After last season’s 6-0 home mauling by Emley, I wrote that The Pewits were undoubtedly, Handsworth’s bogey side, and, after we forced an unexpected goalless draw in the away fixture back in October, our opponents took full revenge and lived up to their reputation by inflicting a heaviest ever home defeat on The Ambers, on a grim afternoon at Olivers Mount.
With a full squad, it would have been a difficult enough task, but the hosts were so stretched that only two fit outfield players were able to take their place on the bench, one of them an eleventh hour signing to bolster the depleted ranks.
After Dylan Parkin was called into action twice in the opening minute, it wasn’t long before the visitors swept ahead, Jerome heading home unchallenged from a Gooden cross, just a minute after Lambton had saved well from a Leon Howarth strike at the other end.
The visitors went further ahead on 22 minutes when Jerome slotted home a penalty awarded after Masai Arbouin was adjudged to have fouled Gooden just inside the box, and despite their best efforts, The Ambers just couldn’t get anything going against a strong, experienced outfit who, on this showing, will surely claim top spot come the end of the season.
The third goal duly arrived before half time and there was more than a touch of fortune about it, as Gooden’s long range effort took a wicked deflection off a defender to completely wrong foot Parkin, and the visitors continued to pepper the Ambers goal until half time but could not add to their score. Craig Nelthorpe picked up a yellow card for a foul in the centre of the pitch and after showing his feelings to the referee, was sent to the sin bin, to compound The Ambers’ misery.
The second half began in brighter fashion for Handsworth who started well but still managed to find themselves a further goal adrift as a good attack broke down and the ball was quickly moved forward by Metcalfe who drove through a massive gap to feed Gooden who tapped in Emley’s 4th of the afternoon.
After Parkin had pulled off a fantastic double save, he was then caught out by a Metcalfe free kick from an acute angle on the left which flew beyond him and in at the far post, before Emley matched last season’s score line with little more than an hour gone, as an unmarked Jerome tapped in at the back stick from Hardaker’s delivery, to complete his hat trick.
A raft of substitutions stemmed the flow of the game, but the introduction of debutant Koby Erratt-Thompson and Alfie Dodsworth did give The Ambers a bit of a lift, and after Jack Dolman was fouled in the area by Lawrence, it was top scorer Dodsworth who stepped up to claim his 11th goal of the season.
The scoring was completed five minutes from time when Walshaw’s clever flicked header from a Clegg free kick, left Parkin wrong footed, and thankfully, the referee decided that there was only one minute of injury time necessary to limit the pain.
Hopefully, The Ambers will have a few more bodies available in time for the visit of Sheffield FC in the Senior Cup on Wednesday evening, but whoever is available, they need to put this one behind them and be ready for another tough test.