Runcorn Linnets 3, Glossop North End 1

North End threw away the perfect start on Tuesday when capitulating meekly to the Linnets after taking the lead after 13 seconds. It was a terrible showing by the Hillmen, one they will quickly want to forget.

Yet it had all started so well when Dave Young put in a hopeful ball from the back that was missed by Bain at the back. Hurst anticipated the centre half’s slip and got behind the defence, finishing sweetly, lobbing the ball over the keeper.

It was a rampant start that belied what was to come. And it could have been more, as Jay Gorton had a shot deflected wide, and Alex Elliott missed when presented with a glorious opportunity from the edge of the 6 yard box. The keeper was beaten, but with just players on the line to beat, Elliott shanked his shot.

There were only 7 minutes gone, and it looked as though it was going to be an easy evening, but to get one of those, you have to do the simple things right, and Jamie Kay presented Runcorn their opening goal when attempting to take on Whyte on the half way line rather than clip a cleared corner back from where it came. Whyte robbed him, and sprinted towards the Glossop goal. Yates was left with two players to deal with, and all Whyte had to do was square it to Fildes, who tapped in.

4 minutes later, Runcorn had the lead, and it came from some lovely crisp passing at the edge of the area, which ended with a 1-2 into the box which Sherlock had entered unmarked, and he was able to clip past Cooper.

North End were rocking, and their passing game began to fail, gifting possession to Runcorn at will. The lack of fluency wasn’t presenting the home side chances, but was knocking the Hillman confidence with every ball that went astray. Then, on 40 minutes, came a killer blow.

Atherton beat Yates on the right touch line, and drove into the box, running parallel to the goal line. Glossop defenders failed to address the man, Kay inexplicably running away from Atherton, and instead the Runcorn man arrowed straight for goal and shot into the corner.

Glossop tried to rally in the second half, and whilst that fluent passing game was still missing, they did at least create a few chances. Adam Oakes went closest on 53 minutes when he cut in from the right and unleashed a left foot drive that hit the bar and bounced to safety. Hurst shot wide, and Kharas had the ball pinched off his toes when he looked to shoot from an angle. Young also had a shot from the edge of the area go just wide.

North End were making problems for themselves though, giving the ball away in vital areas. The ever dangerous Fildes and Atherton were giving them a torrid time in defence, and North End sat off and allowed them to turn and run at them.

With ten minutes left the ball fell to Gorton at the edge of the area, and when his poke goal wards just went the wrong side of the post, you finally felt the game was up for Glossop. Despite Kharas hitting the top of the bar in the last minute, a goal would have put a gloss on a poor performance that would not have been deserved.

Team – Cooper, Young, Kay, Gorton, Yates (Trucca), Lugsden, Elliott (Smallwood), Parker (Trennery), Kharas, Hurst, Oakes.
Sub not used - Williams

Glossop North End 5, Flixton 0

After a frustrating week of frustrating come from behind draws, North End bounced back to form on Saturday with a first half salvo that would have had manager Steve Young salivating at the prospect of potential of his strike force, with Garry Kharas and Andy Hurst highly influential in this game.

Pre-game, injuries had robbed Young of Stuart Williams, Darren Hamilton, David Morris and Ash Smallwood, all of whom may have started, and those that came in took full advantage, making themselves difficult to drop in a fine team performance.

Hurst opened the scoring on 14 minutes after Elliott and Young linked up beautifully on the right hand side, beating the full back between them giving Young time to cross. The ball was sent in low, and with Hurst in the area, keeper Osbourne could only parry the ball up into the air as he dived at the feet of the forward, and Hurst had the simplest task to nod the ball over the line.

Flixton nearly got back into the game when Cooper raced off his line to meet a through ball, but he was second to it as Smith attempted to loop the ball over his head. The keeper was relieved to see it go wide.

Elliott was having a fine game, and had a shot blocked when he made space for himself in the area, and also put in a cross for Hurst at the near post that was swivelled wide. But he was again involved when Glossop made it 2-0. Oakes crossed and Elliott shot from the edge, but the deflected ball landed at the feet of Kharas, in the penalty spot area. With his back to goal, Kharas had a lot to do, but he teed it up for himself and shot on the turn, volleying into the corner of the net.

The visitors weren’t helping themselves, and when they worked a chance at the far post, Pegg shanked his shot woefully wide. North End took full advantage when Hurst cross from the right and Kharas rose to head the ball into the path of Jay Gorton, bursting from midfield, and from 6 yards he finished in an unorthodox fashion, slipping as he shot, scuffing the ball onto his left leg, and watching it dribble over the line. 3-0.

The Hillmen were rampant, and Bailey headed a cross wide whilst Hurst thought he had made it 4 in injury time when he headed home a corner, only for the referee to chalk it off for a foul on the keeper. No matter, for shortly afterward Kharas was felled in the box by a crude tackle from behind, and Dave Young blasted home the penalty.

Effectively the game was won at the break, and Flixton were playing for pride, and after a couple of second half substitutions they did up their game, as Glossop continued to create but found chances were going wide, or just too high, or too far forward. Oakes, Kharas and Bailey all had shots saved, or just go the wrong side of the post, as did Young and Kay. But they were forced to wait until the 90th minute for the 5th, when a cross from the right was pushed by Osbourne onto the knee of defender Chalinor, and the ball deflected over the line.

Team – Cooper, Young, Kay, Gorton, Yates, Lugsden, Bailey, Elliott, Kharas, Hurst, Oakes
Subs – Parker, Wiliams, Morris, Smallwood

GOAL : Garry Kharas of Glossop North End produces a spectacular volley to make it 2-0. Photo - GNE/Jim Lockwood

Glossop North End 2, Padiham 2

A mere 48 hours after the hardworking display at Droylsden, manager Steve Young rang the changes for Wednesday’s Vodkat League match against Padiham at Surrey Street. Stuart Williams came in for Matt Cooper in goal with Ash Smallwood slotting into the right back position replacing Dave Young. This match saw the return to the blue of GNE of Garry Kharas who linked up with Andy Hurst at the head of a 4-4-2 formation.

Padiham, newly promoted to the Premier Division of the Vodkat League this season, sat one place behind the Hillmen in the table and a keenly fought contest was anticipated.

From the off, the Hillmen showed good ambition frequently playing good balls into the channels only to be denied goalscoring opportunities by an assistant referee who seemed all too eager to raise her flag at the slightest opportunity. The first significant contribution from Kharas came in the 10th minute when a headed flick was collected on the edge of the penalty area by Rick Bailey who stuck a fierce shot just over the bar.

Padiham came back well with a number of chances forcing some good work by Williams in the GNE goal. Padiham had their game plan disrupted somewhat by being forced into two first half substitutions due to injuries with Michael Morrison and captain Jack Overson going off.

Glossop continued to press forward but were caught out on the stroke of half time. Jay Gorton, playing at the heart of the GNE defence, was dispossessed on the edge of the penalty area, Stuart Telfer crossed the ball for Chris Ridehalgh who nodded into an empty net with Williams stranded.

Just 4 minutes into the second half, the ball was not cleared from the heart of the Glossop defence despite several opportunities to do so. This gave the opportunity for a clear shot on goal by the Padiham midfielder Lee Morris and his low shot beat Williams to give Padiham a 2-0 lead. The Hillmen came straight back onto the attack and 1 minute later, Andy Hurst scored from a close range effort following a pin-point cross from the right by Darren Hamilton.

The second half continued in a scrappy fashion with neither side able to make the final ball tell. Mid way through the second half, Adam Oakes was replaced by Adam Trennery marking the Vodkat League debut of this midfielder from the reserve side.

With 5 minutes remaining in the match, Padiham goalscorer Ridehalgh was dismissed after collecting a second yellow card. This spurred on the Glossop side and another cross from the right hand side saw Martin Parker convert the opportunity to bring the scores back level. The Hillmen then laid siege to the Padiham goal but again the quality of the final ball was not good enough and the much sought after winner was not forthcoming.

With two draws in the last two league matches, both against teams lower than GNE in the table, this will be considered as points dropped in the quest for a top four finish.

Glossop team: Stuart Williams, Ash Smallwood, Kelvin Lugsden, Alex Elliott, Jay Gorton, Martin Parker, Rick Bailey, Andy Hurst, Garry Kharas, Darren Hamilton (Tom Bailey), Adam Oakes (Adam Trennery). Subs not used – Danny Yates, James Acton.

Attendance: 174

Martin Parker celebrates after scoring the equalizing goal to make it 2-2. Photo - GNE/Jim Lockwood

Droylsden 2, Glossop North End 0

It was back to the Butchers Arms ground on Monday Night for the Hillmen for the re-arranged Manchester Premier Cup Semi-Final against Droylsden FC, the first attempt at this match having been abandoned during the second half a fortnight ago due to a waterlogged pitch.

Conditions were much better for this match with a flat if slightly worn pitch promising a good footballing display from both sides. This proved to be the case as the Bloods, who are three leagues above Glossop in the non-league pyramid, began the match showing great control and passing ability. The Hillmen managed one or two forays towards the Droylsden penalty area and, after 9 minutes, an Alex Elliott shot went just wide of the left hand upright with goalkeeper Craig Mawson struggling to get across.

The Droylsden side featured two players who are regular goalscorers in the Blue Square North league and one of these, Tony Grey, found the net on 14 minutes beating Matt Cooper in the GNE goal with an unstoppable shot from the edge of the penalty area.

This set-back inspired the Hillmen to re-double their efforts and they worked hard to threaten the Droylsden goal on a number of occasions. Strong claims for a penalty when Andy Hurst was wrestled to the ground by one of the Droylsden defenders were waved away by referee Mr. Graham.

However, with the Bloods captain Neil Sorvell having more and more influence on the game from a defensive midfield position, Droylsden took control of the match again having the better of the chances up to half time.

The second half started much like the first with good controlled football from Droylsden. On 50 minutes, Shaun Whalley, the other regular goalscorer for Droylsden this season, picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot which gave Cooper no chance. 2-0 to Droylsden. Two minutes later, in an almost identical position, Whalley this time put the ball high and wide.

The Bloods eased off a little at this point and again looked to control the game with good passing and very rarely giving the ball away cheaply. The Hillmen were not discouraged and, driven on by the tireless Rick Bailey, continued to press forward when opportunities arose. Droylsden also had their moments towards the end of the match but the last significant action was deep into injury time when GNE were close to scoring from a left wing corner deep into injury time.

No doubt that the better team won on the night, showing the benefit of control and vision, but GNE can take some positives from this match as they competed well with a good footballing outfit.

Glossop Team: Matt Cooper, Dave Young (Ash Smallwood), Kelvin Lugsden, Martin Parker, Danny Yates, Jason Gorton, Rick Bailey, Alex Elliott, Darren Hamilton (Tom Bailey), Andy Hurst (James Acton), Adam Oakes.