ATHERSTONE TOWN 0-1 1874 NORTHWICH: THE MOWDOG'S INDEPENDENT REPORT + SCREENSHOTS WITH CAPTIONS...

 Woolley’s Jumper Wins It For Northwich…

Atherstone Town 0-1 1874 Northwich…

(MFL Premier Division play-off semi-final…)

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

This was a game of attrition, a display of effort, defensive resilience and a desperation by both teams not to concede a goal. In fact the ball was in the air so much, resulting in a plethora of headers by players, that it would have been interesting how the tie would have played out if heading the ball had already been banned at adult level for safety reasons…

The Adders began the contest in a strangely tepid manner, as 1874 dominated the affair physically, although the guests rarely troubled home goalie Fin Osborn. The gloveman was only really forced to withstand the occasional long Matt Fenton throw-ins, watching most carefully.  

OSBORN PUNCHES CLEAR...

The home forwards, Lewis Collins, Ryan Harkin and Chris Cowley were barely involved before the break, until in the closing moments, Cowley’s fine effort from downtown was turned aside by the leaping Northwich goalminder Jack Atkinson.

ATKINSON'S FLYING SAVE FROM COWLEY...

Certainly, the Adders improved offensively after the recess for a pie and a pint but even though the invaluable 1874 skipper Fenton took a nasty knock during the second period and was forced to retire, the finishing by the hosts was never really sharp enough.

And then, during ten minutes of added time, due to quite a number of stoppages, the visitors stole a victory which their huge travelling support milked to the full.

Cue chaos and joy for the Greens’ fans, staff and players in away violet and a cruel end to the season for Atherstone, whose players made it a priority to walk slowly past their own supporters and applaud them…

The bish-bash opening period…

The start of the match saw some light rain drifting beneath the roof of the shelter, forcing me to clean the lens of my camera constantly but soon the sun broke through the clouds onto Sheepy Road and the often aimless, untidy, safety-first action by the teams began to emerge.

An early scramble in their own goalmouth was survived by the Adders, 1874’s John McGrath fired a shot and then a free-kick a long way off target and Eden Bailey nudged a headed centre by Fenton from the right into the side-netting at the far stick. Another set-piece saw Town central defender Niall Rowe’s header loop towards his own goal but right-back Jacob Shilton nodded the ball clear from his goal-line.

TOWN DEFEND IN NUMBERS...

MCGRATH'S FREE-KICK WOULD DRIFT WELL OFF TARGET...

 

BAILEY LEANS BUT HEADS INTO THE SIDE-NETTING...

SHILTON CLEARS FROM HIS GOAL-LINE...

The Cowley shot came out of the blue but nothing resulted from the corner and it was almost a relief when the referee brought the half to an end. Anyway, my neck was hurting watching Fenton trying to volley clearances higher than colleague Tom Morris, in their supremely effective marshalling of the Atherstone forwards.

The Adders begin to bite…

Northwich struggled on offense after the break and with Fenton hurt, much was asked of Morris and the excellent Mark Jones as Town seized the initiative, soon wasting two decent goalscoring opportunities.

First, Collins put Ryan Harkin in at inside-left but with Atkinson advancing the striker tried to curl a low shot inside the far right post. His effort rolled wide…

HARKIN SETS HIMSELF...

...BUT FIRES WIDE...

Then Collins, who had been involved in several physical moments before half-time, closed down Atkinson whose kick he blocked and the ball bounced across the face of goal. Collins chased it, only to somehow screw the ball into the right side-netting from just beyond the post. It looked like the ball had entered the net from where I was standing but in all honesty, 1874 had got away with one.

SOMEHOW, COLLINS MISSES THE TARGET...

Substitutions and injuries piled up, hence the large amount of added time but three more times Northwich escaped punishment. Replacement Ryan Quinn’s low 18 yarder bounced up from Mark Jones’ boot and clipped his own crossbar, home skipper Connor Gudger, a master of defensive shirt-gripping, rose to send a downward header only just past the right pole and a late angled shot was partially blocked by a combination of McGrath’s lunge, Mark Jones’ slide and Atkinson’s presence.

JONES DEFLECTS QUINN'S EFFORT ONTO THE CROSSBAR...

GUDGER'S HEADER WOULD BOUNCE UPWARDS BUT WIDE...

And then, in almost a mirror image of the first period, during which 1874 had managed five half-chances, before Cowley’s drive forced the acrobatic save from Atkinson, Atherstone’s five second-half goal opportunities were followed by one from Northwich during added time which certainly wasn’t saved…  

The all-important winning goal…

A long 1874 free-kick from inside their own half was defended well enough by the busy and effective Rowe but the ball drifted to the offensive left and Northwich central defender Morris near the corner of the 18 yard box. He clipped across a really decent centre and substitute Matt Woolley, by then wearing the skipper’s armband, rose in front of Gudger, not holding Woolley’s shirt, intriguingly and the ensuing glancing header took a touch off Gudger’s head too before bouncing gently into goal off the base of the right post.

THE ASSIST BY MORRIS...

...THE LEAP BY WOOLLEY...

...THE HEADER DROPS...

...AGAINST THE UPRIGHT...

...& NORTHWICH WIN...

Crazy moments followed as the 1874 players and coaching staff raced along the touchline to leap upon the scorer, like children excited to chuck themselves into a soft-play area…

Town tried to recover but a couple of set pieces came to nought and Atkinson kept his nerve between the poles…   

ATKINSON LEAPS, THEN FALLS...

...TO TRAP THE BALL SAFELY AT THE END...

1874 will travel next week to take on Shifnal, following their victory over the Badgers from Brocton in the other semi-final…

The final words…

Firstly, a mention for the welcome offered by Atherstone to spectators, both neutral folks and visitors from Northwich. It was good to see that…

The person who wrote out the Atherstone teamsheet must receive a mention too, for the clarity of the writing was remarkable. So often names are scribbled illegibly but both sets of names were easily recognisable on the day… 

Overall, Atherstone will feel hugely disappointed to lose so late in the match, especially after missing the aforementioned genuine chances to have settled the outcome earlier.  However, Town had started poorly and Northwich had proved the stronger group pre-interval, then the guests used terrific mental and physical strength of character to remain at parity until snaffling the tardy Woolley goal… 

Midfielder Tom Smith pulled the strings for the Adders, Tom Healy battled hard in the trenches but the forwards suffered an off-day in truth, despite some decent support from full-backs Shilton and Josh Steele, so that subsequently, Northwich’s resilience offered a platform to steal that winner and avoid a penalty shootout.

Certainly Rowe and Gudger defended with aplomb against 1874’s aerial threat of Morris, Mark Jones and the formidable Fenton. Alfie Foy made valuable contributions from his tireless midfield play for 1874, Jacson Coppack was wholly competitive and full-backs Niall Osborne and Liam Fitzpatrick played important roles for the Greens, er, Violets…

Goaltender Atkinson was also very influential, his antics, his bellowing, his pain-in-the-neck standout behaviour all contributing to unsettling opponents… However, Mark Jones was imperious at the back for the visitors, reading the game well, competing in tackles and heading duels and forming such a strong bond with the powerful Fenton and Morris…

MORRIS FALLS, ATKINSON FLIES...

CATCH BY ATKINSON...

ATKINSON INVOLVED AGAIN...

SMART TACKLE BY MORRIS...

Commiserations to the Adders, bitten fatally as time ran out by a magnificently supported Northwich crew…