By Ian Robinson
The Ambers stayed in the promotion pack thanks to a tight 1-0 victory over visitors Knaresborough Town in an entertaining game which could have quite easily finished 5-5 but for the woodwork, some debatable refereeing decisions and some wasteful finishing.
Despite the absence of wide men Oliver and Dunne and the long standing injury list, it was still a strong starting eleven for the home side, albeit the average age of the bench was probably the youngest ever in the history of the club (with the notable exception of Andy Gascoigne of course!).
The visitors, having had a mixed start to the season, set off well and efforts from ex Amber Dugdale and the experienced Heath saw an early call to arms for Ben Townsend who saved both attempts comfortably.
Handsworth soon settled and a great move after 7 minutes almost paid dividends. Richard Tootle picked out Sam Smith on the far side of the area and from his cushioned header, Jake Baldwin decided to try and lay the ball off rather than go for goal himself, but when the ball came back to him, the young midfielder aimed for the far corner only to be denied by Hassall who tipped the ball wide at the last minute.
From the corner, Tom Roebuck had an effort blocked and after some pinball in the area, Hassall again saved but the ball ran straight to the feet of poacher Smith who gobbled up the chance to put The Ambers ahead.
Town came roaring back and there was a let off for the hosts when a good opportunity went begging as two Town players got in each other’s way on the edge of the area and the ball was cleared, but Heath was soon fashioning a chance for himself but shot wide.
A surging run from deep by Ant Mackie eased the pressure and the full back was unlucky to see his drive from the edge of the area go narrowly past the post, whilst at the other end, Heath blasted over a gaping goal after Walker had supplied a pinpoint cross from the right.
It was real to end entertainment for the crowd as both teams went toe to toe, with The Ambers having the advantage of a strong wind blowing in their favour. Hunter forced Townsend into a save at his near post before Leon Howarth got on the end of a Smith cross but his first time opportunistic volley was high and wide. Two minutes later, he almost made amends but his shot across the keeper seemed to strike Smith and bounced away to safety.
Hassall was quickly off his line to deny Kane Reece after Smith had flicked on a long ball forward before a flying save from the keeper cleared out an excellent cross from Jordan Lonchar. Howarth was now enjoying a good spell down the left and only some great defending by Donnelly saved the day for Town after Howarth had produced a moment of magic to initially take him clear of the defender, before Hassall saved magnificently from a blistering Howarth effort just before the break.
There was still time before the whistle for the visitors to spurn a great opportunity of their own when Hunter raced clear down the right but, faced with Townsend, pulled his shot wide of the far post and Dugdale then failed to control a ball in the six yard box which came rather too quickly at him.
The visitors action plan for the second half was clearly to take advantage of the wind and to try and pin The Ambers back, and that’s what they did for the majority of the time whilst The Ambers looked dangerous on the break, in a mirror image of the first 45 minutes.
Walker tested Townsend with a low drive before a Town corner was hacked desperately away, but it was Handsworth who fashioned the best chance. Howarth’s shot was blocked but the ball fell kindly for Smith whose clever flick evaded Hassall but struck the upright and bounced away to safety. Howarth then headed a decent chance wide before Dugdale fired over as Knaresborough recovered. It was then Howarth, now playing on the right, who tested Hassall again, but a quick break forward almost caught out The Ambers but Townsend stood up well as Hunter tried to chip him when he was found in acres of space down the left wing.
Walker at one end and Howarth at the other both saw efforts whistle just wide before a free kick from substitute Gascoigne picked out Roebuck but his far post effort was cleared off the line and with the ball pinballing around the area, Gascoigne laid off to Howarth whose curling effort struck the inside of the far post for another let off for Town.
Youngster Rion Arbouin came on to follow up his midweek debut and he was soon in action down the left wing, with Reece dropping back into midfield. Howarth then thought he had the goal that his performance richly deserved as he fired home from close range, but the referee deemed that Smith had impeded Hassall leading up to it and the goal was chalked off. That was Leon’s last action of the day as the Management decided to shut up shop by bringing on centre back Kieran Bagnall for his debut.
Smith was then denied a brilliant second after he smashed home a volley from the edge of the box, but the referee ruled that his foot was too high when he brought the ball down whilst challenging a Town defender, and again the effort was disallowed. As the game moved into five added minutes, it was backs to the wall for The Ambers as Town threw the kitchen sink at them but they stood tall to ensure a deserved clean sheet, and Arbouin almost put the icing on the cake when he raced onto a clever pass from Smith but Hassall did really well to keep him out.
At the other end, there was one final scare when Townsend had to claw away a long range drive from Milsom, with the visitors claiming that the ball had already crossed the line before the keeper got to it, but the claims were waved away and The Ambers clung on to take the points.