Silsden 1
Nantwich Town 2
League (NW Counties League Div 1)

Match Report

Date: 4th November.2006.

Teams: Silsden 1 v NANTWICH TOWN 2
Mark Bentham.43 Andy Bott.29. Paul Taylor.52.

NANTWICH TOWN:Rob Hackney. Murray McCulloch. Paul Taylor. Richard Smith © Mark Fitton. Phil Parkinson. Adam Beasley. Michalis Chailis. Andy Bott. Matt Blake. James Marrow. Substitutes: Jake Bowyer. Ishmail Reid. Mathew Platt.

Nantwich were again hit by injuries with Griggs,Scheuber,Kinsey and Donnelly all missing, while last week’s Hungarian signing Gyorky Kiss has temporarily returned to his native country.The pitch at the Cougars Rugby League club was in poor condition,with numerous ruts spread all over the surface.From the start, Nantwich were first to show, and in the 4th minute, Andy Bott produced a shot on the turn close to the right hand post following initial good work by Adam Beasley.Four minutes later it was the home side who threatened when a teasing centre from left back Packer was headed behind for a Silsden corner.The in swinging ball from the left was dealt with firmly enough but,the ball was played back in toward the Nantwich goalmouth where central defender Richard Smith produced a timely header out whilst standing right on the goal line.Smith’s clearance was then picked up in midfield by Parkinson, who held the ball up long enough to send Chailis away down the left,the hard working Cypriot winning a corner in the process.Chailis elected to take the left sided flag kick and, from a perfectly judged delivery, found the equally hard working Beasley who was unlucky with a shot on the turn that eased just wide of the left hand post.As the game entered the first quarter hour Nantwich had pegged the home side in their own half for lengthy spells but,at this stage,without hurting them.The combination of midfield duo Chailis and Beasley in particular, were foraging with regularity into the box with the aim of bringing the Nantwich front line trio of Marrow,Blake and Bott into action..However,during the assault, it was left back Paul Taylor who produced anything of note when he attempted to chip Foulger from close range.Parkinson then placed Nantwich in danger when he lost the ball in the centre circle,allowing the home side to thread the ball in a series of unchallenged passes close to the outside of the 18 yard area where an eventual challenge gave way to a free kick to Silsden.Packer stepped forward to strike the dead ball from which Nantwich custodian Rob Hackney excelled, even at the expense of a punched clearance from which the home side failed to capitalize.With the pressure eased, the visitors returned to attack, and in the 20th minute Bott set up Beasley in a neat move that the busy midfielder was unlucky from short range when his effort just sneaked over the bar.But,it was not long before the home side placed `The Dabbers` under further pressure,however,on this occasion, Nantwich looked a little more assured in defence,and were working the ball from the back on both flanks with confidence.In the 26th minute,Chailis,whose influence was growing as the game wore on,fed Blake with a well executed pass from which the striker won a corner close to the right of the goalmouth.With Nantwich pressing the ball with regularity it came as no surprise when they finally went ahead.A minute before the half hour mark Chailis worked the ball into the path of Bott 12 yards from goal with a perfectly timed left footed pass from which Bott produced a clinical finish to score his 13th goal of the season, and his 4th goal in 3 games.Silsden reacted with a few moves in an attempt to draw level but, for the most part they came to nothing with the exception of Simpson, who attempted to home in on goal down the centre from inside the area until Smith entered a well timed tackle to halt the strikers progress.In the 33rd minute Blake was unlucky for Nantwich after yet a further Chailis well delivered corner that the striker connected with on the turn but,unfortunately for Blake,his effort struck the side netting from a mere 3 yards.Despite the poor condition of the pitch Nantwich were playing quality football at this stage until Blake was crudely cut down by central defender, and club captain Rosser, that held play up for a time.Rosser was yellow carded whilst Blake eventually resumed his strikers role.However,despite Nantwich pressing the ball throughout the majority of the half, and creating numerous openings,the Silsden defence kept Steve Davis’s side out with a mixture of both luck and intent.A rather fortuitous strike by Bentham pulled Silsden level two minutes before the break when the midfielder struck a fierce 25 yard shot that ricocheted off a series of legs in the box before striking the left upright with the ball then hitting James Marrow, and finally spinning around the feet of Rob Hackney into the far corner of the net.Bott had a great chance to add to his tally on 50 minutes after Chailis played him in 15 yards from goal but, the resultant strike from Bott was too weak to trouble the ‘keeper.However,two minutes later Nantwich took the lead through left back Paul Taylor.Chailis,whose delivery from set pieces was causing Silsden numerous problems,sent in a perfect ball from a left sided corner that fell to the unmarked Paul Taylor who rose to head the ball into the roof of the net at the opposite post.The visitors then followed with a somewhat disjointed period that forced all the Nantwich players on the defensive for a five minute spell.Nantwich rung a change in the 65th minute when Blake made way for Mathew Platt in attack,the introduction making an immediate impact as the former Crewe Alex youngster delivered a defence splitting pass into the path of Andy Bott only to see his close range shot blocked on the line by ‘keeper Foulger.Beasley and Chailis were combining to make an excellent midfield pairing but, despite all the good work from midfield, combined with contributions from Taylor and McCulloch from deep,the Nantwich strikers just couldn’t break through on goal.Play was halted for a lengthy period 10 minutes from normal time after the Silsden ‘keeper sustained an injury to his left leg following yet another Nantwich raid begun by right back McCulloch who played in Platt right side of midfield before delivery to Marrow who collided with the advancing Foulger.Almost into injury time, a Chailis free kick narrowly sailed over the cross bar from 20 yards out, and then Marrow’s attempt to chip the ‘keeper from 15 yards would probably have been better laid off to either Platt or Chailis who were unmarked on either side the box.Then,within seconds of the final whistle, Marrow refused to give up on a challenge from right back Rhodes before advancing into the box with only Foulger to beat but,despite his injury, the ‘keeper spread himself well enough to deflect the shot for a corner which concluded a testing game at times for Nantwich,who struck 18 shots at the target, but for which just 2 made it into the net.

Nantwich Head Coach Steve Davis reflected; “ Three deserved but, very hard won points.Not many teams will come to Silsden and return with a maximum.We played very well in the first half, particularly from midfield, where we advanced deeper into the opposition half with a frequency hardly matched in many of this seasons games.It was however,a very difficult pitch to play on, with many ruts, probably due to the rugby that is played here.Due to our persistent injury situation, we were forced to make changes to our line up yet again.Only twice since the start of the season have we been able to field the same side so, credit to all the players who have come in and done a job that has enabled us to stay on the coat tails of FC United”.

Match report written by PhilJohnson