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Match report: Baildon Trinity v Old Headingley
For the second consecutive match Old Headingley turned a winning position into a loss as five crazy second half minutes cost them three points away at Baildon Trinity.
Baildon Trinity 2
Old Headingley 1
Leading one nil at the break, Headingley made two costly errors in defence within ten minutes of the restart to concede quick-fire goals and could not find a way back into the game in spite of laying siege to the hosts' goal in the closing stages.
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Manager Richard Hamilton made three changes to his starting lineup, bringing Jamie Arkell into the defence, debutant Edd Calvert into midfield, and pairing veteran frontman Paul Kempton with Sam Pickup in attack. Goalkeeper George Clark was fully recovered from the concussion he suffered in the weekend's game at Kellingley and in the first half he and his defence came under constant pressure from Baildon's midfield and strikers, although his back line's solid performance meant that clear cut chances were few and far between.
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After a quarter of an hour and with Old Headingley struggling to retain possession on a small pitch with a slick surface, a set piece provided the opening goal. A free kick was whipped in from midway inside the Baildon half by Pete Gillick and Callum Butcher met the ball with a bullet header which left the goalkeeper helpless and wrong footed.
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For the remainder of the half both sides struggled to put together any incisive attacks although of the two teams Headingley perhaps found themselves on the back foot slightly more. As halftime approached Andy Hallam ran picked up a loose ball twenty five yards out and ran at goal, but he lifted his left footed strike over the crossbar the chance of a two goal lead for his side evaporated.
Headingley began the second half on the front foot, but within minutes Clark was left exposed by his defenders and an equaliser was only averted by a combination of alert goalkeeping and a slice of good fortune. However, the goal's charmed life did not last much longer, as a catalogue of errors inside the Headingley half presented Baildon's right midfielder with the ball fully thirty five yards out and his seemingly speculative shot found the top corner for a spectacular equaliser.
Sensing that their opponents were shaken by this wonder strike, Baildon attacked with renewed vigour and took the lead five minutes later when Headingley failed to deal with a corner and the loose ball was rifled home from twelve yards. With his team in need of an injection of fresh legs and self-belief, Hamilton introduced substitutes Beck, Williams, and Taylor into the game and for the final twenty or so minutes it was one-way traffic towards the home side's goal.
With Taylor's pace providing Headingley with an option in behind the Baildon defence, the visitors got the ball forward quickly and won a succession of corners and free kicks, yet only really managed to test the goalkeeper with strikes from distance which were handled with relative comfort.
Twice in the closing ten minutes it seemed that an equaliser had been conjured up, as first Paul Kempton hit the bar with an instinctive right footed lob from the edge of the penalty area and then Andy Williams volleyed home from close range after a set piece, only for his celebrations to be cut short by the referee's whistle signalling an offside decision.
A defeat for Headingley, but one from which they can take some positives thanks to their strong showing in the last twenty minutes. If anything, the biggest question which it raised was why the team had not performed in the same manner for the rest of the game. Not quite back to the drawing board for gaffer Hamilton, but perhaps some fine tuning is required.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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