County 0 Hednesford Town 1 : Conference North.
Another
Saturday for County, saw another deeply depressing 90 minutes end with visitors Hednesford Town taking all
the points at Edgeley Park in front of not far short of 3000.
Hednesford
were probably favourites, by virtue of their league position and current form,
but even so it was disappointing, if not a great surprise, to see them take an
early lead through a Charlie Anagho- Ntamark goal. What was even more
disappointing, but unfortunately no great surprise, was the ineffectual
response from County, who failed to test keeper Dan Crane throughout the game.
I am not sure but maybe we have to look
no further than the midfield for the answer..........the midfield was swamped
as Town put numbers in that zone, and took it from there.
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| Top man, and M.O.M- Stephen O`Halloran ! |
As a result........this
put pressure on the County back line that had done so well on Tuesday. With
Stephen O`Halloran again outstanding, they responded well, albeit they had to
reorganise when Charnock went off injured midway through the first half, but
where was the link between the back four and the forwards? I looked hard but
could not see it! Then what of the forwards? Well....Jevons worked hard as
usual, but from such a withdrawn position that much of his work was wasted.
Moke did well again and for much of the time he was County`s only source of
attacking vitality, but time after time he had to come inside and forage for
the ball instead of being able to feast on a wealth of passes. To be fair
Howard tried hard particularly after the break, but that was that. Crane should
have brought his paper and a decky such was the threat coming his way much of
the time. With Dennis totally lost and off the pace throughout the match, it
was a surprise to see Moke substituted, and an even bigger one to see Oates on
instead of the much trumpeted new man Sanchez Payne.
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| Sanchez Payne, splinter free at this stage! |
Payne did not show at all,
and Dennis played a full 90 minutes, which with us needing a goal desperately,
seemed odd, as did the `like for like` Churchman for Platt late switch.
This is all
a bit manic....and I apologise......I really should be used to it by now, but I
am not....and it hurts, and the sight of Micky Flynn and Tony Dinning ( from
the bad old days!) on the pitch at the break, only served to salt the wounds!
Nuff said
though......on with the match report, and at 3 o`clock there was just one
change in County`s starting line up from Tuesday, that of Howard for Lofthouse,
so at that stage, notwithstanding the wince inducing sight of Mr Michael
Salisbury in the middle, this seemed much as expected and gave us a reasonable
chance of doing something, on our own patch, against a decent side.
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| County- raring to go ! |
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| This excellent pic from Darren Berry on vacation from CE in Main Stand! |
It was cagey
stuff to start with as O`Halloran and Charnock busied themselves ushering
hopeful balls from the visitors back to Ormson. At the other end Jevons gave
Moke an early sniff of the ball, but the first 3 minutes passed with no real
incident to report.
A throw then
put County on the back foot ,but O`Halloran and Charnock had the situation
boxed off and no danger seemed on the cards until Tom Thorley hastened to the
ground under little or no blue pressure, and Mr Salisbury obliged with the
games first free kick. Thorley lifted this into the box where Danny Glover went
for it, but Ormson prevailed, making it his with a confident gather.
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| County defend. |
The sixth
minute gave us all a fright, and County a timely warning, as Lees did well to
block Marvin Johnson, or appeared to do,
as the ball ran on to captain Darren Campion wide on the left. Campion made it
to the by-line before pumping a dangerous ball across the box. It was a bad
moment, but...try as he might Charlie Anagho-Ntamark just could not reach it.
Neither could anyone else and the danger was over!
Ten minutes
had gone..........
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| O`Halloran to the fore! |
.................... and O`Halloran was in his element winning a couple of good defensive
headers. Hednesford meanwhile had done pretty much all the attacking, and
looked neat and tidy when doing it, with Johnson seeming their man to watch,
but it was 0-0, and therefore still all to play for! Unfortunately
though....
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| A free kick for County to defend. |
.....play seemed destined not to move out of County`s half , and Charnock
and Lees did well to hold firm as a second free kick pinned us back once more.
A foul on Howard offered County some relief but it was short lived as
Milligan`s free kick came back County`s way in double short time.
That said,
County did threaten briefly via Moke, but there was nothing in the way of
support coming his way, thus the move broke down, and not long after the ball
was back with Johnson who bullied his way to the by-line before unleashing the
mother of all low crosses goal ward. It was a belter and needed a similar
response from County, but Duxbury was the wrong side of Anagho- Ntamark , and he made short work of forcing the ball
home from close in! Thirteen minutes gone.....one down......bugger .... but
maybe County would rally and show us a thing or two!
Well
......maybe, but there was no one up to take advantage when Howard received
from Dennis and put the ball into the box, a couple of minutes later.
That last
action was but a brief interlude in the attacking play of the visitors, and had
Johnson`s set piece proficiency matched that of his wing play, County might
have struggled, instead one flag kick, on 21 minutes, from the Pitmen`s number
eight, flew out at speed, and another 3 minutes later nestled harmlessly on the
top of the netting.
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| Action at corner...... |
All was not
well however for County and Charnock had to be substituted having picked up a
leg injury, bringing Fagbola on. This meant Lees switched inside( no doubt
happy to get away from Johnson) with Fagbola wide right- a position he seems
not to prefer or shine in.
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| Rare moment of activity for Crane..... |
The 30
minute mark saw County win a rare corner, but Howard could not get a shot off
at the back of the box and this rather typically ended in farce with County hot
footing it back to where Ormson was along with a bevy of red shirts. The red
shirts looked favourites to latch onto the ball however, and Ormson did well to
deny them with a quick intervention!
