Nantwich Town 1
Colne  1
League (NW Counties League Div 1)

Match Report

Saturday 20th January.2007.

Teams: NANTWICH TOWN 1 v COLNE 1
Andy Bott. 23. Anthony Murt. 58.

NANTWICH TOWN: Rob Hackney. Murray McCulloch. Gyorgy Kiss. Richard Smith. Paul Taylor. Phil Parkinson © Adam Beasley. Paul Donnelly. Andy Kinsey. Andy Bott. Danny Griggs. Substitutes: Matt Blake. Danny Smith. Stuart Scheuber.
Third placed ‘Dabbers‘ were aiming to maintain their winning run with victory over Colne that would have taken them to within four points of FC United and increase the points gap over 4th placed Curzon Ashton to seven points.Meanwhile, head coach Steve Davis was forced to make a change in defence after central defender Mark Fitton reported a foot injury following Thursday’s training session.
Colne were out of the blocks early with Blackburn firing a 2nd minute shot from distance but, the striker’s shot was well covered by Rob Hackney whilst remaining firmly on his line.‘The Dabbers‘ conceded the game‘s first corner a minute later before going on to control the early exchanges.In the 6th minute Andy Bott was unlucky with a superb cross field ball delivered from the left that just missed the outstretched right foot of the ‘Dabbers‘ striker, perched handily at the far post.Three minutes later Danny Griggs was denied when he whipped in a free kick from the left that unfortunately was caught by the strong crosswind as the ball bent toward the far post, forcing the promising effort wide.Mark Crossley was the busier of the two goalkeeper`s and in a super save on the quarter hour he denied Andy Kinsey who had stolen in between two defenders to put in a close range shot.From the goal kick `The Dabbers` struck with a run down the left before Walker pole axed `Griggsy` in the box but,to everyone‘s amazement, referee Steve Martin dismissing the appeals for a penalty.`Kins` then switched to the right side and in the 16th minute delivered a teasing shot toward the far post that beat Crossley before agonizingly shaving the post.The dominance in play allowed the home side to play a high line but, frustration crept in when both `Kins` and `Botty` were frequently flagged offside.Meanwhile,at the other end,`Dabbers` right back Murray McCulloch had to move smartly to deny Murt 10 yards from goal whilst on the half hour `The Dabbers` lost midfielder Adam Beasley to injury with the pacy Matt Blake coming on for the gritty No.7. ‘The Dabbers‘ deservedly took the lead in the 32nd minute.A long, looping ball, delivered forward from just inside the Nantwich half, evaded the visitors defense before the bounce fell kindly allowing the well placed Andy Bott to turn the ball home from close range to score his 18th goal of the season from just inside the right hand post.Moments earlier `Botty` had struck from 5 yards out only to see his goal bound shot turned behind for a corner from the very athletic Crossley.Nantwich captain Phil Parkinson did well to intervene 12 yards out when Gizon hit a goal bound looking shot followed by Murt who struck wide from 20 yards.Three minutes from the break `Griggsy` was again hauled down in the box by Walker.The Colne right back proceeded to protest his innocence whilst referee Martin,surprising to say the least,elected to forsake any action, followed by howls of derision from the terraces.Right on the stroke of half time a trio of close range shots delivered by `Griggsy` ,`Kins` and `Botty` were denied by Crossley who, to his credit, was keeping his side in the game.After the break,`Blakey` delivered an early strike that was well held by the goalkeeper but, ‘The Dabbers‘ were guilty of falling asleep in the 58th minute when Colne built an attack from just inside their own half before a looping shot was allowed to fall between Smith and Taylor that allowed Murt to tap the ball home from inside the 6 yard box after Taylor lost contact with the striker.Stung by that error ‘The Dabbers‘ sought to retake the lead and with `Griggsy` making runs down the left the look of a further goal appeared promising.However,Walker brought play to a halt yet again,this time in the 61st minute after `Griggsy` had turned the right back and was heading toward the box before being hauled down for the third occasion in the match.On this occasion a yellow card followed but,two minutes later the same player repeated his error yet again, bringing `Griggsy` down in a similar position only for the referee to award a free kick.To further derision, referee Martin amazingly allowed Walker to escape a second yellow and consequent dismissal.However,the Colne manager,perhaps sensing the inevitable,took Walker off before `The Dabbers`went on to apply numerous raids on the Colne goal but, without profit.In the final quarter hour of normal time a `Kins` close range shot rebounded off the goalkeeper for a corner,`Griggsy` had a close range header taken by the in form Crossley,Phil Parkinson struck the side netting from close range whilst at the other end a rare Colne break ended with Howarth heading wide from a corner.`Griggsy` forced Crossley into a fantastic save 10 yards out as the minutes ticked away,`Botty` then wasted a great chance from a superb Blake delivery from the right after the pacy winger had outstripped left back Whittaker but, was unlucky with a further opportunity moments later when `Blakeys` shot toward the right of goal struck the upright from 15 yards out. Despite the onslaught Colne heads remained high with Garbutt and Blackburn delivering efforts from just outside the box that beat both the home defenders and goalkeeper but, fortune favoured `The Dabbers`at this very late stage as the shots proceeded to fall wide of the target.

After the match a frustrated Nantwich Head Coach Steve Davis lamented: “ On another day it could have been a cricket score for us.However,I didn‘t think we played too well in the match and there were gaps in our play all to often. Having said that, it was thank‘s to their goalkeeper that they left with a point whilst we must live with the fact that if you switch off,even momentarily to the likes of Colne, you will get caught out and the chance of another three points probably given away as we demonstrated this afternoon”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson