball forward picked out Hirst who casually chipped his shot into the top left hand corner, beyond the diving Morton.

The result, Houghton’s ninth victory in twelve league matches, extends the club’s lead at the top of the table, with Swinton now trailing them by twelve points.

A minute’s silence prior to the match marked a potent tribute to the Paris terrorist attacks which had taken place the previous evening.

Both sides lined up with systems which aimed to flood the midfield, and so it proved with a game of few chances. 

Houghton however, looked the brighter and created the best of the early chances. Emmett showed signs of things to come when driving past defender George Morley but his resulting cross-come-shot was collected by Morton.

Hirst demonstrated a skilful move when dribbling past Pankovics, before pulling the ball back and swinging a fierce, left-footed drive onto the crossbar.

Houghton continued to press and moments later a powerful effort from 25 yards by Ryan Beadling flew wide of the left hand post.

The visitors have many attributes of a side challenging for the league title and their qualities were shown throughout the game. Jake Simon chipped the ball into the path of Emmett, who brought the ball down with his chest before unleashing a volley which went narrowly wide.

 On 21 minutes they came close to taking the lead. Simon’s run down the left created space in the middle for Hirst who had peeled away from his marking defender. However the striker’s shot lacked the necessary power and despite beating the goalkeeper was cleared off the line by Pankovics.

However Houghton’s wait for a goal was soon to come to an end. Hirst turned provider for Emmett who fired a close range shot beneath the diving Morton to make it 1-0.

It took until the 29^th minute for Swinton to register their first shot. Lucas Briggs’ effort was blocked by a defender before Craig Mitchell’s effort from the edge of the box failed to trouble Damon Watson.

Swinton’s back three looked outnumbered at times and Houghton were keen to deploy high pressing and put the hosts under pressure. A defensive mix up saw the ball fall to Emmett, who escaped a challenge before slamming the ball into the body of the Swinton goalkeeper.

Another defensive mix-up amongst the Swinton defence five minutes later saw Emmett round goalkeeper Morton, but Morley was on hand to clear the goal-bound effort.

With only a 1-0 deficit, Swinton were still in the match and produced an improved second half display. However Houghton still created many of the early post-interval opportunities with Emmett denied by Morton and Hirst sending a shot wide.

On 58 minutes, Swinton won a free-kick on the edge of the box. Pankovics placed the ball down, but his blistering effort flew just wide of the right post.

Simon then dispossessed the Swinton right full back and slotted the ball through to Hirst, only to see Morton pull off a superb save from the resulting one-on-one.

At the other end, Houghton were attempting to slow the game down and conceded a number of free-kicks. The latest of which, from a central position, saw Jon Billups send a shot over the bar.

The warning signs from Swinton’s defence remained and the scoreline was settled with another debacle. Emmett pounced on a misunderstanding between Pankovics and Billups before slotting in Hirst who duly found the net.

It was almost 3-0 when Ryan Beadling found his way on to the end of a long ball from the back, but his first-time effort was smothered by Morton.

Pankovics, having an eventful afternoon, saw the ball taken from him by Emmett whose resulting cross was struck powerfully by Hirst but Morton denied the lively striker his second goal of the game.

As the full-time whistle loomed, substitute Luke Shaw found himself on the end of Morton’s free kick but sent a glancing header wide of the left post, and the game ended 2-0.

Defeat for second-placed Swallownest ensures that Houghton have a three point lead at the top of the Premier Division, whilst Swinton remain fifth. 

Swinton Athletic team: Dan Morton, Craig Mitchell, Ryan Doxey, Lucas Briggs, Ben Pankovics, Jon Billups, George Morley, Guy Sandland, Joe Dungworth, Matt Beevers, Aaron Wilks. Substitutes: Connor Doxey, Darren Walker, Justin Greenwood, Luke Shaw, Hayden Barret.

Houghton Main team: Damon Watson, Danny Burkinson, Jake Ward, Ryan Beadling, Macauley Evans, Aaron Tate, Ashley Emmett, Max Phillis, Joel Hunt, Kieran Hirst Jake Simon. Substitutes: Connor Turford, Nicky Harper, Darren Green, Craig Jackson.