Bottesford Town 0 Westella & Willerby 2
Bottesford Towns 12 match winning streak in the League came to a halt when they faltered at match number 13 against a well organised and disciplined Westella & Willerby team losing by 2 goals to nil.
Whether it was the mid-week 7 nil drubbing of Grimsby Borough that was still fresh in their minds, once again it was a slow start for the Birch Park outfit in the first half, that said, it was Bottesford who had the 1st clear opportunity of a goal in the 5th minute when a cross from Steve Ridley was met by Josh Nichol who saw his effort blocked only for the ball to fall to Scott Hellewell whose shot went straight to the keeper Nathan Otley who turned out to be the ‘man of the match’ pulling out a string of fine saves particularly in the 2nd half of play.
The home side went close in the 9th minute when from a free-kick, a header from Hellewell was met by Ridley who was denied by the woodwork. The visitors responded with Alex Wood latching on to a long ball, beating his defender to find Joe McFadyen well placed to drive home a good shot which required a good save from keeper Leigh Herrick.
End to end play saw Ridley send his effort over the bar followed by Wood once again being denied by the keeper. It was Alex Wood who opened the scoring in the 21st minute when his shot was cruelly deflected off full-back Adam Martin to find the top corner of the net with keeper Herrick stranded. Terry Barwick was presented with an opportunity to equalise in the 25th minute but he missed the target on this occasion.
Willerby were awarded a free-kick just outside of the box in the 30th minute from which wood got both his and his teams 2nd goal with a well-placed shot just inside the post. Bottesford introduced Danny Boulton into the game at this stage in an attempt to change their fortunes but despite Josh Nichol going close the score-line remained the same at the break.
The 2nd half started with a 10 minute onslaught on the visitors goal with the ball being blocked on the goal-line on 2 occasions and Boulton seeing a good opportunity going wide of the target. With Bottesford pushing forward, it came as no surprise when Chris Short finding himself set to gain a 3rd goal but he was denied by Herrick. A corner kick to Bottesford was only cleared as far as Wayne Graves whose shot brought out an excellent save from keeper Otley.
Bottesford were dealt a blow in the 73rd minute when skipper Lee Ridley suffered a hamstring injury providing the opportunity for young Oli Donald to taste 1st team football.
The nature of the game continued with the Birch Park outfit continually applying pressure on the visitor’s goal but defenders James Atkinson and James Williamson stood firm and dealt with all that Bottesford threw at them and when they were beaten, Otley was on hand to maintain a clean sheet bringing out an excellent save to deny Steve Ridley .
At the final whistle, it was a well organised Westella & Willerby outfit who had brought Bottesford Towns winning run to an end and in some respects even if the game had continued for another 90 minutes, it was difficult to see where the home teams goal would come from!!
Bottesford next entertain Penistone mid-week at Birch Park hoping for a return to winning ways!