Hillmen first win of the seaason

The Hillmen record their first win of the season & registered their first goal in over 360 minutes of football.

Saturday’s showdown against Cleethorpes was true of one of the oldest cliques in the book; a game of two halves.

A cagey first half left much to be desired for the 254 fans inside the Amdec stadium. Both teams had fleeting chances at goal but looked reluctant to let shots fly. The game seldom left the middle third of the pitch and open, flowing play was not the order of the day.

Cleethorpes looked the more likely to score early on, a notable meandering run from Josh Venney yielded no end-product, with him squaring it to Caine Winfarrah, who couldn’t get a shot through a well-organised Glossop defence.

Cleethorpes maintained their pressing game, consistently looking dangerous. A well worked throw-in 22 minutes in dissected the Glossop defence in a matter of seconds, with three passes cutting the back line apart to leave an exposed debutant: Arash Ahmadi as the last man facing the pacey Caine Winfarrah. Winfarrah duly squared it to the Cleethorpes Right back, Tim Lowe, who was advancing on his right. Lowe’s shot proved untroublesome, ending up some 10 yards to the keepers right.

Glossop’s first real sniff of goal came 34 minutes in, with Harry Middleton, the Cleethorpes centre half, caught in possession lazily. Kyle Hawley capitalised, dribbling the ball tidily from just past the centre circle to the edge of the D. He squared it to an eager Alfons Fosu-Mensah, who struggled to get into the box and had to settle for a blocked shot from 25 yards.

The Deadlock was broken just before the half, with Cleethorpes clever passing once more opening up the Glossop back line. Again, from a throw-in routine, the men in Yellow completed a succession of one touch passes, ultimately freeing Ross Hannah behind Lee Wilshaw. Hannah crossed a low, hopeful ball to the back post, where captain Scott Vernon met it with outstretched right foot from 4 yards.

Going one down appeared to be the boost that Glossop Needed, they finished the first half strongly, with Kyle Hawley looking dangerous. A low, driven shot to the right-hand side of the goal required a diving save.

The second half started fruitfully. Glossop’s first attack yielded their first goal. A counter attack saw Kyle Hawley pick the ball up on the halfway line, he passed it to an advancing Jordyn Fitton, who sent a hopeful long cross into the Cleethorpes box, the ball fell short of the near post and fell to a now well advanced Hawley, who struggled to control it. The ball tumbled towards Bevan Burey who had made his way to the rear post. His pass-come-shot

fell into the path of the Cleethorpes centre half, Harry Middleton, who riffled the ball passed his own keeper. The Dubious goals panel considers this a Burey Goal, his 4th in blue.

Cleethorpes almost made it two for the afternoon in the 56th minute, goal scorer Scott Vernon let fly from the edge of the box, his powerful shot looking destined for the top right. Dale Latham dived well to his left, conducting an incredible save, tipping the ball just over the bar and keeping the game set at 1-1.

With 20 minutes remaining, Moses Yoak hoofed the ball out of the Glossop half and up towards a dangerous looking Kyle Hawley, who controlled it well and carried it towards the edge of the box. He passed it to Fosu-Mensah just outside the box, The Dutch Striker moved from left to right, creating space on the edge of the box, defender Tim Lowe looked lost at sea as Fosu-Mensah found half an inch, cut inside on his right foot and let fly. A low, driven shot to the bottom right of the goal beat the Cleethorpes keeper and put Glossop 2-1 up. Fosu-Mensah looked jubilant to score on his home debut. The Glossop faithful erupted and for the first time in a long time, the fans had something to sing about.

Goal scorer Bevan Burey was given his marching orders soon after, picking up two yellows in quick succession.

The game then looked a little scrappy, with the hillmen protecting their lead and defending a barrage of Cleethorpes attacks. Squeaky bum time ensued, but Glossop remained very well organised and withstood the onslaught of pressure.

Tim Lowe, the Cleethorpes right back, wasn’t as disciplined, he received a straight red in injury time for descent.

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