Eccleshill United ran out comfortable victors away at Ollerton Town, despite a pre-match nightmare for Sean Regan and his squad, with five players not arriving at the game until the 55th minute.
Despite that confusion, the Eagles squad showed its strength and qualities, taking a strong two-goal lead into halftime before securing the victory in the second half as the squad climbed to fifth in the table, placing real pressure on those above.
New signings were on display in the form of Tom Rose and Antony Brown, as well as the return of last seasons Clubman of the Year, Matt Stor to give Eccleshill a real boost ahead of the game, and all three men, played key roles in the victory.
From the first minute to the last, new signing Brown caused the Ollerton back four a major headache, using his strength and ability to hold the ball up to his advantage.It was from his strength that the Eagles would open the scoreline, with a good ball from Stor finding Brown at feet, the Ollerton defender fouled the Eagles striker to gift Eccleshill a penalty.
Last seasons top goalscorer, Luke Harrop, was the man to step up to the spot and his penalty found its way into the back of the net, despite the opposing shot stopped getting a hand on the ball.
The home side didn't crack from going behind though, instead, kicking on and starting to cause pressure on the makeshift partnership of Andy Cooper and Sam Bradley who dealt with all challenges well throughout the game.
Despite Ollerton rattling the post and the bar, it would be Eccleshill who found the back of the net next and once again Brown and Harrop were at the heart of the action. A quick and clinical counter-attack saw Brown using his strength to hold up play again, eventually playing a brilliant through ball to Harrop who found himself one on one with the goalkeeper.
Instead of shooting, Harrop drew out the goalkeeper and managed to set Ben Hardy with an unmissable chance to shoot at with the winger finding the back of the net despite the Ollerton defenders best effort to become a goalkeeper.
The second half saw Ollerton continue to prove they were not down and out and a mistake from Dom Smith gifted them a lifeline in the fixture. After Smith spilled a direct shot, the follow up was a simple tap in for the home side who made sure that the second half would be a closely fought battle.
Smith quickly proved that the mistake wouldn't haunt him though, meeting an excellent Ollerton through ball before their striker, clearing the ball well to allow Regan to make several changes that would assert the Eagles' dominance once again.
With an injured Carlton Pownall and Levi Maturine making way, Chris Lever and Matt Mathers entered the game. Lever would make his presence known instantly, covering every blade of grass to make up for lost time and it would be through the big man that Eccleshill regained its two-goal lead.
A brilliant run by Scott Manning saw the left-back hacked down and a free kick presented Eccleshill with the perfect chance to cause Ollerton problems. A good ball in was met by Brown, whose physicality was once again too much, bringing the ball down and striking, only for his shot to be well saved and fall to the feet of Lever; just yards out.
Lever's volley beat the goalkeeper but was denied by the woodwork, thankfully hitting an Ollerton player on the leg to create a cruel own goal and a lucky goal for the Eagles.
From then on it never seemed in doubt that Sean Regan's side would see out the game and the Eagles earned its sixth consecutive league win as attentions are now turned to the midweek clash with Emley.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
1. | Knaresborough Town | 42 | 100 |
2. | Yorkshire Amateur | 42 | 88 |
3. | Grimsby Borough | 42 | 85 |
4. | Eccleshill United | 42 | 85 |
5. | Shirebrook Town | 42 | 81 |
6. | Glasshoughton Welfare | 42 | 77 |
7. | Selby Town | 42 | 75 |