A County
free kick, won when Moke was brought down just outside the box, saw Milligan`s kick
go out for a corner off the wall, and this saw a defender head out off the
line, which was County`s first effort on target in 33 minutes of football! A
second beckoned shortly after, and again via a Moke run, and Hednesford`s only
answer when he swerved past them and cut inside was to bring him down, and
that`s what they did! Again Milligan took it, but Hednesford got bodies back
and ushered it clear.
Hmmm......County
were beginning to stir a bit, and about time too.......but a Jevons cross just
eluded Howard, who was beaten to another Jevons tempter moments after by Crane
who seemed none the worse for the prolonged period of inactivity. He looked
about to get busier, but Dennis missed the target with one shot, and Moke was
inches from reaching a Duxbury cross.
The last
action of the half from County, involved Moke who sent Fagbola clear on the
overlap down the right. Fagbola`s cross was not bad, but Howard`s lack of
inches did for him, and he was brushed off the ball somewhat easily.
Half time
then, and with County kicking towards us this half, maybe things would take a
turn for the better!
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| Decent Hednesford numbers ! |
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| Part of Upper Tier Cheadle End. |
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| Legends Mike Flynn and Tony Dinning at half time, pic by Darren Berry. |
Some wag in
the PA department managed to have `All we need is a miracle` blasting out as
County took to the park after the break, but I would settle for something as mundane
as a goal...a County goal.....a slutchy fluke would do! Not that desperation
was setting in!
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| Howard, pressurises! |
Well......County
tried, with Moke on the `forage` hungrily trying to ginger things up, and
Howard ( probably fearing an imminent subbing) nipped here and there in an
effort to emulate Moke. That edge of class was however missing and this was
amply bourne out, on 50 minutes, when a Howard cross was helped on nicely by
Jevons to Dennis, but the response from County`s number nine was woefully slow
and the chance went begging.
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| County press. |
The blues
kept pegging away though, but without anything resembling luck ,as there was
more than a hint of red shirt holding blue as Howard battled in the box with
John Disney, but the referee saw nothing untoward and Disney was able to find
touch.
It went
on....Moke missing by inches.....Dennis offside ( apparently) going for a high/
bouncer, and stopped from reaching a Jevons ball moments after by Paul McCone.
County did win themselves a couple of corners during this period , where a goal
for the blues would not have been that outrageously unbelievable, but the
quality was lacking as far as finishing was concerned and despite the pressure continuing, nothing fruitful
came of it.
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| More County pressure! |
Expecting
Payne .....I was surprised to see Oates replace Platt with about 25 minutes
left , but forgot this for a moment as
Lees fouled Glover who then proceeded to play dead for the referee`s benefit.
Mr Salisbury liked it.......booked Lees, whereupon Glover sprang to life miraculously!
Utterly reprehensible, but then I am naive am I not! No matter.....the kick was
defended well enough by County, so the damage was contained.
County came
under the cosh for a time after this, and passes started to go astray as a
consequence- that said.....Moke and Oates were only kept out by decent work
from Thorley and Campion with just 15 minutes to go, so there was still
hope...wasn`t there?
Well.....yes....but...what`s
this....substitute Wayne Riley was away, and the flag stayed down as he picked
out Mike Lennon. This was a really dicey moment...in fact Ormson was exposed
and looked dished, but instead he saved the forward`s shot with his legs, which
was about as good a response as we could have wanted! Excellent stuff! County
defended the corner well, and the follow up from Riley was abysmally under par,
so the score stayed 1-0.
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| Ormson goes long....... |
County tried
to respond through Dennis and Jevons to no avail, and via Oates, but he was
flagged off side when things looked slightly promising.
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| Oates flagged offside.....hmmm.......!!!!! |
With Moke
off, and Churchman on, I am not sure what this signalled with us still a goal
down, with around 10 minutes left to play.
The score
didn`t change in the 5 minutes that followed on from this personnel change, but
it might have, because Ormson spilled a shot, and as it came out off his chest,
Glover somehow managed to spray his shot beyond the far post- an amazing miss!
County then
went long, and McCone and Bailey got themselves in an almighty tangle trying to
deal with the situation as the pill bounced their way in the box with Oates
showing a lively interest. First off they seemed to have it and Oates looked
beaten, but then they didn`t, and he had another go, but when he was past them
a foot shot out and down he went!
Penalty?...................
Credit to
them, County kept trying, but...urged to shoot by the crowd.....Lees on the
burst, did so and lifted a defenders shot into our midst on Row R.
Into 4
minutes added time we went with Riley so close to doubling Town`s advantage,
and in response Milligan lifted ball after ball up and into the box from
deep...all to no avail.
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| Milligan launches another one...... |
Try as they
might, County were on a loser and soon enough Mr Salisbury confirmed this with
the final whistle.
I had
expected better......we didn`t get it.....perhaps next time.....I certainly
hope so!
County line
up;
Ormson,
Lees, Charnock ( Fagbola 25), O`Halloran, Duxbury, Platt( Oates 66),Milligan,
Moke ( Churchman 79), Jevons, Howard , Dennis.
Subs not
used; Payne, Moses.
Hednesford
Town line up:
Crane,
Disney, Campion,Bailey, McCone, Mac Pherson, Osbourne, Johnson, Glover,
Anagho-Ntamark, Thorley.
Attendance: 2669
Ian Brown
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