Nantwich Town 3
Colwyn Bay 0
League (NPL Division 1 South)

Match Report

UniBond League First Division South

Saturday 1st December.2007 NANTWICH TOWN 3 v Colwyn Bay 0
Ashley Carter. 11. 44, Pavol Suhaj.74.

Referee. Mr.M.Garratt. Attendance. 434.

NANTWICH TOWN: Lee Jones. Paul Donnelly. Gyorgy Kiss. Richard Smith. Charlie O’Loughlin (A.Taylor.83). Phil Parkinson ©. Ashley Carter. Glyn Blackhurst (Beasley.78). Andy Kinsey. Pavol Suhaj. Paul Taylor (Hamilton-Hendicks.80). Substitutes: Adam Beasley. Andy Taylor. Tristan Hamilton-Hendicks.

Colwyn Bay: Jamie Speare. Steve Wynne. John Boardman. Tim Brandreth. Kyle Armstrong. Lewis Callaghan. Adam Wade. James Olsen ©. Mark Quayle. Anthony Murt. John Lawless. Substitutes: Martin Crowder. John Walker. Colin Roberts.

Nantwich were without leading scorer Danny Griggs (medial ligaments) who is not expected to be ready for selection for at least a fortnight. Meanwhile, on loan Port Vale defender Charlie O’Loughlin made his home debut, albeit on a pitch made very heavy following considerable overnight rain in the Nantwich area, whilst defender Andy Taylor started on the bench following completion of a 35 day ban.

Colwyn Bay arrived in very confident mood, having won through to the first round of the FA Trophy in midweek, and were first to show when midfielder Adam Wade took a punt from distance but, failed to trouble Jones in the home goal. At the other end, Andy Kinsey’s 6th minute cut back from the left of the bye line was flicked on by Paul Taylor whose effort was taken by goal keeper Jamie Speare at the near post.

Wade threatened in the 8th minute, when he delivered a powerful cross from the Nantwich left that had Jones rising at the near post to punch clear amongst a sea of bodies. In the opening minutes, the game switched ends with regularity, and Glyn Blackhurst was unlucky when his close range shot floated over the bar, after he struck from a defensive clearance. Nantwich were applying the greater pressure as the opening half reached 10 minutes and, with perhaps a little fortune attached ,went ahead in the 11th minute through Ashley Carter. In the build up to the opening goal, Andy Kinsey played a forward ball through an opening in the centre of the ‘Bay’ defence before his effort came to a halt in a large pool of water. Surprisingly, not only did the ball come to a standstill but, so did the visitors defence, who remained motionless as they watched the alert Carter seize an opportunity to fire a low shot from 15 yards underneath Speare into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Stung by this lapse ,Colwyn Bay proceeded to push Nantwich back on their heels for a time but, for all their endeavor, failed to open up a resolute home defence marshaled by Jones. However, pressure by the visitors caused a momentary scare when Jones was forced to pull off two magnificent saves in the 18th minute after ‘Bay’ strikers Mark Quayle and Anthony Murt came calling with a couple of close range shots that on this occasion had the beating of the Nantwich back line. Two minutes later, Paul Donnelly was called into action to break up a right wing threat from Quayle, albeit at the expense of a corner.

Nantwich eventually regained the initiative, with the combination of Kinsey and the returning Suhaj gradually developing an understanding that led to an opportunity for Suhaj inside the box in the 23rd minute after being put through by Kinsey before the tall Slovakian lost his footing at the very spot that Carter had scored from earlier. Nantwich captain Phil Parkinson, continually appearing in different areas of the pitch, seized a loose ball on the ‘Bay’ left in the 24th minute and was unfortunate when his lofted strike over the visitors defence edged inches wide of the far post. ‘Bay’ winger John Lawless had found it difficult to remain silent throughout proceedings but, eventually found himself gathering a caution when he executed a crude challenge on Paul Donnelly in the 25th minute. Paul Taylor’s 30th minute superb free kick from deep on the visitors left, sailed into the 6 yard box leaving Speare to bravely punch clear, albeit at the expense of a blow to his face, for which the custodian required lengthy treatment.

With 10 minutes of the opening half remaining, Carter headed narrowly over the bar from close range following a Kinsey centre whilst in between, Colwyn Bay produced a series of attacks that were thwarted at every attempt by the home side. But, a minute from the break, Ashley Carter notched his second goal for ‘The Dabbers’ that left the opposition lowering their heads in disbelief. Moments before the goal, Nantwich had secured a corner on the ‘Bay’ right hand side. From the dead ball kick, Suhaj sent over a dipping cross to the far post from where Carter took full advantage of an exposed left hand side to steal in from close range and tuck the ball past Speare to secure a brace during a competent first half performance from both him and his fellow players.

Half Time: NANTWICH TOWN 2 v Colwyn Bay 0

On resumption, Blackhurst sent a dipping shot from distance that was only inches over the cross bar – then, Parkinson worked the ball from midfield to bring Suhaj into play on the left edge of the ‘Bay’ 6 yard box but the pass was a shade too strong, allowing the visitors to clear up field. Moments later, Parkinson was again in action but, on this occasion, it was in a defensive situation, when he tidied up on the right hand side of the bye line after Murt had moved in from close range before losing out to the Nantwich skipper. Charlie O’Loughlin produced a timely challenge, when his 55th minute intervention on the right hand edge of the 6 yard box halted the run of Murt, who looked rather disappointed with himself after O’Loughlin calmly removed the ball from the strikers feet and returned the ball to the midfield area allowing his side to push forward once more. But, to their credit, Colwyn Bay continued to battle, and were it not for the growing central defensive partnership of Smith and O’Loughlin, may well have broke through to seriously threaten the home side but, the pair stood firm to continually frustrate the marauding Quayle and Murt.

A 63rd minute Nantwich corner saw Kinsey place a header narrowly wide of the target from close range whilst at the other end, Smith was in action again to break up the threat of Anthony Murt. Minutes later, Smith again blocked the run of Murt but, on this occasion, the striker attempted to outfox Smith by switching flanks, albeit without knowing that Smith had tracked him throughout. Colwyn Bay captain James Olsen attempted a 68th minute shot from distance that failed to reach the target at a time when there were signs of growing frustration in the Colwyn Bay camp as they strained to dent ‘The Dabbers’ two goal lead. Two 70th minute Colwyn Bay corners were easily dealt with by the home defence whilst four minutes later, Nantwich stretched their lead through Pavol Suhaj. Moments before the goal, Suhaj was to disappoint, when a shot from the edge of the box, after being played in by the hard working Kinsey, ended wide of the target when a better placed effort may well have tested Speare. However, in the 74th minute, unselfish play by Ashley Carter, whose pacy run down the visitors left could well have secured a hat-trick for the 18 year old, slid the ball behind the ‘Bay’ defence, across the front of Speare, leaving the unmarked Suhaj to leisurely touch the ball home a yard from the line. For the visitors, who battled to the end, Crowder wasted an opportunity from a set piece, the ball sailing high over the Nantwich cross bar. On a sour note, Colwyn Bay were reduced to ten men in the 82nd minute when striker Mark Quayle inflicted a knee high two footed challenge on Charlie O’ Loughlin that sent the 18 year old crashing to the floor but after treatment, made way for the no nonsense Andy Taylor, who dug in over on the right to break up every late move by a well beaten Colwyn Bay who had arrived in somewhat confident mood but were to depart for North Wales with nothing.

Nantwich head coach Steve Davis had nothing but praise for his players and said after the final whistle: “ We adapted to the conditions better that they did and the longer the game went on, assumed greater control. The first half was more even, despite us taking a two goal lead but in the second half, we picked up the second ball more often and were more consistent. The result apart, the pleasing thing was the players did everything that Pete and I asked of them”.

Club captain Phil Parkinson followed by saying: “ A good all round professional performance. Everyone played to their potential against a very good team”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson