Nantwich Town 2
Ossett Town 0
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Tuesday 4th November.2008


NANTWICH TOWN 2 v OSSETT TOWN 0
Carter.16
Walker.60

Nantwich Town: Jones. Smith. Tickle. Jarrett. Whittaker. Parkinson ©. Carter (Gibson 75). Blackhurst (Mamood 86) Walker. Lennon (Naggington 77) Griggs. Substitutes: Tinson. Mammood. Naggington. Shotton. Gibson.

Referee: Mr D.J Roberts. Attendance: 355.

A lengthening injury and illness list forced the home side to field a changed side to the one that won at Rugby Town at the weekend in the FA Trophy but, despite the enforced changes, Nantwich put on an excellent display before taking maximum points against bottom club Ossett Town. With midfielders Mark Beeston and Rob Hawthorne already on the injured list Nantwich were forced to add centre half Charlie O’Loughlin (calf) to the list and were then dealt a further blow less than half an hour before the delayed 8pm kick off after centre half Darren Tinson fell ill with suspected food poisoning and was forced to revert to the bench.

But, almost from kick off it was Nantwich who largely dictated proceedings. Glyn Blackhurst stretched for a Danny Griggs left wing cross in the 3rd minute but his glancing header fell just wide of the far post followed two minutes later by similar from Griggs to Dave Walker who was unlucky to witness his close range shot strike a defender before the ball diverted into the path of the waiting Ossett goal keeper John Lamb. At the other end, Ossett midfielder Rob O’Brien hit a well struck 30 yard volley that fizzed over the Nantwich bar whilst from the goal kick Blackhurst was the beneficiary of some Nantwich intricate play that allowed the influential midfielder to burst through the centre of the Ossett defence only to see his shot from around 15 yards repelled by Lamb. However, the home side’s work rate earned just reward in the 16th minute when Ashley Carter seized on a partial clearance and after spotting a narrow gap between the Ossett centre halves fired low into the bottom left hand corner to score his 3rd goal in two games.

After that, Ossett hardly got a look in as Nantwich laid siege to the visitor’s goal, albeit without adding to Carter’s 16th minute strike, thanks largely to the brilliance, and not a little luck at times, of Ossett custodian Lamb. Good work by stand in Nantwich right back Damion Jarrett allowed him to fend off three challenges before bringing Carter into play deep on the left and when his cross met Walker at the far post Lamb just managed to stretch for the clipped shot. A series of Nantwich corners had Ossett on the back foot during which emergency centre half Dave Whittaker had a header from well inside the 6 yard box pushed on to the bar. Meanwhile, in a rare Ossett forward move Jarett excelled when he read the situation well before powering a header toward midfield from where Nantwich piled forward before extracting a further corner. And it was from the corner that Blackhurst was thwarted yet again by the overworked Lamb when his downward header was punched on to the underside of the bar before rebounding to safety. At the other end, the virtually redundant Lee Jones was called into rare action when he tipped Phil Lindley’s close range header over the bar but a confident Nantwich then swept up field in search of a further goal.

Five minutes from the break, Walker shot narrowly wide from 15 yards whilst a minute from time Blackhurst stretched to head a Danny Griggs corner fully on target only for Lamb to punch clear out of his goal mouth yet again.

After the break a Rob O’Brien shot secured the visitors a rare corner but it was not long before Nantwich raided the Ossett half yet again. Carter – Walker and Michael Lennon traded passes in the 56th minute before Lamb held the final ball from Lennon on his line but, four minutes later Walker scored his 11th goal of the season after Blackhurst rose to meet a Griggs corner with the header glancing off the body of Lamb into the path of Walker who powered the ball into the roof of the net from a yard out.

Ossett rang three changes in an effort to claw back the deficit, but the effect was minimal. For Nantwich, Mamood, Naggington and Gibson replaced Blackhurst, Lennon and Carter respectively during the final quarter hour of normal time meanwhile, a late surge by Ossett left Jones producing a couple of well judged stops whilst in almost the last shot of the game Griggs fired wide after being put through by Walker.

Nantwich head coach Steve Davis commented: - “A good, all round, competent performance. We were forced to play without our regular centre halves but the lads who came in did a great job for us and, were it not for their goal keeper, we could have gone in at half time four goals to the good. However, it’s a job well done by the lads but I just hope we don’t collect any further injuries at the weekend, otherwise we could be stretched for a time”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson