Owls come up short against Shirebrook

Cleethorpes Town are now without a win in four matches after they went down 3-2 at home to Shirebrook Town at the Bradley Community Stadium on Saturday. The Owls went into the game on the back of a 4-0 defeat away at Albion Sports and were eager to bounce back at the first time of asking
Four changes were made from the side that lost in midweek, Coleman, Mcfarland, Flett and Neul all took their places in the starting line-up.
Town started the better of the two sides and had most of the possession in the early stages, putting together a good string of passes to open up the Shirebrook defence.
Shirebrook had chances of their own and when a good passing move caught the Owls off guard, the ball fell to Danny O’Donnell, whose cross was blocked by an otherwise solid defence.
Cleethorpes seemed up for the challenge in front of them, winning most of the battles for possession in the middle of the park and keeping the opposition quiet.
Andy Liddle’s side kept up the pace and frustrated the visitors, who eventually slipped up after 15 minutes when striker Jason Bradley got involved in a needless altercation between two players, and was booked.
Despite the early pressure, Town seemed to lack quality in the final third, unable to produce crosses good enough to threaten the opposition’s keeper. They were eventually punished for wasting chances when O’Donnell whipped in a cross that found the head of Jake Vernon to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
After the goal it was the away side that were on top and they soon made it 2-0 when another good ball, this time from James Thompson, found the head of Robert Ludlam from close range, giving the Owls ‘Keeper no chance.
Town replied almost instantly, a good passing move from the middle of the park saw the ball fall to Marc Cooper, who slotted home to make it 2-1. More good passing play followed from both sides before Jason Bradley made it 3-1 to the visitors on the stroke of half time.
With both sides unchanged after the break, the second half began in much the same fashion; the home side had most of the possession but were unable to convert anything into a chance. As the half wore on the visitors regained control and were able to see out any notable threat from Town.
Owls boss Liddle made the first change just after the hour, Ricky Belding replacing Lee McFarland in attack. It made all the difference as just minutes later, Belding fed the ball through to Cooper, who was never going to miss, making it 3-2.
Another substitution on 73 minutes came for the home side when Lee Stevenson came on to replace Jason Flint, and town switched to a 4-3-3 formation, hoping to increase their options going forward.
Despite several other chances being created including a curling shot just past the post from Coleman, it just wasn’t to be for the home side. The game finished 3-2, a disappointing result for the Owls, who must now aim to bounce back for their next test away to Grimsby Borough on Wednesday evening.