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

Match Report

Saturday 29th August.2009.

MATCH REPORT

NANTWICH TOWN 2 v OSSETT TOWN 0
Dave MacPherson.35.
Ashley Carter.55

NANTWICH: Jones. Sedgemore. Shaw. Tinson. Flynn. MacPherson. Jack. Blackhurst. Carter. Lennon. Whittaker. Substitutes: Rhead. Southern. Gibson. Haughton. Chapman.

Ossett: Sutcliffe. Kane. Tonks. Clayton. Reardon. J. Reardon. Roberts. McGuire. Holindrake. Douglas. Lee. Substitutes: Thornton. Hay. Hargreaves. Hardaker. Kerr.

Attendance: 502.

Nantwich had to plan without central defender Richie Sutton due to the commencement of a three match ban. ‘The Dabbers’ started brightly but in the 5th minute were dealt a further defensive blow when left back Chris Shaw was forced off with a suspected broken toe. Meanwhile, Nantwich midfielder Dave MacPherson missed an opportunity to put ‘The Dabbers’ ahead early in the half when he shot wide from close range whilst on the quarter hour MacPherson was thwarted by Ossett ‘keeper Sutcliffe who dived to block his side footed shot from Sedgemore’s pass. For Ossett, Aaron Holindrake carved out an opportunity but slipped whilst taking his shot and was forced to hit wide.

Nantwich continued to press with former Crewe Alexandra forward Rodney Jack proving a constant threat with his pace . Meanwhile, the only Ossett effort of note was in the 25th minute when winger Andy Lee broke free to send in a shot from distance but skied his effort leaving Dabbers’ custodian Lee Jones untroubled.Nantwich went ahead in the 35th minute when Matt Rhead flicked on Lee Jones goal kick into the path of MacPherson who slipped the ball passed Ossett goalkeeper Liam Sutcliffe to give Nantwich a deserved lead. Meanwhile, Rhead went close with a glancing header whilst Ashley Carter’s pace took him past two Ossett defenders before witnessing his cracking right foot shot cannon off the bar with Sutcliffe beaten. Nantwich increased their lead on 55 minutes through Carter after ‘Dabbers’ captain Michael Lennon’s pass into Rhead was nodded down into the path of the Nantwich winger who made no mistake from close range.

Ossett were mainly restricted to long ball efforts and rarely threatened the home side. Rhead set up Carter in the 65th minute but credit to Ossett ‘keeper Sutcliffe who did well to save Carter’s blistering 15 yard strike. Sutcliffe then performed well to palm Jake Sedgemore’s 75th minute free kick away whilst in a rare Ossett moment a John Douglas close range strike was deflected for a corner with Jones stranded.

Match report written by Phil Johnson