Post by hatter_in_macc on Dec 27, 2015 14:56:18 GMT
Not, I guess, that anyone will have been waiting with baited breath for this one - but apologies for its delay, all the same.
Just got rather too distracted researching our opponents' unusual nickname, and the associated chemical properties...
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COUNTY v HARROGATE TOWN: MATCH REPORT (26/12/2015)
By Hatter in Macc
Hatters Sunk By A Sulphurite Sub
Any hopes that the Hatters might have had of moving on from The Nightmare Before Christmas - at Boston seven days earlier - to proclaiming on Boxing Day that It’s A Wonderful Life were scuppered when Harrogate came a-visiting to claim the points with a victory by the odd goal in three.
On a day when Storm Eva had battered much of Greater Manchester, and Northern England more widely, as well as washing out many fixtures scheduled there, the well-tended Edgeley Park turf was sufficiently pristine as to banish any thoughts of even a precautionary pitch inspection.
So far, so immaculate... as was County’s previous home record against Town, or, if you will, the ‘Sulphurites’ - so nicknamed due to the colour-match between their bright yellow shirts and pure Sulphur (interesting notion; ‘County Cobaltites’, anyone?!). On each of the last two seasons’ closing afternoons, the Hatters had finished their campaign on a high - albeit, in League terms, a mid-table - note to beat the visiting North Yorkshire outfit.
Neil Young made three changes to the side that had started against Boston - recalling Gareth Roberts and Glenn Rule, and handing an immediate debut to youth striker, Delial Brewster, who had joined from Everton on Christmas Eve under a one-month loan deal. Danny Morton, Joe Garvin and Kay Odejayi stepped down - with the latter two being named among the substitutes - and there was also a place on the bench for Paul Connolly, whose hamstring injury had ruled him out of the last two matches.
The Hatters, playing in a 4-4-2 formation, had made a fine art of starting matches as the livelier team on recent occasions. They - and the majority of a bumper Boxing Day crowd - were, however, to be stunned by the visitors, who not only launched the first attack of this game, but also went one better and scored from it, with just three minutes on the clock.
Quite an unusual finish it was to feature, too - as piloted, nostalgia fans, by Ray Crawford for Colchester in a 1971 FA Cup upset against the then-mighty Leeds. Brendan Daniels was the provider, with a cross from the left, but Jerry Yates played ‘Crawfie’ - going to ground after connecting with the delivery to shoot, then, having seen his initial effort blocked by Chris Smalley, and while still lying down on the turf, reacting first to swivel a leg back onto the ball and scythe it through to the back of the net.
Harrogate looked to extend this advantage, and went close on two further occasions in the opening stages. Yates was fed by Lloyd Kerry, before shooting narrowly wide from the edge of County’s box. And, shortly afterwards, the visitors earned a first corner of the afternoon, when Lewis Turner was played in by Jack Emmett and unleashed an effort that Andreas Arestidou did well to tip around the left upright.
In the face of this hitherto one-way traffic, the Hatters’ part in proceedings did not appear to offer a great deal by way of festive promise. But they had, of course, received an early Christmas present in the form of Brewster, and he proved a gift to treasure by equalizing less than ten minutes after Harrogate had taken the lead. Running on to a headed flick by Jonny Margetts, immediately following County’s clearance of the game’s inaugural corner, the young forward showed great pace and a deadly finish to fire home and put his new side back on level terms.
The game had clearly opened up, and both teams had opportunities to gain the upper hand in what remained of a lively, end-to-end half. For Town, Yates again tried his luck, after latching onto a Dom Knowles pass just inside the County area - and letting rip with a shot that Arestidou gathered at the second attempt. The County ‘keeper also had cause to feel relieved when Danny Ellis connected with a corner - with the visiting Captain’s bullet of a header hitting the underside of the bar and mercifully falling into the arms of the Fleetwood loanee.
The Hatters, for their part, were handed the best chance of all with eight minutes of the half remaining, when Margetts was felled in the visitors’ box by Louis Swain. A similar-looking challenge by Paul Thirwell on Lewis Montrose a little earlier had gone unpunished by Referee, Peter Wright, but the man in black had no hesitation in pointing to the spot second time around.
Margetts had himself twice been upended, and then dusted himself down before successfully converting two penalties, at Corby a fortnight previously. And, just as he had done both times there, he side-footed his latest spot-kick - only for Peter Crook to guess correctly, dive to his left and smother the ball.
County could not overcome the disappointment by making good of two corners that were forced in quick succession just ahead of the break. And what had, in fairness, been a half with little to choose between the sides ended all square.
HALF-TIME: County 1 (Brewster, 12), Harrogate 1 (Yates, 3).
