Ambers lose out to league leaders

The Ambers made three changes to the side that beat Goole in midweek, with Jon Hill, Toby Kenyon and Leon Howarth returning to the starting eleven, as promotion favourites and current league leaders North Ferriby landed at Olivers Mount.
The game of the season so far started in explosive fashion, serving up three goals in the opening eleven minutes as both teams set off at a pace that rarely dropped all afternoon. It was first blood to The Ambers when, with less than a minute on the clock, Mitch Dunne was picked out by Johno Williams on the left hand side, and then cut inside and unleashed a venomous strike that flew past visiting keeper Exall into the far corner of his goal to give the hosts a dream start.
However, it wasn’t long before The Villagers were back on level terms and it was certainly route one football, as The Ambers were sliced open by a long throw from Dennett which the experienced Forrester latched onto and thrashed into the bottom corner before Ben Townsend could even set himself. It went from bad to worse for Handsworth two minutes later when they failed to clear their lines and the ball fell invitingly to Shortland on the edge of the box and a fine controlled volley into the top corner became the latest contestant in the goal of the day competition.
In what was proving to be a really well contested battle, Ferriby were starting to get on top and Corner went close to extending the lead on two occasions, before a great crossfield 1-2 between Dunne and Howarth created a chance which deflected fortunately into Exall’s hands. At the other end, there was another let off for The Ambers when the impressive Earl, last seen at Olivers Mount giving us the run around in a Bridlington shirt, broke away down the right and when he fired in a cross, it deflected off Tom Cropper but Townsend was down smartly to prevent the ball crossing the line.
Minutes later, Earl picked up a loose ball in midfield and thrashed his shot narrowly wide as The Villagers turned up the heat, and they should have increased their lead when another long throw from Dennett was flicked on by Corner, and when the ball was returned into the box by Whiteley, it looked odds on that Ferriby would score, but somehow Townsend threw himself into the mass of bodies and kept the ball out.
The miss was costly, as The Ambers next sortie upfield produced the equalising goal. Sam Smith’s flick found Howarth on the right and he played in Joe Parkin whose goal bound effort was well saved by Exall, but as the ball bobbled around the edge of the box, Smith managed to poke it through to Parkin, and this time, the midfielder steered his shot into the far corner.
The Ambers finished the half strongly and began the second in similar fashion when another fine crossfield pass by Williams picked out Dunne who beat his man but could only find the side netting with his drive. Dunne, who was becoming a major influence on the game, was then sent scurrying away after Hill’s pass down the line, and when the cross came in, Smith rose at the back stick but agonisingly steered his header just the wrong side of the post.
The game then swung massively in the visitor's favour when the referee blew for a foul just inside the Ambers box, and whilst most assumed it was for a clear foul by Earl on Elliott Walker, the official unbelievably pointed to the penalty spot, and Whiteley despatched his effort with the minimum of fuss. Whilst the Ferriby faithful will of course have their own opinion on the decision, our view as the home side, was that the official got it completely wrong and was offered no help by his more experienced Assistant, but that’s football for you.
The injustice of the decision served only to spur on The Ambers and Howarth twice got shots away that were desperately blocked by the Ferriby defence. As Handsworth kept asking the questions, the visitors stood firm and were able to break quickly as the hosts threw more men forward. Earl went close before then drawing a full length save from Townsend, whilst The Ambers had a great opportunity to level things up when Jimmy Eyles escaped his marker after Dunne had slipped him through on goal, but Exall came flying off his line to make a terrific block.
Still, Handsworth poured forward in search of the elusive equaliser and a Williams thunderbolt struck a defender before Walker seized on the rebound but his effort cleared the bar by inches. As is often the case when one team is going all out for an equaliser, holes are left at the back, and as the game moved into five minutes of added time, the league leaders broke quickly and Corner finished well to seal the victory.
The final score line was extremely harsh on The Ambers who had gone toe to toe with Ferriby and matched them for the majority of the contest, but the visitors showed exactly why they are top of the pile and seemingly set for promotion.