Arthur Reed Memorial Shield Competition 2007-08

Sponsored by Leven Bridge Engineering Ltd Saturday, January 19, 2008 Semi-Finals St. Marys College 2007 1 Acklam Steelworks 5 Acklam Steelworks will play The Smithy in the Arthur Reed Final later this season following last weekend’s semi-finals. Three late goals left the Steelies comfortable winners but the 5-1 score line does not reflect how close the game was for over an hour particularly in the first half when there was little to choose between the sides. College opened brightly with three attempts on goal in the first ten minutes while Lee Bowes was Acklam’s main threat driving the ball just wide on one occasion and drawing a fine save from Thomas Straker minutes later. For all the open attacking on display, it was surprising that the first goal did not come till very late in the first half when a corner from Steve Barry was headed home by Ben Wheatley. Before the whistle could be blown for the end of the half, the College responded in the best possible way by equalizing with virtually the last kick of the half when the ball broke to Craig Sillock on the edge of the area from where he drove the ball just inside the upright. Acklam had the better of the early stages of the second period with Richie Cook hitting the upright before forcing Straker to palm the ball over with a looping shot. A minute later, only a point blank save from Straker kept the sides level but the College rearguard finally conceded when a shot from Andy Bowman looped into the net. A Lee Bowes goal fifteen minutes from time put the Steelworks well in control and they wrapped up a fine second half with Bowes squaring the ball for Steve Barry to drive home and Cook using his pace to set up Liam Knight with five minutes remaining. The Smithy 4 The Miners 1 It was much easier for the Miners who effectively won the game thanks to three goals in the space of five minutes early in the first half. Full back Alex King opened the scoring on ten minutes when he found the top corner of the net with a fierce drive after latching on to a short corner from Peter King. Two minutes later, The Smithy doubled there advantage when Nathan Tidy ran from the edge of his own area into the Miner’s half before laying the ball off to Chris McGill. The Smithy striker turned his defender before going round the keeper to score and it was McGill who beat the offside trap on the quarter hour before chipping the ball through for Kevin Manson to hit goal number three. Shortly before the break, The Miners reduced the deficit when their man of the match Craig Foster headed home a well struck free kick from Alex Davies. With the game over as a contest, the only goal of the second half came when Liam Robson crossed to Tidy who headed back across the goal for Manson to head home his second of the game. The Smithy’s margin of victory might well have been much greater with McGill twice through with just the keeper to beat and Peter King missing from the penalty spot after Robson had bee brought down in the area. 1st. round play off St Marys College OB's 1 Coulby Newham 4 Despite their lowly league position, College Old boys more than did themselves justice against top of the table Coulby Newham in their Arthur Reed Shield play off game. They managed to keep Coulby at bay till thirty minutes into the game when Richie May laid the ball into the path of Anthony Peacock whose low drive was only parried by the College keeper. The ball fell to Ricky Woodhouse who had the easiest of tasks to tap home from close range. Coulby went all out for a second goal with Jamie Clark going close when his header bounced down on to the goal line after hitting the cross bar and Sean Jenny was desperately unlucky when he tried to volley home from close range. Five minutes from half time, another chance fell to May who just grazed the outside of the post after getting on the end of a cross from Martin McManus. As is often the case when a side creates a string of good chances, it is often the opposition that finds the back of the net and so it was this time with Wally Kaid firing home a gem of a shot that curled into the top corner from twenty yards out. Kicking with the wind in the second half and having a goal disallowed, Coulby finally regained the lead with twenty minutes to go. A well worked one two between Peacock and Woodhouse ended with McManus flicking the ball home at the near post and with conditions deteriorating by the minute, Coulby took control of the game when a header from Johnson grazed May on it’s way into the net. Minutes later, a ball from James Myers was floated into the area for McManus to head home to put the result beyond doubt even if it did not reflect the effort and commitment of a resolute St. Mary’s side. Coulby will now play The Miners in a second qualifying game to see who will take on The Smithy in the semi-final of the Arthur Reed competition. Saturday, November 17, 2007 The Stokesley League took a welcome rest from League action last Saturday when the league played host the Leven Bridge Engineering Ltd sponsored Arthur Reed Memorial Shield Competiton and with semi final places at stake all was to play for. Dissapointingly for the competition with Grangetown YCC failing to field a side the Group A game against Coulby Newham had to be