Ambers stun Hemsworth to go 3rd

It was an unchanged Ambers line up for the difficult midweek trip to Hemsworth, with The Ambers looking to climb into the top three, whilst the hosts were looking for three points to leapfrog the visitors.
Hemsworth started the game very strongly and exerted a lot of early pressure on to The Ambers back line, but they held firm and gradually started to win their individual battles, providing a solid platform to break at speed and in substantial numbers. Jason Yates, back on his old stomping ground, fired an early shot wide after good work on the right by Jon Froggatt, and Jon Hill then had a header saved from a long Brad Nicholson throw, before the deadlock was broken after 16 minutes. Adam Johnson broke well on the right and laid the ball back for Stuart Ludlam who fired in a pacey cross which was met by a stooping Yates, his header finding the bottom corner.
The midfielder, clearly revelling in the surroundings then curled another shot wide before Hill fired a good effort against the post after Johnson played him in, but just a minute later, Joe Thornton broke clear down the right. He laid the ball back to Johnson whose shot struck a defender and looped into the area where Hill outjumped his marker and powerfully headed home the second.
The Ambers were now well and truly in the ascendancy and were attacking at will, with the overworked Wells defence struggling to contain them. Keeper Rusling had to be quick off his line to snatch the ball off Thornton’s toes before the third goal duly arrived. Ludlam won the ball on the halfway line to feed Yates, who in turn sent Johnson away down the wing. When his cross was fired into the box, it was met perfectly by the onrushing Froggatt and the net bulged to the delight of The Ambers faithful.
The referee blew his whistle to end the best 45 minutes of The Ambers season to date, amid hopes that the second half would follow suit. It didn’t exactly go as per the script, mainly due to the inevitable re-focussing that the Hemsworth Manager inflicted on his team in the changing room, but the early signs were good for The Ambers, with Hill and Thornton going close either side of a couple of decent half chances that fell to Wells skipper Danville.
Froggatt was withdrawn just after the hour and it took sub Aaron Moxam just three minutes to prise open the Hemsworth defence, his ball into the box seeking out Thornton who picked his spot to add the fourth. However, within a minute, Connolly had fired home a quick response for the home side, his snap shot sneaking in at the front post, and worse was to come six minutes later, as a break down the left by sub Henderson left The Ambers trailing in his wake, Connolly tapping home his cross at the back post.
With the home crowd ramping up the noise and the pressure, The Ambers had to stand firm as Hemsworth found a little more belief, but stand firm they did, and the icing on the cake was applied late on when a quick free kick caught out the hosts, Jason Yates finding his namesake Ollie unmarked in the box, and the youngster scored his first Ambers goal with his first touch of the game, having been introduced to the action less than a minute earlier.
Understandably, that goal knocked the stuffing out of the home side and the game meandered to its conclusion. All in all, an outstanding performance by The Ambers that nicely sets up Saturday’s trip to Liversedge.

HE Barnes Man of The Match – Jon Hill