Ambers humbled by Eagles

After the FA Cup exploits it was back to NCEL action as The Ambers hosted high flying Eccleshill United in midweek, with the visitors looking to extend their excellent six game winning run whilst The Ambers were hoping to put the disappointment of Pontefract behind them and start to close the gap on the teams above who had got away due primarily to the recent lack of league action on our part.
Paylor, Jones and Mole were all missing for Handsworth due to injury or illness after the weekend’s game which was not ideal as the feeling around Olivers Mount was that a win was needed to quickly put the Pontefract result to bed and get the season back on track.
Unfortunately, it was not to be as the understandably confident visitors started well, Irving breaking clear twice in the opening five minutes to firstly test Ben Townsend, and then to rattle the post, so it came as something of a surprise when it was The Ambers who opened the scoring after 11 minutes. A Townsend clearance found Sam Smith who played in Mitch Dunne on the right of the box and the ball was squeezed into the far corner of the net as defenders converged on the striker.
The early setback didn’t seem to affect Eccleshill’s approach and they continued to stretch The Ambers’ back line thanks to a number of lively and effective forward thinking players. Visiting Skipper Ndlovu rattled the cross bar with a long range strike before Townsend was on hand to save at close range from Bleau at the back stick after the full back was picked out by Irving’s cross.
There was a brief moment of relief for the beleaguered Ambers when Dunne raced onto a through ball from Ben Teasdale but Eagles keeper Wilczynski was quickly off his line to thwart the danger with a well timed tackle, whilst Ethan Hobson rose highest from a corner but could not keep his header down.
In response, Cooper fired over from distance before Eccleshill levelled things up around the half hour mark, Bodle supplying the cross from the left which was turned home smartly by Irving. Smith then had the ball in the visitors net with a smart finish but was ruled offside by the Assistant Referee and both sides traded chances as half time approached, a Kane Reece attempt narrowly missing the target either side of efforts by the dangerous Irving which were both too close for comfort.
The general feeling at the break was that Handsworth were a touch fortunate to be going in on level terms and The Eagles soon maximised their superiority when Bradley headed home just three minutes into the second period. Dunne almost immediately levelled things up after a great turn with the ball left his marker for dead but his shot across the face of goal just evaded his onrushing team mates.
With The Ambers needing to find a way back into the game, a change of formation was instigated which saw the introduction from the bench of Jed Phillips, for his first senior appearance for Handsworth in three seasons. He slipped into a back three allowing the full backs to push higher up the pitch, but little difference was made and the visitors added a third on 68 minutes when Ndlovu scored from a free kick out on the left and things went from bad to worse when Laird added a 4th, just 3 minutes later.
With the points secured, the visitors finally took their foot off the gas and eased up, allowing The Ambers to see more of the ball, but in truth, Wilczynski was rarely troubled and the game eventually petered out much to the disappointment of the majority of the crowd.
Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the opposition, and so it was on the night as Eccleshill fully deserved their win in what was easily the best performance by a visiting team this season. As far as Handsworth are concerned, the games come thick and fast this month starting with a first trip to Sherwood Colliery on Saturday, and it goes without saying that performances and results need to improve quickly to avoid falling too far behind the leading pack.