Unsuccessful in Torrential

Glossop continued their inconsistent start to the season with a soaking 2-1 home defeat.

The Glossop faithful are well used to torrential downpours, and this early October cascade did little to deter the 251 in attendance. The players, on the other hand, looked perhaps less acclimatised to the rainstorms of the High Peak as they succumbed to another defeat at the Amdec Stadium.

The first half was dominated by persistent Belper attacks. Nathan Curtis, the pacey number 10, looked to cause some trouble with his meandering runs, but was kept out sufficiently early on. Belper pressed hard, warranting the Glossop back line to remain structured and organised.

The first moment of contention came in the form of an early penalty shout; the product of a clever drop of the shoulder from Curtis, who ran to the edge of the 6-yard box to meet a pass only to flounder under a challenge from Will Hartshorne. The Belper players protested, but the referee remained silent and play continued.

Glossop struggled to get inside the opposition box, with all efforts quelled to tame long-range attempts or hopeful crosses, the final pass to unluck the Belper defence was missing, and the men in Yellow had little to worry about at the back.

The Deadlock was broken 26 minutes in, a product of Belpers continued pressure in and around the Glossop Box. A long shot was thumbed by Dale Latham – understandably so given the conditions – the loose ball was won by Belper’s Derry Robson, who looked more alert than the Glossop back 4. He squared it to the Sam Wright on the edge of the box, who’s hopeful shot was blocked by Leon Iluobe, the ball propelled in the air and fell to the head of Moses Yoak, who’s glancing header cleared it only as far as Sam Wright some 40 yards out. Wright took an audacious swing at the soaked ball, which looked for all the world like it would be well over the GNE goal; it arced late and lobbed Latham, who was stood a mere 4 yards off his line; Belper 1-0 GNE.

Glossop equalised quickly, seemingly awoken by Belpers goal. 30 minutes in the men Hillman conducted a well worked, pacey counterattack down the right wing. Alfonso Fosu-Mensah and Keenan Quansah combined well on the right-hand side with a clever one two. Quansah broke forward quickly, beating Belper’s Ben Rhodes for pace, he crossed the ball at swiftly towards Kyle Hawley, who managed to bring the it down to waist height for Jordyn Fitton, who half-valley the ball emphatically to the keepers right.

Glossop suddenly looked the better of the two sides, breaking well and looking dangerous on the attack. Fosu-Mensah combined nicely with his two wingers, with his fledgling partnership with Kyle Hawley looking like it could be prosperous.

Then, somewhat against the run of play, Belper doubled their tally for the day. A long kick from the keeper was glanced towards the Glossop goal by a seemingly pushed Moses Yoak, it fell dangerously to an advancing Nathan Curtis, who controlled the ball tidily, taking two

touches before letting fly from 18 yards. His shot went through Latham’s legs and reinstated the Belper lead. Dismay for a Glossop side who seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

As the rain subsided in the second 45 minutes, so too did the goals.

A second half-stalemate commenced.

The game became cagier, with both sides trying their best to get forward but struggling to unlock each other’s defences. The ref looked to have is work cut out too, as the challenges, aided by a boggy, waterlogged pitch, flew in abundance.

Glossop struggled again to get into Belper’s box and offered little in the way of an equaliser.

Belper too seemed to run out of ideas, as both defences, again helped by the slower nature of play due to the wetness of the pitch, managed to freeze out opposition attacks.

After a feisty second half, the Ref looked relieved to finish with 22 men on the pitch.

Matchday Report by Ally Layton
Photograph by Steve Dyson
Highlights by GNEtv - Bandit Productions