The Ambers were hoping to build on Saturday’s result against Thackley and start to bridge the gap with the teams at the top, but were stopped in their tracks by an excellent Cleethorpes Town side who ran out fairly comfortable winners, although the 3-0 scoreline was a touch flattering to the visitors.
There was one enforced change from the previous line up as Simon Harrison missed out through illness and was replaced on the right by Nicky Travis.
Both teams started the game well and early half chances came at both ends with Danny Buttle getting a couple of early crosses in and Robertson for the visitors slipping as he shot at Jimmy Lindley. There were then corners for both sides with Gareth Griffiths coming closest to scoring when heading over the bar.
It was still end to end stuff as Lindley caught a cheeky lob under his bar and Sam Smith then shot narrowly wide from 20 yards after good work by Lee Whittington. However, it was the visitors who took the lead when the lively Robertson escaped down the right and finished superbly into the far corner.
The Ambers tried to hit back immediately as Buttle and Whittington released Luke Fletcher on the edge of the box but the midfielder missed the target. Both teams then traded chances as the first half ran down and The Ambers thought they had levelled things on the stroke of half time but Whittington’s strike was ruled out for offside. There was still time for Robertson to do exactly the same at the other end before the referee brought an entertaining 45 minutes to a close.
Handsworth started the second period on the attack and were nearly rewarded from an early corner, when a Smith effort was blocked at the cost of another corner from which a Griffiths header was flicked just over the bar by Whittington.
The visitors then stepped up a gear and as the game got stretched, Griffiths and skipper Cotterill were forced to defend valiantly. To help stem the tide, Bruno Holden was brought on in place of Smith and he was soon in the thick of the action, his flick on releasing Whittington who was halted by a desperate sliding tackle. From the resulting corner, Fletcher headed wide from close range.
Shortly after Cotterill had been rather harshly booked for a challenge on the halfway line, the visitors doubled their advantage when the defence was flat footed as a cross came in from the left and Oglesby tapped in at the far post.
Again, The Ambers fought back strongly and good work by Holden and Travis ended with Richard Tootle being crowded out as he was about to unleash a shot inside the area. Further changes were made in the final quarter of the game with Lee Hudson replacing Fletcher and Alex Rippon on instead of Buttle, but it was the visitors who should have been out of sight when Cooper got through one on one with Lindley but the Handsworth stopper came out on top. Whittington was then similarly foiled at the other end and it was the impressive Robertson who had the final say as he lashed in a third goal in added time to complete a disappointing night for The Ambers who will look to bounce back at struggling Glasshoughton on Saturday.