Margetts sought to atone for his penalty-miss on two occasions immediately following the interval, when he headed successive free kicks wide of the Cheadle End goal. But a wind of change was in the offing, as more gusty conditions stirred in the opposite direction to see the Sulphurites enjoy a greater share of second-half possession overall.
Yates created Harrogate’s first chance after the break when, following a neat one-two move, he teed up Knowles, whose shot was gathered by Arestidou. A good few of their team-mates then proceeded to set their sights on goal, too: Turner fired an effort over from the right; a Daniels shot from the edge of the box was grabbed by Arestidou, just ahead of the on-rushing Yates; and Dave McGurk, at the left post, got himself onto the end of a corner but prodded wide.
With just under twenty minutes remaining, Harrogate made a double-change, while, for the Hatters, Garvin replaced Rule. And County’s substitute was to make a quick impact when he forced a corner. But it was to be one of the visiting replacements, Jordan Thewlis, who soon made his presence felt to even greater effect. And the corner, like Harrogate’s first one of the day, was to lead to a counter-attack and another goal at the Railway End.
Having cleared the County corner, Harrogate broke - with Kerry releasing Thewlis to run on the right flank. The substitute’s fresh legs took him past Smalley, before executing a fine shot beyond Arestidou and restoring Town’s lead.
As the contest neared its close, there were scoring opportunities at each end. Thewlis switched wings, before firing high and wide from the left - and, from the opposite flank, Emmett cut in to shoot against the side-netting. Brewster, meanwhile, came close to embellishing his County Man of the Match performance with a shot at Crook from just inside the visitors’ area. The Town ‘keeper was once more to deny County in the dying seconds, when he held onto a trademark left-footed free kick by Garvin.
It hardly needs adding, because - win, lose or draw - this has been the case for what feels like an eternity, but County again remain in eighth position. That said, those play-off places - the last of which, as it happens, is now occupied by Harrogate - are now three victories away...
FULL-TIME: County 1 (Brewster, 12), Harrogate 2 (Yates, 3; Thewlis, 74).
Team: Arestidou, Tonge, Roberts, Smalley, O’Hanlon, Rule (Garvin, 72), Joyce (Evans, 78), Montrose, Brewster, Margetts, Ledsham.
Unused Subs: Ormson, Odejayi, Connolly.
Man of the Match: Brewster.
Attendance: 3,326 (75 away).
Just got rather too distracted researching our opponents' unusual nickname, and the associated chemical properties...
*****************************************************************************************************
COUNTY v HARROGATE TOWN: MATCH REPORT (26/12/2015)
By Hatter in Macc
Hatters Sunk By A Sulphurite Sub
Any hopes that the Hatters might have had of moving on from The Nightmare Before Christmas - at Boston seven days earlier - to proclaiming on Boxing Day that It’s A Wonderful Life were scuppered when Harrogate came a-visiting to claim the points with a victory by the odd goal in three.
On a day when Storm Eva had battered much of Greater Manchester, and Northern England more widely, as well as washing out many fixtures scheduled there, the well-tended Edgeley Park turf was sufficiently pristine as to banish any thoughts of even a precautionary pitch inspection.
So far, so immaculate... as was County’s previous home record against Town, or, if you will, the ‘Sulphurites’ - so nicknamed due to the colour-match between their bright yellow shirts and pure Sulphur (interesting notion; ‘County Cobaltites’, anyone?!). On each of the last two seasons’ closing afternoons, the Hatters had finished their campaign on a high - albeit, in League terms, a mid-table - note to beat the visiting North Yorkshire outfit.
Neil Young made three changes to the side that had started against Boston - recalling Gareth Roberts and Glenn Rule, and handing an immediate debut to youth striker, Delial Brewster, who had joined from Everton on Christmas Eve under a one-month loan deal. Danny Morton, Joe Garvin and Kay Odejayi stepped down - with the latter two being named among the substitutes - and there was also a place on the bench for Paul Connolly, whose hamstring injury had ruled him out of the last two matches.
The Hatters, playing in a 4-4-2 formation, had made a fine art of starting matches as the livelier team on recent occasions. They - and the majority of a bumper Boxing Day crowd - were, however, to be stunned by the visitors, who not only launched the first attack of this game, but also went one better and scored from it, with just three minutes on the clock.
Quite an unusual finish it was to feature, too - as piloted, nostalgia fans, by Ray Crawford for Colchester in a 1971 FA Cup upset against the then-mighty Leeds. Brendan Daniels was the provider, with a cross from the left, but Jerry Yates played ‘Crawfie’ - going to ground after connecting with the delivery to shoot, then, having seen his initial effort blocked by Chris Smalley, and while still lying down on the turf, reacting first to swivel a leg back onto the ball and scythe it through to the back of the net.
