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BackSat 25 Mar 2017.png&h=60&w=60)
Whitchurch Alport FCSilsden
0
1
Whitchurch Alport FC v Silsden
Callum Bradke25 Mar 2017 - 17:00
Match report
Alport 0 Silsden 1
A goal on the stroke of half-time struck a devastating blow to Alport’s promotion hopes on Saturday in front of another bumper Yockings Park crowd. Nicholas McNally’s 45th minute strike was enough to settle a contest against a Silsden side that limited the Reds to hardly any noteworthy chances. And McNally came closest to adding to the scoring when he saw his second half header smack against the face of the crossbar from a Ben Cox corner. It was arguably one of the Reds poorest performances of the season with Callum Jakovlevs in the Silsden goal called upon only once to turn a Mike Blundell free-kick around the post in a first half that was evenly contested. The teams looked certain to head down the tunnel but when a fine run from Will Storrie created an opening for McNally, the centre forward gobbled up the chance and found the corner of Danny Read’s net with a cool finish from 18 yards.
That left managers Luke Goddard and Carl Everall with a completely different half-time team talk and stunned the 238 supporters who had arrived at the ground hopeful of watching their side record a third straight league win. A motivational speaker had addressed the team and staff the night before the game, but oddly enough, despite the sports psychologist’s best efforts the side looked strangely subdued throughout the 90 minutes both individually and collectively.
Skipper Simon Everall ploughed a lonely furrow up top with exciting youngster Luke Walley seeing first hand the physicalities of men’s football. That’s not to suggest that Silsden were a dirty side – far from it. They were compact and basically nullified any threat that Whitchurch carried with a really well marshalled back four who offered superb protection to goalkeeper Jakovlevs.
It was just one of those days for Alport. On a bobbly pitch, their passing was poor and few players performed to the best of their abilities. But with a massive 27 points still on offer, this is no time for Alport to press the panic button despite dropping out of the top three for the first time since September.
A goal on the stroke of half-time struck a devastating blow to Alport’s promotion hopes on Saturday in front of another bumper Yockings Park crowd. Nicholas McNally’s 45th minute strike was enough to settle a contest against a Silsden side that limited the Reds to hardly any noteworthy chances. And McNally came closest to adding to the scoring when he saw his second half header smack against the face of the crossbar from a Ben Cox corner. It was arguably one of the Reds poorest performances of the season with Callum Jakovlevs in the Silsden goal called upon only once to turn a Mike Blundell free-kick around the post in a first half that was evenly contested. The teams looked certain to head down the tunnel but when a fine run from Will Storrie created an opening for McNally, the centre forward gobbled up the chance and found the corner of Danny Read’s net with a cool finish from 18 yards.
That left managers Luke Goddard and Carl Everall with a completely different half-time team talk and stunned the 238 supporters who had arrived at the ground hopeful of watching their side record a third straight league win. A motivational speaker had addressed the team and staff the night before the game, but oddly enough, despite the sports psychologist’s best efforts the side looked strangely subdued throughout the 90 minutes both individually and collectively.
Skipper Simon Everall ploughed a lonely furrow up top with exciting youngster Luke Walley seeing first hand the physicalities of men’s football. That’s not to suggest that Silsden were a dirty side – far from it. They were compact and basically nullified any threat that Whitchurch carried with a really well marshalled back four who offered superb protection to goalkeeper Jakovlevs.
It was just one of those days for Alport. On a bobbly pitch, their passing was poor and few players performed to the best of their abilities. But with a massive 27 points still on offer, this is no time for Alport to press the panic button despite dropping out of the top three for the first time since September.
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