Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Athersley Rec 2-4 Yorkshire Amateur
Gibraltar International Adam Priestley scored two first half goals as leaders Yorkshire Amateur comfortably maintained their superb start to the campaign with victory at Athersley Rec.
Priestley, Casey Stewart and an unbelievable scissor kick from Roy Fogarty secured the three points by the hour mark for Craig Ogilvie and Neil Sibson’s powerful Ammers.
Lee Garside pulled it back to 2-1 late in the first half and Kyle Wordsworth’s second half injury-time goal for the Rec was a mere consolation.
Although the Ammers were dominant throughout, Shane Kelsey’s Athersley had the odd foray forward and fully deserved their goals.
Armed with ‘borrowed’ Stocksbridge Park Steels captain Liam McFadyen, back in football after a sabbatical, leading their back four, Athersley defended really well despite the siege conditions.
The Ammers, whose inspirational skipper Matt Dempsey pulled up injured in the warm-up, were camped in the home side’s half for certainly the opening ten minutes. During wave after wave of attacks, Priestley had watched one effort get blocked before he pulled away from his defender and sent a bullet of a strike into the far bottom corner after being played in by Casey Stewart.
Athersley held firm for a bit but were unable to do much with the ball. Several times the Ammers mounted an attack after the ball was only cleared as far as the anchor man Luke Sharry.
That said, the visitors were lucky to escape when a rare break ended with Marcel Chipamunga placing the ball literally just wide of the post. You could hear the Ammers breathe a sigh of relief.
It took until the 40th minute mark for the second goal to arrive and it was long overdue. Ste Crawford made it as he rode forward and zipped a low killer pass to send Casey Stewart clear down the left. The talented winger did the rest.
Out of nowhere Athersley found a potential way back. A free kick on the edge of the penalty area was the perfect moment for Garside to launch one of his famous rockets. You would have bet your mortgage on him scoring and he duly did, with a bit of help from a deflection and the right-hand post.
Going in at half-time only 2-1 down would have been a triumph for the Rec. Ultimately it wasn’t to be. The Ammers won a succession of corners and one led to Stewart playing the ball into the feet of Priestley who had his back to goal to the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. The former Farsley Celtic hit-man stylishly spun and smashed a shot into the far post.
The Ammers tore into their hosts in the early stages of the second half and a fourth goal was inevitable. Stewart incredibly missed an open goal. The winger had done all the hard work by running from deep with the ball and rounding the goalkeeper. But when the easy part presented itself he hit the side-netting, much to the disbelief of most in the ground.
Perhaps energised by the let-off Athersley followed Stewart’s miss with two chances. An unmarked McFadyen almost took advantage of poor defending from a corner with a diving header that goalkeeper Brad Dixon had to deal with. Chipamunga then watched a long range beauty flash wide – another moment where many thought he had scored.
Those two chances were the closest Athersley came to making it a contest again as Fogarty put the game out of their reach with a stroke of genius. Crawford crossed from the left and Fogarty, with acres of space, channeled his inner Paolo Di Canio by leaping through the air to scissor kick the ball home from ten yards. A brilliant goal and one that got the Ammers bench jumping about.
The game fizzled out from there on. Priestley was denied a hat-trick and Fogarty the woodwork as the Ammers pressed for a fifth.
Athersley, somewhat deservedly having finished the game strongly, got a second goal in the final seconds through Kyle Wordsworth.
It was a sour finish for the Ammers but 4-2 on their first competitive fixture for almost two months, you can’t really complain and neither can Athersley who can take a lot of heart from their performance against one of the title favourites.
The Teams
Athersley Rec: Farrar, Edwards, Blacker, McFadyen, Morris, Bucknall (Gashi), Bates, Okojie (High), Garside (Wordsworth), Chipamunga, Salmons. Subs unused: Mills, Eastwood.
Yorkshire Amateur: Dixon, Smith, Henry, Sharry (Dean), Serrant (Basi), Beaston, Priestley, Moke, Fogarty, Crawford, Stewart (Naidole). Sub unused: Smalley.
Who Was In Charge
David Sutton (7/10)
How Many Were There
107
Man of the Match
Ste Crawford (Yorkshire Amateur)
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. When we properly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.