postponed bringing the competition into disrepute. Grangetown YCC has been charged for a breach of competiton rules and await a conduct commission on 3rd December. Arthur Reed Memorial Shield – Round 1 – Game 3 GROUP A Grangetown YCC v Coulby Newham - Postponed GROUP B St. Marys College OB 4 NS Bulls Head 1 St Marys College OB kicked off facing a strong wind and found themselves on the back foot from the start , Bulls Head were controlling the early exchanges and were rewarded with a goal after only five minutes when St Marys failed to clear their lines and the Bulls head forward cut inside his marker to score. St Marys failed to make any impact in the early stages and were guilty of giving the ball away on numerous occasions, Bulls Head should have extended their lead but a goalline clearance from veteran Jeff Laskey saved SMCOB. SMCOB surprised Bulls Head when they equalised from a corner Andrew Brothwood won a header at the back post and Niall O'Hanlon reacted first to smash the ball past the keeper and defenders on the line. This goal lifted St Marys, with Gary Lambert and Niall O'Hanlon causing Bulls Head problems, St Marys were rewarded with a second goal when O'Hanlon beat his man and crossed for Steve Aithwaite to score from 12 yards. The second half was only three minutes old when St Marys were rewarded a free kick on the edge of the box, Eddie Johnson cross found Dave Wesson who headed the ball past the stranded keeper . St Marys were now enjoying a majority of the procession and were guilty of missing a number of golden chances, but after 60 minutes they extended their lead when Gary Lambert and Steve Aithwaite combined well to give Aithwaite his second goal with a curling shot from the edge of the box. Special mention goes to Anthoney Frisk who looked commanding at the back and was a constant threat when going forward. GROUP C The Smithy FC 2 The Miners FC 1 In the other Round 1 group game The Smithy continued their winning run by beating the The Miners FC with a narrow victory and putting themselves in a comfortable semi-final spot. Saturday, October 20, 2007 Round 1 – Match 2 Group A St. Marys College 2007 2 Rudds FC 1 St. Mary’s College 2007 made certain of their semi final spot in this year’s Arthur Reed Shield competition with a narrow win over current league leaders Rudds FC. The College started well and took the lead on fifteen minutes when man of the match Craig Sillock set up Ryan Mackey who slotted the ball home from close range. Minutes later however, Rudds were back on level terms when a long throw in was headed home by Paul Rae. With Chris Strike and Craig Sillock working well in midfield, the College battled hard to regain the lead but it was not until well into the second half that they managed to get through a resolute Rudd’s defence. Having just fired over from six yards out, Strike made amends when his ball to Mackey ended with the College forward being awarded a penalty. Centre back Paul Pearson made no mistake with his spot kick firing hard and high into the top corner of the net. Unbeaten so far in the league, The Rudds were not going to go down lightly and they put the College rearguard under tremendous pressure in an attempt to get back on terms. Centre back Pearson however was a pillar in the heart of the College back line and when The Rudds did get through on goal they had to find a way past keeper Thomas Straker who denied Paul Rae when he was through one on one and somehow managed to clear the ball off the line when Martin McManus fired goal ward. Group A – Current standings – St. Mary’s College – played 2 – 6 points Grangetown YCC - played 1 – 0 points Rudds FC - played 1 – 0 points Group B Acklam Steelworks 5 St. Marys College OB 2 Acklam Steelworks put themselves into a strong position to qualify for the semi finals with Lewis Reed setting them on their way with just ten minutes gone. Having just gone close minutes earlier, Reed chased a long ball from right back Paul Burns before slotting the ball past College keeper Mally Straker. Midway through the first half, the Steelies doubled their advantage when a cross from Andy Bowman was headed home by Ben Wheatley at the far post. It was then the College’s turn to exert some pressure and after missing one great opportunity to reduce the arrears, they finally managed to pull a goal back when Steelworks keeper Craig Bishop pulled off a great save from Wally Kaid’s twenty yard free kick but the ball fell to Gary Lambert who had the easiest of tasks to tap in from five yards out. It was midway through the second half however when the real damage was done however with Acklam hitting three goals in the space of five minutes. Gary Smith was responsible for two of the goals – the second a thundering twenty five yard shot that buried itself in the top corner while Reed scored his second of the game to make it five one. Five minutes from time, Daniel Eaton pulled another goal back for the College to give the score line a little bit more respectability. Group B – Current standings – Acklam Steelworks - played 2 – 4 points Bulls Head - played 1 – 1 point St. Marys College OB - played 1 – 0 points Group C Stokesley 1 The Smithy 3 Having totally demolished Stokesley in their league meeting two weeks earlier, The Smithy were pushed all the way by a revitalized