Yorkshire Amateur 2-1 Steels
Stocksbridge Park Steels pressed but weren’t able to come back to get a point against ten-man Yorkshire Amateur.
Ross Duggan gave Yorkshire the lead when he broke the offside trap before finishing smartly past Ed Hall. He doubled his tally for the day after finishing off a good move. Luke Mangham missed a chance to get one back when his penalty was saved but the Steels did grab one when Josh Nodder turned and fired into the bottom corner. Stephen Crawford would be sent off for the hosts after a stamp on Jordan Lemon, but the Steels couldn’t get the equaliser they needed despite the one man advantage.
The first half was a cagey affair with both teams struggling to create clear cut chances. Kurtis Turner was able to break through but the Ammers did good work to stop being able to get onto his favoured right foot and in the end, he was forced to hit it with his left. That ended up being a strong shot that went just wide. At the other end, Adam Priestley was a constant nuisance by stealing the ball in areas he had no right to. He did this to Hall on one occasion and he followed it up by curling the shot while the goalkeeper was in no man’s land. This curling shot would end up over.
The game did need something to break it open and unfortunately for the visitors, that special something came for Yorkshire. After some pressure from Stocksbridge, they broke and Duggan was able to break the offside trap. He went clear and he duly finished when he went one-on-one with Hall. Stocksbridge did almost fire back right after this when Nodder hit the post but it did mean the Ammers had the lead going into first half.
Stocksbridge manager Ian Richards would have torn up his plans for the second half within a few minutes. Good passing from Yorkshire created an opportunity for Duggan who hit a powerful shot that left Hall with little chance of saving it.
Yorkshire looked more likely to get the next goal but sometimes a bit of luck is all you need to turn the game on its head. Hall’s clearance went over everyone and Nodder was alive to the ball and knocked it down into the box. He was pushed over and a penalty was given. Mangham stepped up but Max Culverhouse was equal to it as Mangham tried to slot it into the bottom corner.
Thankfully, the Steels did get the goal. It was from direct play again as Nodder latched onto a ball before he was able to turn and find the ball into the bottom corner. With that strike, the momentum was with the away side.
There would soon be another boost for Stocksbridge. Jordan Lemon and Stephen Crawford both went for the ball but the Steels full-back was left on the floor in agony. The referee judged it to be a stamp on Lemon and would send Crawford off for the offence.
Stocksbridge would press and despite some close calls, they just couldn’t get that crucial goal. The closest was from a late corner which caused chaos in the box and included Liam McFadyen having a shot which was blocked close to the line. But the Ammers were professional and were able to close the game out.
