Corner fires Tadcaster up to third

Evo Stik Division One North

Tadcaster Albion 2-1 Droylsden

A second half double from Tom Corner saw Tadcaster Albion climb up to third place in the table.

Tadcaster made two changes to the side that lost at Glossop in the FA Trophy with Liam Shepherd coming in at left-back and Gregg Anderson returning to captain the side.

It was Droylsden who started the contest a little spritelier with Liam Caddick went close inside four minutes.

Taddy’s first meaningful attack came two minutes later when Rob Youhill got the better of Adam Farrell before digging a cross out to Josh Greening who’s header deflected into the grateful arms of James Coates.

It was tit for tat in the opening stages at the i2i stadium as Taddy looked to break their two-game duck. Gregg Anderson came close to doing just that after quarter of an hour but the defender saw his shot blocked on the line by Sean Clancy.

Anderson was involved again from another corner moments later as his powerful header towards goal was flicked over the bar by Corner.

Droylsden were seeing the vast majority of the ball in the first half without creating any serious chances on goal. Billy Hasler-Cregg was looking dangerous cutting in from the right-hand side and he almost gave the Bloods the lead by doing just that, bending narrowly wide of Michael Ingham’s goal.

The away side ramped up the pressure as the half went on, Clancy’s lofted in free-kick evaded everyone and once again bounced just wide of the left-hand upright.

If a goal was to come, it was looking likely that it would come from a set-piece as Anderson saw his effort cleared off the line once again.

Taddy were struggling to get into any sort of rhythm, in contrast to Droylsden who were growing in confidence by the minute on an Autumnal Saturday in Yorkshire.

The Brewers would have been trailing inside half an hour if it wasn’t for Josh Barrett and goalkeeper Ingham.

First of all Barrett flew across to superbly block Liam Caddick’s clear shot at goal and then moments later Ingham showed his class keeping the same man out with a terrific left-hand.

Taddy did create one very good chance in the half and that came two minutes from time. Youhill’s teasingly driven cross was weighted perfectly to Conor Sellars who swept first time towards the far corner but James Coates got down well to his right to push out of Corner’s path.

The home side were forced into making a change right on the stroke of half-time as Anderson limped off with a leg injury which saw Fatlum Ibrahimi enter the fray, Barrett move to centre-back and Jason Mycoe move to right-back.

Brewers boss Billy Miller opted to change the shape at half-time to match up their opponents and it almost paid dividend immediately.

Josh Greening set Corner away in behind the Bloods’ defence but a fantastic recovering tackle from captain Domaine Rouse shut the door.

Droylsden continued to knock at the door at the start of the second half as Ingham had to be on his toes to beat away Jack Rudge’s strike.

It was however a somewhat uneventful start to the half with both sides working hard on and off the ball to gain an advantage but creating very little in front of goal.

The introduction of Adam Baker seemed to have a positive impact on the Brewers as they started to go through the motions and put their opponents under some scrutiny.

Taddy did break the deadlock and their recent duck in the 69th minute through top scorer Tom Corner.

Dominic Rouse was touch tight to Corner inside the six yard box but when Sellars’ corner kick came in, the defender had no chance and the target man flicked past Coates and into the back of the net.

Despite going behind, Droylsden continued to plug away at the Brewers’ stingy defence and they wanted a penalty kick with thirteen minutes to go, unlucky for some though as the attacker was booked for diving.

Adam Farrell looked to drive around Barrett but after minimal contact and a theatrical fall the striker was cautioned for simulation. A big decision made by referee Jan Suchecki.

The Brewers then inflicted further frustration on the visitors as Corner rounded off a sublime move to make it two for Tad and two for himself.

Sellars slid it in behind to substitute Baker who could have fired at goal directly but unselfishly chose to simply square it across to Corner who again couldn’t miss from five yards netting his seventh of the season.

However it wasn’t to be a straight forward last ten as Droylsden pulled a goal back with six minutes to play.

Substitute Lingouba Amour Cesaire wriggled his way past Andy Milne down the right-hand side before pulling back to Farrell who fired past Ingham.

But it was all too little too late for the visitors as Tadcaster  held on to all three points keeping up their unbeaten home league record.

The Team

Tadcaster Albion: Ingham, Barrett, Shepherd, Milne, Anderson (captain) (Ibrahimi 44), Mycoe, Youhill (Baker 59), Jono Greening, Corner, Josh Greening, Sellars (Grant 82). Subs Unused: Binns, Jeff.

Thanks to Jay Taylor for this report.