In an exact repeat of last season’s fixture, Ambers’ skipper Mitch Dunne was the difference between the two teams as he scored both goals again in a 2-0 victory at Bottesford Town, stretching the Ambers’ league run to four straight wins.
After a two week layoff since their FA Vase defeat at Euxton Villa, one may have expected The Ambers to start slowly but that wasn’t the case as Dunne did exactly what he did here last season with a goal in the opening five minutes of the game. After already going close with an earlier cross into the box which was headed over his own bar by a Town defender, Dunne was on hand to acrobatically volley home from a pinpoint cross from Kieran Wells who had waited for support on the right flank before providing the killer delivery into the box, Dunne’s stunning effort leaving Town keeper Anderson helpless.
A bit of the shine was taken away by the yellow card shown to Craig Nelthorpe for kicking the ball away in the aftermath of the goal celebrations, and more so by the departure of the injured Brandon Bagley midway through the half, with Tom Bishop coming on to replace him. In between those two events, The Poachers had their first effort on goal when a snap shot from Pearson was easily dealt with by Dylan Parkin, before Dunne curled an effort wide after charging down a clearance on the edge of the area, and a wicked free kick from Alfie Dodsworth was headed away from danger at the last minute as it speared towards the top corner.
The Ambers were playing some good stuff despite the intense heat, but Bottesford certainly had their moments too. A surging run and cross from Chaffer forced Parkin into a full length dive to punch the ball away amidst a host of onrushing bodies, before The Ambers were indebted to Masai Arbouin who headed a goal bound effort from Griffin over his own bar to retain the lead. From the follow up corner, Fawcett headed over from close range.
The referee then took centre stage as he flashed his yellow card to two members of the Town management team for disputing a foul in front of them, and he must have liked the spotlight as he stayed front and centre for the rest of the game, causing a stop-start affair that rarely set alight.
Dodsworth then sent a long ball down towards the right corner flag and the overlapping Tom Cropper never gave up when others did, but his route into the box was halted at the expense of a corner, which when cleared, fell to Arbouin but his effort was saved by Anderson.
In a quick break upfield, Chaffer once again got free down the left and he was certainly proving to be the home side’s most potent weapon, but once again, Parkin reacted well to clear his lines, and just a minute later, Cropper and Dodsworth combined well for the midfielder to send a cross towards the back post. Pearson got to the ball ahead of Dunne but the striker picked his pocket and finished well past Anderson to claim his second of the afternoon. The game should have been put to bed on the stroke of half time when Cropper teed up Wells, but the striker’s poked effort from six yards somehow missed the target when it looked odds on to make the net bulge.
The home side started the second half with a more positive outlook and Pearson and Simpson both fired in decent efforts early in the half but neither tested Parkin. After Cropper picked up a yellow card for slightly delaying a throw in, the man in the middle inexplicably missed a clear pull back on Wells inside the area as he raced clear onto a Dunne pass. To his credit, the striker remained on his feet but his attempted dink over the keeper was kept out and the chance was gone with no decision made and the miscreant, Griffin thanking his lucky stars at the avoidance of what would likely have been a red card.
Anderson was being kept busy as he then saved efforts from Bishop and Dunne in quick succession and The Ambers were guilty of trying to walk the ball in for a third. Henry Carne who had, along with Sam Fewkes, been outstanding throughout, then picked up a yellow card for disputing the award of a corner and Dunne then saw yellow for a foul, before Dodsworth, Bishop and Dunne combined well to force a corner, from which Arbouin shot over the bar.
The hardworking Wells then left the field with Aaron Moxam on in his place, and the sub’s first involvement was to fire a difficult volley over the bar after Dodsworth’s thunderous free kick smashed against the crossbar with the keeper beaten.
As the humid conditions were amplified by the sound of thunder and the occasional flash of lightning, the pace of the game understandably dropped but there was still time for the referee to up his quota of yellow cards by waving them at Messer’s Froggatt and Ward, as well as at Moxam for an innocuous foul and home skipper Griffin for an unfortunate handball.
Owen Haigh had to limp off near the end, with Johno Williams coming on at centre back, quickly followed from the bench by Craig Mitchell and Mike Trench as The Ambers saw out some late huffing and puffing from The Poachers, and Parkin made his most important contribution of the game deep into injury team as he turned a good effort from Dunkerley over the bar to retain his clean sheet.
All in all, it was a decent enough performance by The Ambers without ever looking at the top of their game, but with the conditions and the over fussy refereeing, that was hardly surprising. The fourth straight win pushed The Ambers back into the top six ahead of Wednesday night’s tough clash against Penistone Church.