For the second game running, it was a case of what might have been for The Ambers, as they came away from Penistone Church which nothing to show after a decent performance that was well worth a share of the points. One enforced change saw Owen Haigh return to the starting eleven in place of the suspended Matt Reay, whilst there was a place on the bench for new signing Matty Ord.
In a fast paced, even start to the game, the first half chance fell to the hosts, when Brown shot wide after some good build up play, before Coduri was off target with a speculative effort from distance. The first Ambers opportunity came when Mason Barlow picked up the ball in the Penistone half but opted to shoot rather than play the ball out wide, and he couldn’t keep his effort low enough to trouble the keeper.
Keightley then went close for the hosts when he made room for himself on the right hand side of the area but his curled effort just missed the back post, whilst Brown and Coduri both fired efforts wide as Church started to take control of the game. Dylan Parkin then came to the rescue, firstly saving at his near post after a good turn and strike from Ryan, before saving in a one on one situation from Brown as the winger outstripped the Ambers defence.
A crude challenge through the back of Leon Howarth as The Ambers sprung clear earned Brennan a yellow card, and that heralded a good little spell for the visitors in the closing stages of the first half. A good link up between Howarth and Mitch Dunne down the left saw the ball fall to Tom Cropper on the far side of the box, and when his effort was blocked, the ball fell to Barlow whose goalbound effort was also blocked to preserve Penistone’s clean sheet.
The Ambers’ momentum was swiftly halted when Masai Arbouin was sin binned for slamming the ball into the ground after a foul was given against Barlow, and this disappointing trait that has crept into Handsworth’s play recently needs to be nipped in the bud, as we can ill afford to be without a full complement of players on the field at all times.
The entertaining half ended with Barnett firing wide for the hosts and Howarth seeing a spectacular effort on the run flash wide of the Penistone goal, and the second period almost began with a bang for Church as they fashioned a great opportunity in the opening minute when Hurles-Brook’s effort was inches wide of the target as The Ambers were caught napping.
There was a blow for the visitors when Shaun Tuton, who looked to have tweaked a hamstring in the opening minutes of the game, finally had to admit defeat and come off on 47 minutes, with Aaron Moxam taking his place, but the early action was again at the other end, Johno Williams managing to get an important block in to deflect a Keightley effort away for a corner.
Handsworth did then manage to get a foothold on the game and were generally on the front foot, pushing the hosts back towards their own goal, but Church were always looking for the quick breaks and the game was becoming an end to end affair that just needed a goal to fully ignite it.
Moxam and Dunne were combining well, whilst Howarth was working hard down the right and looking dangerous whenever he got involved, but it wasn’t quite working and a change was made to try and refresh things, Alfie Dodsworth coming on in place of the skipper who had just picked up a yellow card.
Unfortunately, within a minute of the change, it was the home side who took the lead, Keightley latching on to a threaded ball from Newsome and showing his qualities by stroking the ball past Parkin to break the deadlock.
Ord was brought on for his debut and he fitted in seamlessly on the left, but The Ambers, despite being camped out in Penistone’s half for the last 20 minutes, could not find the breakthrough they needed to get back on level terms. The best chance fell to Howarth whose flicked header from a free kick looked to be heading towards the goal but struck Moxam on it’s way and was deflected away from the target, such is the luck that we are currently having, whilst a last gasp header deep into injury time was grasped under the bar by Ambler to preserve his clean sheet and seal the points for the hosts.
The Ambers can once again take positives from the performance, but must start to convert them into points to prevent the season petering out once again. Next up are Albion Sports in what will undoubtedly be another tough encounter.