Harrogate looked to extend this advantage, and went close on two further occasions in the opening stages. Yates was fed by Lloyd Kerry, before shooting narrowly wide from the edge of County’s box. And, shortly afterwards, the visitors earned a first corner of the afternoon, when Lewis Turner was played in by Jack Emmett and unleashed an effort that Andreas Arestidou did well to tip around the left upright.
In the face of this hitherto one-way traffic, the Hatters’ part in proceedings did not appear to offer a great deal by way of festive promise. But they had, of course, received an early Christmas present in the form of Brewster, and he proved a gift to treasure by equalizing less than ten minutes after Harrogate had taken the lead. Running on to a headed flick by Jonny Margetts, immediately following County’s clearance of the game’s inaugural corner, the young forward showed great pace and a deadly finish to fire home and put his new side back on level terms.
The game had clearly opened up, and both teams had opportunities to gain the upper hand in what remained of a lively, end-to-end half. For Town, Yates again tried his luck, after latching onto a Dom Knowles pass just inside the County area - and letting rip with a shot that Arestidou gathered at the second attempt. The County ‘keeper also had cause to feel relieved when Danny Ellis connected with a corner - with the visiting Captain’s bullet of a header hitting the underside of the bar and mercifully falling into the arms of the Fleetwood loanee.
The Hatters, for their part, were handed the best chance of all with eight minutes of the half remaining, when Margetts was felled in the visitors’ box by Louis Swain. A similar-looking challenge by Paul Thirwell on Lewis Montrose a little earlier had gone unpunished by Referee, Peter Wright, but the man in black had no hesitation in pointing to the spot second time around.
Margetts had himself twice been upended, and then dusted himself down before successfully converting two penalties, at Corby a fortnight previously. And, just as he had done both times there, he side-footed his latest spot-kick - only for Peter Crook to guess correctly, dive to his left and smother the ball.
County could not overcome the disappointment by making good of two corners that were forced in quick succession just ahead of the break. And what had, in fairness, been a half with little to choose between the sides ended all square.
HALF-TIME: County 1 (Brewster, 12), Harrogate 1 (Yates, 3).
Margetts sought to atone for his penalty-miss on two occasions immediately following the interval, when he headed successive free kicks wide of the Cheadle End goal. But a wind of change was in the offing, as more gusty conditions stirred in the opposite direction to see the Sulphurites enjoy a greater share of second-half possession overall.
Yates created Harrogate’s first chance after the break when, following a neat one-two move, he teed up Knowles, whose shot was gathered by Arestidou. A good few of their team-mates then proceeded to set their sights on goal, too: Turner fired an effort over from the right; a Daniels shot from the edge of the box was grabbed by Arestidou, just ahead of the on-rushing Yates; and Dave McGurk, at the left post, got himself onto the end of a corner but prodded wide.
With just under twenty minutes remaining, Harrogate made a double-change, while, for the Hatters, Garvin replaced Rule. And County’s substitute was to make a quick impact when he forced a corner. But it was to be one of the visiting replacements, Jordan Thewlis, who soon made his presence felt to even greater effect. And the corner, like Harrogate’s first one of the day, was to lead to a counter-attack and another goal at the Railway End.
Having cleared the County corner, Harrogate broke - with Kerry releasing Thewlis to run on the right flank. The substitute’s fresh legs took him past Smalley, before executing a fine shot beyond Arestidou and restoring Town’s lead.
As the contest neared its close, there were scoring opportunities at each end. Thewlis switched wings, before firing high and wide from the left - and, from the opposite flank, Emmett cut in to shoot against the side-netting. Brewster, meanwhile, came close to embellishing his County Man of the Match performance with a shot at Crook from just inside the visitors’ area. The Town ‘keeper was once more to deny County in the dying seconds, when he held onto a trademark left-footed free kick by Garvin.
It hardly needs adding, because - win, lose or draw - this has been the case for what feels like an eternity, but County again remain in eighth position. That said, those play-off places - the last of which, as it happens, is now occupied by Harrogate - are now three victories away...
FULL-TIME: County 1 (Brewster, 12), Harrogate 2 (Yates, 3; Thewlis, 74).
Team: Arestidou, Tonge, Roberts, Smalley, O’Hanlon, Rule (Garvin, 72), Joyce (Evans, 78), Montrose, Brewster, Margetts, Ledsham.
Unused Subs: Ormson, Odejayi, Connolly.
Man of the Match: Brewster.
Attendance: 3,326 (75 away).
