The Ambers’ road to Wembley ended at the first hurdle in frustrating fashion at the hands of NWCFL side Barnoldswick Town in the Extra Preliminary Round of the Emirates FA Cup, when after a dominant first half hour, the visitors allowed the home side to get a foothold and make it a much more nervy affair than it ought to have been. Then after edging into the lead midway through the second period, The Ambers took their foot off the gas and were swept aside by a rampant Barlick who eased themselves into the next Round where they will face Shropshire based side, Whitchurch Alport.
There certainly looked to be no concerns for Handsworth as they settled well to their task, creating chances a plenty in the opening 30 minutes. Brandon Bagley will be disappointed that he failed to capitalise on a couple of decent back stick opportunities as The Ambers played their way around their opponents with ease. A teasing cross from overlapping right back Sam Fewkes evaded everyone in the box before Owen Haigh, starting in an unfamiliar centre forward role following his impressive cameo from the bench in midweek, headed over from a Mitch Dunne cross.
After conceding so much possession early on, the hosts were always likely to awaken from their slumber and they did so with a bang as the dangerous Foster drew a stunning save from Dylan Parkin who turned the ball round the post for a corner. This spurred on the home side and they finished the half strongly with efforts from Carsley, Ormerod and Maloney all missing the target.
The Ambers picked up the pace again in the opening moments of the second period with Alfie Dodsworth to the fore as he fired in two decent efforts which had the keeper scrambling, before another chance came and went, Haigh heading a good chance wide from debutant Craig Nelthorpe’s left wing cross. It was a busy few minutes for the young stand-in striker as he then picked up a yellow card for delaying the taking of a free kick under the new rules, before curling an effort wide and then being denied by the legs of keeper Jakovlevs when he seemed odds on to open the scoring.
However, the deserved opener finally came after a great surging run by Dunne opened up the defence, leaving Mason Barlow free in the box to pick his spot and calmly fire home his second goal of the season. Matty Hughes was brought on and almost made an immediate impact when put in by a Dunne pass, but lost his footing at the crucial moment as he closed in on goal and the chance went begging.
Then, for some reason, whilst completely in control of the game, Handsworth appeared to sit back and allow the home side to have more of the ball and they were made to pay when, after giving away a cheap corner, centre back Barski was able to bundle the ball home for the equaliser, and less than two minutes later, recent substitute Chmiel was on hand to put Barlick ahead, with The Ambers appealing vainly for a clear foul on Barlow that led to the loss of possession in the build up to the goal.
Things went from bad to worse minutes later when, from a free kick into the Ambers box, Johno Williams was fouled by Carsley and a free kick awarded, but the Ambers skipper got himself involved with the striker afterwards whilst both were on the floor, and after the Assistant Linesman got himself involved, Williams was given a red card and the decision was reversed, with for some reason, an indirect free kick being awarded in the penalty area to Town. The comical scenes continued with the free kick being deflected straight into the face of Chmiel was floored by the impact.
As the clock ticked down, Ashton was pushed on the edge of the area as he slalomed his way towards goal, and from his free kick, the ball evaded Parkin to nestle in the back of the net and complete the afternoon’s scoring.
And so, the long trip ended in defeat and disappointment, and as in midweek, the general feeling was that the performance deserved better than the result, and that if the missed opportunities had been taken, the outcome would have been much different.
There is no game for The Ambers now until 16th August when we host Garforth Town unless the League rearrange a fixture for next Saturday but that seems unlikely.