Ten man Ambers progress in League Cup

The Ambers made it five games without defeat as they avoided a potential banana skin in their League Cup tie at First Division Parkgate, despite playing with ten men for 75 minutes after the controversial dismissal of keeper Ben Townsend.
There were five changes to The Ambers line up in the aftermath of the weekend victory at Frickley in order to rest some players and rotate the squad, whilst familiar faces in the hosts line up included ex Ambers Duggan and Morton.
Handsworth started well, and after an early effort from Rion Arbouin had cleared the cross bar, they forced a corner from their next attack. When the kick was headed away, it was returned into the box by Arbouin and up popped Jimmy Eyles to head the ball past diving keeper Womack after just five minutes to give The Ambers the early advantage.
The home side settled and started to see more of the ball, with Duggan firing a long range effort over, and in the 16th minute, the striker chased a hopeful ball forward. As Townsend came off his line to clear, he didn’t get there and caught Duggan who ran on but missed the target. The referee immediately blew for a foul, brought play back to award a free kick to the home side and dismissed the keeper, ignoring a signal from the in-line Assistant that the foul occurred inside the area which would have resulted in a penalty award and only a yellow card for the skipper. As is the norm, all protestations were brushed aside and Townsend started the long walk off.
Eyles was the unlucky man to be sacrificed to make way for debutant Klearchos Filandras, and the young keeper’s first act was to pick the ball out of the net as Duggan’s free kick evaded both him and the wall as the scores were levelled.
The home side and their supporters were understandably cock a hoop by this point and it was imperative that The Ambers stood strong to hold back the inevitable pressure that was sure to come. However, that script was ripped up momentarily, as a great ball down the line by record appearances maker, Richard Tootle saw Leon Howarth bamboozle his marker and pick out Arbouin who arrived Mackie-esque at the back post to prod the ball home for his first senior goal.
Howarth almost put the game to bed minutes later with a super volley off his own flick that just cleared the bar, but the home side were soon back on level terms when an excellent crossfield ball picked out Duggan who was lurking on the far side of the area, and a thumping strike made the net bulge.
The Steelmen did then start to show some belief and Nicholson will have been disappointed that he sliced his shot wide after springing the offside trap, whilst Filandras saved a Whitfield effort and Duggan fired a chance over, before some good work by Mitch Dunne at the other end, carved out an opening for Howarth but his clipped effort was straight at Womack.
The second half was a much more cagey affair after the end to end action of the first half, with The Ambers being a lot less adventurous initially. A timely Jon Hill tackle stopped Duggan in his tracks before Nicholson dragged a shot wide. In a rare Handsworth attack, Howarth saw his free kick finish the wrong side of the upright but by then, the game was much more even as Parkgate seemed to have lost their early impetus having failed to break through.
A searching crossfield pass by Arbouin released Dunne down the left wing, but his dangerous cross evaded his supporting team mates who were arriving in the box at pace. The Ambers were now wrestling control back as the hosts seemed to tire, but when Joe Parkin picked the ball up in midfield, there seemed to be no immediate danger. However, the midfielder went on a run that took him into the right hand side of the area and his shot across the keeper picked out the far corner of the net to edge The Ambers back in front for the third time.
There was no coming back for The Steelmen this time though, as ten minutes later, Howarth’s flick on fell to Dunne who lashed the ball home past a surprised keeper to seal the tie. There was still time for Hardwick to hit the post and for Claxton’s header to be cleared off the line, before Dunne almost had the final say after Howarth had set him up, but this time Womack was in the right place to grasp the ball on the line.
So, The Ambers progress into the Third Round of the League Cup after an entertaining game, and Yorkshire Amateur await at the weekend as they return to league action.