Amateur Performance v Yorkshire Amateurs

Hepworth United were looking to jump ahead of their visitors with a home win and games still in hand However Yorkshire Amateurs were looking to avenge the win Hepworth claimed at the end of January in a game which saw Hepworth dominate for long periods. Yorkshire Amateurs were fielding a good strong side and were not going to be a pushover in any way. The task was not going to be made any easier due to a number of players failing to be fully prepaired and staying out till the early hours partying ! Something Thompson & Field will have to look at before any big games in the future as it certainly hindered the team in a game that they should have won.
Fair play to Yorkshire Amateurs they were up for the fight and took an early lead as poor organisation in the back four left thir opponents with an easy chance. Hepworth huffed and puffed their way back into the game and Jo Forrest levelled the match up on 15 minutes when she fired home from 20yards out. The away side pressed forward down the slope and forced several corners in succession and on 22 minutes the usually solid Becky Kirk was caughtnapping and allowed her player a free run unmarked at the near post and the resulting header nestled into the back of the net to put Yorkshire Amateurs into the half time break 1-2 to the good.
Turning around a goal down Hepworth made a few changes as the BIG NIGHT out was having its effect on a few ! they started to create a little more but found Amateurs resiliant in defence and the game swung from end to end. Hepworth were starting to stamp the grip on the game before a strange decision by the match official to award a penalty to the away side, for which no one appealed and no one else saw apart from the referee himself. This was duely converted to put Amateurs 1-3 up. Hepworth nearly pulled a goal straight back as Abigail Iggleden set up Jo Forrest scorer of Hepworths first goal but this time her effort went just over the bar. Hepworth kept pushing and their hard work paid off on 79 minutes when Amirah Jalloh tapped home from 8 yards out to make it 2-4 and give Hepworth some hope of salvaging a point at least. That hope was cut short just 2 minutes later as Hellawell gave a free kick away having been pulled out of position and the resulting free kick was nicely headed over Harper in goal to seal a good soild 2-4 away win. Reflecting back on the match the players knew they had let each other down and had made the task of catching league leaders Tingley even harder, Thompson and Field will need to look closer at player selections for the next big games should they not show the discipline required before big matches. The Player of the Match award was awarded to Laura Hirst following her solid performance at centre half and she set the level for others to achieve.