Oxehpope Rec 1 Beeston St Anthony’s 3
This match was a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ for Oxenhope following their superb midweek performance in putting eight goals past Otley.
In stark contrast to that win, the Worth Valley side produced a flat, lacklustre display against Beeston on Saturday.
Having never beaten the Leeds outfit in three seasons, Oxenhope started the brighter and, on the quarter-hour, persistence by Tom Marshall on the bye-line enabled him to cross the ball for Michael Garnett to finish with a thumping drive.
The visitors hit back when a corner was met with a firm header to equalise.
This then saw Beeston give the home defence a thorough examination but man of the match Scott Nelson and his colleagues held firm.
Beeston continued their pressure after the break and, early in the second half, they took the lead in controversial circumstances.
A corner from the right saw Oxenhope keeper Sam Lee come for the ball. The hosts claimed he was taken out by a Beeston player before the ball fell invitingly to be smashed into the net.
The referee waved away protests from the home players and the goal stood.
Oxenhope pressed for the equaliser but their passing and final touch was never there.
They nearly equalised when an in-swinging corner from Dan Moriarty eluded everybody, hit the far post, spun out and was cleared.
Oxenhope’s cause was not helped when they were reduced to ten men after leading goal-scorer Garnett was shown a second yellow card and central defender Jason Walton limped off injured.
Late on the added pressure told when Kev Gill turned the ball into his own net from a corner.
This defeat saw Oxenhope drop from top spot in the Premier Division to third place.
They will need to respond to this setback as they start a difficult run of fixtures over the next few weeks, starting with an away trip to Ripon City on Saturday (2.30pm).
Oxenhope: Lee, White (Bailey), Ritson, Nelson, Walton (Gill), Clewes, Morris (Bairstow), Moriarty, Garnett, Metcalfe, Marshall.
Alliance Division One East End Park reserves 0 Oxenhope reserves 2 Oxenhope’s second string continued their promising start to the new season with another impressive victory, this time at East End Park, who finished third in the table last season. Oxenhope took the lead through Leon Smith, whose pace took him past his marker and he went on to deceive the keeper.
In a finely-balanced contest Sam Coates had the chance to make the points safe late on but fired wide from close range, only for the Leeds team to immediately break away down field but keeper Steve Davies made a superb diving save.
Chris Newman then volleyed home Oxenhope’s second to seal the points and calm the nerves. The reserves have no fixture this Saturday.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here