Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Tadcaster Albion 2-1 Barton Town Old Boys
Gregg Anderson celebrates his goal. Picture: Ian Parker
Josh Greening and Gregg Anderson were the heroes of the first half and Gary Stevens the hero of the second as Tadcaster saw off Barton to stay top of the table.
Goals from Greening and Anderson gave The Brewers a comfortable lead at the break before Gareth Barlow pulled one back with eighteen minutes to go. It was a somewhat nervy ending however Stevens was once again in fine form.
It was Taddy’s second outing at home in 2016 but it was the visitors who should have taken the lead inside two minutes. Jonathan Greening’s over confidence almost cost him as his square pass fell straight to Barton captain Barlow whose prodded shot was brilliantly kept out by Gary Stevens.
After the early scare, Taddy had to wake up and shrug off the nervous energy around the i2i Stadium and a Barton defender almost calmed the nerves. Henry Gill came very close to sweeping Josh Greening’s driven cross into the back of his own net, luckily for the Swans, it whistled out for a corner as Conor Sellars waited at the back post for a tap in.
The resulting corner was taken short between Josh Greening and Conor Sellars and after the initial cross was blocked, the former Worksop Town attacker retrieved and fired high into the danger area. The high cross was knocked downwards by Andy Milne which then dropped to Josh Greening who volleyed venomously off the crossbar. Goalkeeper Robert Zand was well and truly beaten.
With twenty minutes gone, The Brewers were finally starting to play their usual fast flowing attacking football and should have been a goal to the good but Sellars’ low finish was disallowed after being adjudged to have fouled Gill.
However, two minutes later the home side did in fact take the lead as Josh Greening netted his 17th goal of the season putting him joint top scorer at the club with Adam Baker. Jordan Cooke horrendously sliced a bouncing through ball which sent panic stations into the Barton back line as Taddy looked to pounce. Jimmy Beadle controlled the miscued clearance, held off his man and turned to face the goal before shifting to Greening. Greening then intelligently chose to roll the ball to Sellars whose shot was saved but Josh Greening got his just reward as he tapped in the rebound from three yards.
The Brewers were really finding their feet in the match now as less than sixty seconds later Josh Greening came within a whisker of doubling his lead and his goal tally for the afternoon. Jonathan Greening rolled it to his younger brother who executed a sublime 90 degree turn and with the whole goal gaping, the striker curled the ball just the wrong side of the post.
Josh Greening was looking incredibly hungry for goals after being bitterly frustrated in midweek as ten minutes later he came agonisingly close once more. Liam Ormsby drove out of midfield and at the heart of Barton’s defence before playing it to Greening who performed that same turn again and struck narrowly wide again.
Taddy did eventually score their second goal of the half. Josh Greening turned provider this time as his in swinging corner was glanced in by the towering figure of Anderson who rose brilliantly at the near post to double their lead.
Straight from the kick-off of the second half The Brewers carved out an opportunity as Sellars’ craft and creativity allowed him to deliver into Beadle who headed over the target.
Barton were being given the opportunity in the second 45 to have a go at Tadcaster and came close to pulling a goal back five minutes into the half. Ash Lattimore’s deflected shot fell kindly out to the left to substitute Corey Mortimer whose fierce shot was saved superbly by Stevens.
The league leaders were struggling to create any chances at all in the second half, even half chances as Jason Mycoe’s wild strike was the only shot from The Brewers in the first half hour.
What followed shortly after was a moment of controversy in the match. A back pass to Stevens in the Tadcaster goal was closed down by Gareth Barlow and as Stevens waited to pick up, it was clear it wasn’t going to beat Barlow therefore Stevens opted to handle the ball just outside the penalty area leaving the referee with a big decision to make. The referee called the goalkeeper over with the men in blue urging for a dismissal. The referee decided to show Stevens just a yellow card which sent the Barton bench mad and the official had to go over and calm down the visitors.
The resulting free-kick was struck by Ash Lattimore but well deflected out for a corner by the yellow wall.
And a nervy finale it certainly was as the watching on home fans urged for their side to hold on as Stevens was doing just that in the Taddy goal. Alex Sherwood ran through on goal down the left hand side for the Old Boys and struck cleanly only to be kept out by a magnificent save from Stevens. The stopper already seemed to be grounded and it looked as though it was heading for a level game until an outstretched right hand denied the midfielder and kept Taddy ahead.
The visitors obviously pushed more men forward in the final five minutes which meant space in behind was always an option and this is what substitutes like Nick Black thrive upon but this time the striker lashed wide.
The Brewers had an opportunity to seal the three points but subs Carl Stewart and Josh Barrett couldn’t combine to find the net but time eventually ran out for Barton and Tadcaster held on for the three points keeping them two points clear at the top of the league.
Tadcaster Albion: Stevens, Armstrong, Clayton, Milne, Anderson, Mycoe, Jonathan Greening, Sellars (Stewart 88), Ormsby, Beadle (captain) (Barrett 78), Josh Greening (Black 72). Subs unused: Baker, Heath
Thanks to Jay Taylor for this report.