Bessacarr 3 (1) – (0) 1 Barnburgh & Harlington

Bessacarr Goal Scorers:

Matty 1, Jordan 1, Ben 1

Referee: Mr A Wesley

Linesmen: Mr A Rave, Bessacarr & Mr A N Other, Barnburgh

After match iced chocolate cup cakes by Mr & Mrs Forbes

14 in the Bessacarr squad for the match of the day between the joint league leaders - Alex, Nathan, James, Tom, Steven, Jordan, Mark, Matty, Liam K(c), Liam F, Ben, Joe, Jamie and Matthew. Regular left back Harry and Dominic both unavailable. Centre half Tom made a welcome return to the squad following an absence of several weeks due to illness. Utility player Steven took up station at left back in place of Harry.

The match kicked off with both teams probing to find an opening. The visitors were looking useful down the channels whilst Bessacarr played some threatening balls from midfield.The home team opened the scoring following a corner from the right. Nathan swung a good ball into the box and Matty, from the ‘Buzzard’ position (so named after the coach who emphasised the particular location during training the previous day), connected with his right foot to plant the ball into the visitors net.

1-0    to Bessacarr.

The home team continued to threaten and a Ben effort was chalked out for offside. Barnburgh went close with a one on one with the home keeper but Alex closed his angles nicely and pushed the ball round his post.

Half time 1-0 to Bessacarr.

The second half continued in the same competitive fashion. Barnburgh thought they had equalised only for play to be brought back after the ball was judged to have gone out for a goal kick. This signalled a step up by the home team who extended their lead following good work by Ben where he made a superb lay off for Jordan to finish in clinical style.

2-0    to Bessacarr.

A clever ball from Matty in midfield to Joe on the right wing was laid off for Ben to plant in the visitors net.

3-0    to Bessacarr.

Barnburgh were not yet a spent force and one of their players hit a thumping shot that came back off the home cross bar. The referee indicated 2 minutes to play and in true Doncaster Rovers style Mr Donnelly made several substitutions as the clock wound down. Barnburgh, clearly intent on getting something out of the game, strung one last move together and finally managed to beat Alex in goal.

Final score 3-1 to Bessacarr.

Mr Cooper and Mrs Hogg determined the Player of the Match awarding their vote to Ben who imposed himself on the visitor’s defence running them ragged at times. The Barnburgh Manager, gracious in defeat, paid a real compliment to Ben - admitting his defenders couldn’t handle him. Well done Ben.

Mr Cooper and Mrs Hogg also highlighted the effort put in by the home defenders – Steven, James, Tom and Nathan – who didn’t give much change to the visiting forwards. Nathan in particular got through a lot of work at right back and it’s probably fair to say he had the Barnburgh left winger in his pocket by the end of the game – but it took a lot to keep him there! Some of the defending at set play was excellent with several headers won from visiting corners to set up good attacking moves. Barnbugh have been a real force in the league this season so it was very satisfying to complete the double over them following todays game. Well done everyone.

The raffle collected a very respectable £23 and was won by one of the visiting supporters. A big thank you to all who contributed.

This result sees Bessacarr move three points above Barnburgh at the top of the table having played the same number of games. We now have 4 games left to play. Next week we entertain Thorne Colliery Juniors at the Hallcross stadium and then we have a weeks break before playing our final home game on 28 February 2010 against Ordsall Rangers A. On Sunday 7 March 2010 we visit Barnby Dun Colts for the penultimate game of the season and last weeks postponed fixture against Danum Juniors away is still to be rearranged.Training during the forthcoming week will be as normal at Rossington on Wednesday 10 February 2010 6.00pm – 7.00pm and Saturday 13 February 2010 at Hallcross 9.00am - 10.15am.

We also have the end of season awards to think about and I will be distributing Player of the Season ballot papers during training on Wednesday. As in previous years each player will be allowed to make a selection of their 1,2,3 preferences and similarly the family of each player will be given an identical selection. For a bit of fun the players will also be asked for a number of additional nominations – see the voting form for details. We don't have much time to get the voting organised so if everyone could make their selection ASAP and return for counting - that would be good!