County Youth 0 Guiseley 0

By Unknown - April 25, 2014

County`s Youth team fought out an excellent 0-0 draw in the un familiar surroundings of Park Road the home of Cheadle Town, today.

It was a cracking match and having toured Yorkshire in search of one of any ilk earlier in the week, I for one was well pleased and not a little relieved, even though the venue had more than a touch of the building site about it with the main stand, long slaved over by teams of HtH painters, rapidly disappearing before our eyes!

Kameron Palmer.

County`s opponents were Guiseley, who had already beaten them twice this season, the last time by 6-1, and with Kingsley Charles , Ryan Dunne and Danny Dalton prominent early on another chastening lesson looked on for the blues. But for County Kameron Palmer stood up to the challenge well and with captain Leon Murphy covering the lively Luke Porritt on the other flank the first 5 or six minutes saw both teams probe the other looking for an opening that refused to come.

Then one did....on 7 minutes, for the visitors, but Redmond Lee, could not put Dalton`s cross away from close in. Guiseley continued to press, with Dalton in the van, but keeper Adam Rigby stood tall between the sticks for County with some excellent handling , and a neat bit of work to deny Lee who had darted clear.

Ist Half

One of many good catches by Adam Rigby.

The pressure was on County but Wes Barker and Kris Livesey looked solid , and with Demell Cumberbatch tracking back in support ,Guiseley were kept at bay, as Rigby treated us to another neat catch from one of a series of Guiseley corners.

The first real effort from County came from Murphy, 20 minutes in, but his firmly struck volley went wide, but this was against the flow of play , and Palmer, Barker, Livesey and Murphy had to work really hard in cahoots with Callum Jones to keep it at 0-0.

County under pressure.

30 minutes came and went with both teams having a go....Lee going close from Dunne`s cross one minute at one end , then the impressive Chris Knowler doing likewise at the other end. The nip/tuck bit continued as Palmer did small miracles to stop the tricky Porritt......Rigby pulled off another save to deny Dalton, before a County resurgence was signalled by great work from Demell Cumberbatch and Ben Spibey, who were only stopped by a fantastic interception by Josh Snowden.

Cumberbatch and Spibey test Guiseley.....

County at last had the bit in their teeth and went for it as another neat pass from Cumberbatch picked out Spibey who was unlucky to see his shot drift inches wide. County were definitely getting better and this was underlined as keeper Conor Crossley excelled with a fine save to keep a strike by Cumberbatch out! The half ended with Charlie Mather stretching the visitors with a tasty run, and Cumberbatch again teeing Spibey up for a crack at goal which again missed out narrowly.

Into the second half which opened with a cracking shot from Albert Keeling needing an excellent save by Crossley to keep it at 0-0.

If the first 5 minutes after the break were mainly County`s, this took a sudden change shortly after ,and the increasingly excellent Rigby( who was my County M.O.M) did wonders to stop Porritt scoring. Porritt ran at the blues again...being stopped by neat work from Callum Jones, who repeated the trick moments later as Lee joined the fray!

It was a hectic time at the back for County but they were proving up to it against a fine Guiseley side obviously on the look out for a win! On it went with Palmer doing brilliantly to stop Lee, before Porritt tucked a right wing cross home only to be denied by the upraised liner`s flag. Surely Guiseley would score soon, but....no....Kingsley Charles thought that his shot, just passed the hour, was a winner until Rigby thwarted him with a superb diving stop.

Adam Rigby.

Substitute Jermain Wilson then went close twice, as did the busy Charles.

The situation begged a response from County and in the 78th minute it came via substitute Nicko Brown who instantly got in the face of Crossley who had to look sharp to keep the score line blank. Although Cumberbatch and Mather worked a decent raid not long after, Crossley was not troubled by the end product of this and Guiseley just went onto the attack again, bringing Rigby`s best save of the day out of him ...a real belter as Lee`s header curled towards the top corner.Rigby was not done either and a fine save with his legs stopped Porritt on the end of another impish run! More pressure followed.... and more good work from Jones and Livesey resisted it admirably.

Just when it looked all over...a 0-0 draw, albeit a good quality one....County broke from defence through Knowler and Brown and in a trice the ball was with Cumberbatch and for the first time this afternoon Crossley looked dished.

Nico Brown thwarted by Conor Crossley.

The shot was a good one from Cumberbatch and sure enough Crossley was beaten, but the ball drifted an inch or so wide of the far post and that was that...the last kick of a decent game!

County line up;

Adam Rigby,Kameron Palmer, Leon Murphy, Wesley Barker,Kristopher Livesey, Callum Jones, Charlie Mather, Chris Knowler, Ben Spibey, Demell Cumberbatch, Albert Keeling.Substitute: Nico Brown.

Guiseley line up;

Conor Crossley,Ben Walker, Elliott Scott, Callum Marshall, Josh Snowden, Ryan Dunne, Luke Porritt, Danny Dalton,Redmond Lee, Dale Spink, Kingsley Charles. Substitutes: Jermain Wilson, Jack Murray.

Ian Brown.

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