Report by Phil Castiaux
In association with:
ALAN McLEAN FCMA CGMA
Chartered Management Accountant
Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division
Saturday 30 January 2016
Attendance: 821
Blyth Spartans 1 – 0 Grantham Town
Grantham provided the first of the action on a bitter, windy afternoon when Lee Shaw shot from 18 yards; his shot being collected comfortably by Adam McHugh in the Blyth goal.
However it was the Spartans who went on to have the better of the play for the rest of the half.
After ten minutes Michael Richardson found Wilson Kneeshaw in the Grantham penalty box. The forward’s curling effort lacked power and keeper Jake Turner had time to get down and collect the ball. A minute later Aaron Wearmouth was fouled 20 yards from goal. Blyth captain Robbie Dale’s free kick just eluded Matthew Wade at the far post. Dale was quickly in the thick of the later again neatly supplying Wearmouth with the ball. The winger’s low shot was saved by the feet of Turner.
Blyth’s pressure told on 21 minutes when Wearmouth showed great strength in holding off Ellis Storey and managing to pick out Dale who fired the ball across goal and in to the far corner of Turner’s net to put Blyth ahead.
Wearmouth produced another good save from Turner before Grantham came close to equalising when Michael Emmott found himself free of the Blyth defence, ten yards out, but he poked his shot over the on-rushing McHugh and over the bar too.
Kneeshaw and Wearmouth both shot over the bar at the other end before the interval.
Kneeshaw was proving to be a handful for Grantham defender Lewis Carr. The latter had to resort to a clear foul in order to prevent the forward advancing clear on goal. Dale once again stepped up to take the free kick but his effort went wide of Turner’s left hand post.
On 60 minutes the Grantham manager, Adam Stevens, was sent to the stands by the referee, apparently for dissent.
Nathan Buddle just failed to get on the end of a deep Dale free kick before the visitors started to put pressure on the Spartans defence with the hosts increasingly having to resort to some rushed clearances.
Ben Saunders tried an audacious over head kick which McHugh was relieved to see slide just wide of his goal. Emmott then fired narrowly wide of the target before, in the final minute of normal time, Ben Harris came within inches of grabbing a point for his side but couldn’t get his boot to a powerful cross from wide.
TEAMS
Blyth Spartans: 1. Adam McHugh, 2. Damen Mullen, 3. Jordon Watson. 4. Nathan Buddle, 5. Dillon Morse, 6. Neal Hooks (16. Sean Reid 70), 7.Aaron Wearmouth (12. Ashley Davis 75), 8. Michael Richardson, 9. Wilson Kneeshaw, 10. Matthew Wade, 11. Robert Dale.
Unused subs: 14. Paul Robinson, 15. Danny Parker, 17. Fabian Otte.
Grantham Town: 1. Jake Turner, 2. Danny Meadows, 3. Ellis Storey (14. Ben Harris 83), 4. Michael Hollingsworth, 5. Sam Puricoe, 6. Lewis Carr, 7. Jamie McGhee (14. Alex Simmons 71), 8. Rhys Lewis, 9. Lee Shaw, 10. Ben Saunders, 11. Michael Emmott.
Unused subs: 15. Stefan Bilyk. 16. Jack Beckett, 17. Richard Dearle
Referee; Chris Ellis, Assistants: Neil Wright and James Westgate.