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 25th 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 29th 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.