Stokesley side who were in this game till late into the second half. There was little between the two sides in the opening twenty minutes before The Smithy broke the deadlock thanks to Paul Jenkins. A good run by Peter King down the right wing ended with a cross to Jenkins who coolly tapped the ball home at the far post. Stokesley might well have leveled minutes later but were denied by Smithy keeper Peter Thompson who tipped a fierce drive onto the cross bar while the visitors should really have doubled their advantage when they were awarded a penalty but Antony Biswas, having been brought down in the area, had the misfortune of seeing his spot kick hit the upright before being cleared. Ten minutes before the break, Stokesley got back on level terms when Jonathan Simpson rounded off a fine build up with a shot from ten yards out. There was little to choose between the sides during the remainder of the first half and much of the second period but Smithy pressure gradually began to tell. After Darren Hakami had gone close and Antony Biswas was once again denied by the woodwork, Justin Godfrey rose to score with a bullet header from six yards out and just ten minutes left on the clock. The Smithy made sure of the points two minutes later when Stephen Mason found Jenkins who chipped home for his second of the game. Group C – Current standings – The Miners - played 1 – 3 points The Smithy - played 1 – 3 points Stokesley - played 2 – 0 points Saturday October 13th Group A Grangetown YCC 3 St Mary’s College (2007) 4 With a semi final place to play for Grangetown YCC were hoping to start the competition strongly, however with key players missing they started with a very much makeshift side in last Saturdays cup tie. St Mary’s 2007 took the advantage on 7minutes with a great through ball that had pacey striker Aaron Thompson pouncing on before running through to open his account in this game. The luck was with St Mary’s when Thompson got his brace following a misunderstanding between the Grangetown defensive pair that resulted in the loose ball being fired into the open goal. Tony Doyle got Grangetown back in the game on twenty five minutes when he rounded keeper Thomas Straker with some clever footwork. The game was moving end to end when Thompson got his hat trick to put St Mary’s 2007 in a commanding lead. All was not lost for Grangetown who made a remarkable fightback with some good work down the left hand side with Stuart Roberts and Sam Noteyoung combining well. Following one such move just before half time Sam Noteyoung worked the wing well putting in a great ball for Tony Doyle to hit a terrific looping shot that beat the keeper and put Grangetown back in the game at the right time. Grangetown looked terrific in the second half dominating play in the early stages. With all to play for the Boys Club looked vulnerable in defence and against the run of play College 2007 extended the lead once again. Grangetown did reduce the arrears but in the end lost out to a much improving side who now sit in pole position in group A. Group B NS Bulls Head FC 2 Acklam Steel Works 2 Bulls Head pulled out all the stops with a number of young players to surprise last Saturday’s opponents Acklam Steel Works by taking the lead on 20minutes through Adam Hind. The lead was well deserved with the North Skelton club holding the advantage in much of the play in the first half. Early in the second half Acklam Steel Works came back into the game and latched onto a well deserved equaliser. Jason Blackett put himself on a pedestal with a well worked one two receiving the ball on edge of the 18 yard area before beating two Steel Works defenders followed by a superb goal having picked his spot with ease. All eyes were on referee Ted Meaburn to blow the final whistle as it looked as though Bulls were heading for all three points and a prime position in group B however on the 87th minute Acklam Steelworks got a reprieve by scoring a scrambled goal to take a share of the points. Group C The Miners 8 Stokesley SC 1 The group C first round game was one way traffic as the Miners dominated play from start to finish. Stokesley Sports Club appears to be struggling this season already suffering for a number of heavy defeats, which sees the club at the bottom of the league table. The Miners scored four goals in either half the game with Alex Davies getting four, Graham Cousins on a hat trick and Matty Scissons scoring the other. Competition 2007-08 The competition kicks off with a first round group stage that will see the three successful leading teams qualifying for the semi final stage. The fourth semifinalist will be contested by the two best runners up who will play out a special playoff game. The first round group stages will be played in October and November with the playoff and semi finals being competed for in November and December. The final will be played at a Northern League Ground in mid March played under floodlights. All is not lost for the teams who finish in the lower part of the 1st round groups stages, these teams will qualify for the semi-finals of the Wilf Leader trophy competition. The final of this competition will be played in April with the proposed venue being Great Ayton Sports Club. Draw and competition constitution 3 league tables for 1st round