Nantwich Town 2
Bacup Borough 0
League (NW Counties League Div 1)

Match Report

Date: 17th February.2007.

NANTWICH TOWN 2 v BACUP BOROUGH 0
Andy Bott. 43 Paul Taylor. 45

NANTWICH TOWN: Rob Hackney. Mark Fitton. Paul Taylor. Richard Smith. Paul Donnelly. Phil Parkinson © Murray McCulloch. Stuart Scheuber. Andy Kinsey. Andy Bott. Gyorgy Kiss. Substitutes: Danny Griggs. Danny Smith. Jake Bowyer.

A solid display from Nantwich Town against a very competitive Bacup Borough side ensured ‘The Dabbers’ maintained third place in a period when the tension in the promotion race increases with every game. Gritty midfielder Adam Beasley was forced to sit out a second game as he completed a one match suspension whilst forward Matt Blake was ruled out with continuing problems with a sore knee. Ahead of the match NWCL secretary Geoff Wilkinson presented Rob Hackney with his Goalkeeper of the Month award for January.

‘The Dabbers’ opened brightly winning 6th minute back to back corners,the second falling to left back Paul Taylor whose short range effort just failed to hit the target. The home side proceeded to camp in the visitors 18 yard area in a spell that saw close range shots from Phil Parkinson,Stuart Schueber and Andy Bott cannoning off defenders legs to safety. But,the visitors contrived to turn a somewhat fortunate period of defense into attack when in a 9th minute attack down the ‘Dabbers’ left Bacup striker Heaton’s ball into the path of midfielder Barker was fiercely dispatched from the edge of the box across the front of Rob Hackney, fortunately just wide of the far post. Nantwich heeded the warning and proceeded to starve the visitors of any further threats during the half. Mark Fitton’s 13th minute 25 yard volley looked destined for the back of the net but, despite the effort beating goalkeeper Billy Carrington the shot ended mere inches over the centre of the crossbar. Gradually the half became littered with free kicks, mainly in the home side’s favour, and for a time the strike pairing of Bott and Kinsey were camped in the Bacup 18 yard area as shots came in from all angles in an effort to give them ammunition to open the score. However,despite their presence, it was ‘Dabbers’ captain Phil Parkinson who had the best of chances from a free kick but was denied the chance to score when his 26th minute close range back header was cleared off the line by a defender. Parkinson won a corner on the half hour followed by a consecutive flag kick moments later that saw Paul Taylor aiming a deft chip to the left post before goalkeeper Carrington rose to collect the close range effort. Two minutes later Kinsey was very unlucky not to score when his 16 yard shot beat Carrington before edging past the foot of the right hand post. Nantwich deservedly took the lead in the 34th minute. Not for the first time in the half ‘The Dabbers’ had numbers in the Bacup box and during a scramble for possession a loose ball fell to Andy Bott that he calmly struck on the turn to score his 22nd goal of the season. Despite conceding the goal Bacup were proving a resilient side with Nantwich having to fully concentrate and deny the visitors any room for manouver. Right on the stroke of half time ‘The Dabbers’ added to their score in a move that began in their own half. Gyorgy Kiss latched on to a ball played from right to left across the midfield before working the ball down the left and delivering it into the box 12 yards out. Bacup,after failing to clear their lines, were then punished by left back Paul Taylor, who drove a close range shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net past the diving Carrington to give his side a well earned lead at the break. On resumption Bacup became a shade more physical as they sought to pull a goal back but, Nantwich withstood some intimidating play before coming close on the hour to increasing their lead. Kinsey, Bott and Taylor traded passes down the left that ended with Taylor’s 22 yard shot agonizingly bending narrowly wide of the near post, whilst moments later Taylor was again unlucky when a close range effort from a similar position struck the side netting. In a rare Bacup attack, midfielder Barker’s 67th minute right sided centre was well taken by Hackney whilst a close range 74th minute effort by sub striker Shepherd spelled the greatest danger when the shot just crept over the left angle of post and bar. On 75 minutes five Nantwich players traded passes over on the left before Kinsey cut inside the box only to see his goal bound shot cannon off the legs of a defender for a corner. Moments later the 23 goal striker was very unfortunate not to add to his account when he struck a superb 25 yard volley that rattled the cross bar before flying back out as far as the 18 yard line. Credit to the visitors, despite being on the defensive for most of the second period, a combination of resilience and not a little luck deprived Nantwich of further goals. Kinsey produced several efforts late on that on another day may well have been turned into goals. However, not for the first time in the match, a combination of defenders legs getting in the way and slightly off target shots resulted in ‘The Dabbers’ leading scorer completing a lean afternoon.

Head Coach Steve Davis was beaming at the final whistle and in his summary said: “ A solid performance from us against a very competitive side. Bacup remained committed throughout and we had to compete well to secure the win”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson