31st October 2009

Manse Lane Knaresborough

Knaresborough (4) v (1) Bardsey Reserves

The reserves went to Manse Lane looking forward to continuing their recent league form which had seen them soar up the table into third place. Almost straight from the kick off it became apparent that three points would have to be won the hard way. Knaresboroughs position in the league gave no indication of what was to come it was soon clear that the Bardsey defence was going to be asked serious questions,indeed had it not been for SIMPSON in goal the game would have been over by half time. In fairness they were not helped by some starnge refereeing decisions but to the referees credit they were poor in both directions butwhen it really mattered the major ones went against Bardsey .

Changes were made at half time but the pace of the oppositions attack caused problems time and time again for the Bardsey back line and Knaresborough raced into a 3-0 lead.

Bardsey briefly looked to get back in the game when Knaresboroughs very own Thierry Henry conceded a penalty although it has to be said it did look dubious to say the least. Knaresborough were obviously hoping for a replay but realised appeals to FIFA would obviously count for nothing so we got on with the game and GILMORE duly depatched the penalty to make it 3-1. The brief revival was soon put to bed when an unfortunate own goal by Mannion seemed to have settled the game. Bardsey still had chances mainly by FRYER and COONEY but ultimately failed to convert them into goals. A late challenge in the box from behind on COONEY, whilst spotted by most the population of Knaresborough and also quite a few in Harrogate also inexplicably escaped the referees attention but ultimately anything other than a Knaresborough win would have been an injustice.

The Knaresborough defence stood firm to see out a 4-1 win with Dan Shuffel showing he has still got what it takes to stay at the bottom.

MOM SIMPSON

21ST NOVEMBER

KESWICK LANE

BARDSEY (5) V (1) KARTIERS

Bardsey moved smoothly into the next round of the ACTIV8 cup with a 5-1 win against Kartiers but not without a few moments of consternation early in the game.

A tenacious and youthful Kartiers team obviously hadn't read the script and indeed had the better of the early opportunities. YANAC trying to push the opposition winger into the beck led to an early penalty which was converted after SIMPSON had bravely saved the initial attempt and the defence decided to let the taker have a second attempt which he gratefully accepted and we were a goal down.

The goalkeepers gentle encouragement seemed to sting the Bardsey team into action and it was really all one way from there on in.

Within minutes YANAC pounced on an error by the Kartiers keeper to level the scores and ensured he could safely leave the field for the half-time talk.Just prior to half-time CONWAY got on the end of a fine move anf was left with the easiest of chances to make it 2-1. The second half was mainly one-way traffic with Bardsey moving the ball around at will and causing all sorts of problems for the opposition. Another goal from CONWAY and a brace by FRYER told the second half story and from what had started as a potential banana skin match ultimately became a comfortable victory. Credit must be given to the Kartiers team as they kept going for the full 90 minutes and never let their heads drop and will surely improve as they develop.

MOM NESRY - Sobered up well and improved as the game progressed.

28th November 2009

KESWICK LANE

BARDSEY (2) v (4) OSSET COMMON ROVERS

Bardsey entered this game full of confidence after last weeks comprehensive defeat of Kartiers and the previous defeat of Osset on their own ground. However as often happens in football the script was thrown out of the window when the game commenced. An unfortunate error by the normally reliable Bardsey keeper allowed Osset to take an early lead and unsettled the Bardsey side. With only their second attack Osset increased their lead with the Bardsey defence caught cold. Two attacks and two goals would have been enough to bring a smile to Arsene Wengers face never mind an alliance Division 1 manager and Osset were in the ascendancy without ever really creating anything apart from the two goals. CONWAY pulled one back to give some semblance of justice to the scoreline and Bardsey took total control of the game. It seemed inevitable that Bardsey would equalise but chances came and went before the referee who was the only person on the pitch to spot an offence after an innocuous but well timed challenge by CORCORAN inexplicably pointed to the penalty spot. The opposition seemed more suprised than we did but gratefully accepted their good luck and tucked away the penalty to leave Bardsey with a mountain to climb.

Bardsey bounced back with renewed vigour and after half time we were convinced that if we kept going at the same level we could still win the game until he defence were caught cold and Osset ,with only their fourth meaningful attack, increased their comfort margin to three goals. The one way traffic toward the Osset goal continued and COONEY pulled one back .The Osset goalkeepers performance was reminiscent of Jim Montgomery for Sunderland against Leeds back in the 70's and the only thing missing was Bob Stokoe skipping across the pitch at full time.Another day would have seen a 8-4 scoreline in our favour but thats the beauty of football. You dont always get what you deserve in individual matches but over the season you will.

MOM Cooney

5th Dec 2009

County Challenge Trophy Round 4

Keswick Lane Bardsey

Alwoodley (4) v (6) Bardsey

Once again Bardseys drainage installed at the end of last season came to the rescue to enable a game switch from Alwoodleys flooded pitch. It seemed to be the same old story as early Bardsey pressure and a succession of missed chances ended with Alwoodley taking the lead with an audacious chip over the hapless Simpson. The familar nightmares of previous weeks seemed to be continuing as Alwoodley increased their lead due to a mixture of indiscipline and confusion . The sending off of Nesry after a 'misunderstanding' and the resultant free kick ending up in the bottom corner of the net left us with a difficult task,to say the least. Another well taken goal from the Alwoodley center forward left us with a veritable mountain to climb. Then came the miracle. CLARKE and MOOR with YANAC brought back into mid field finally inspired a five goal fightback with CLARK netting a hat trick abley supported by MOORE and COONEY.

In conclusion any result other than a win would have been an injustice. Once we curb the frustration and concentrate on the football we will be a match for any team left in this competition.

MOM YANAC for his second half performance. Not sure where he was in th first half !!

23/01/10

County Challenge Trophy

Thornhill (6) v (2) Bardsey

Inquest findings.

After several weeks without a game Bardsey went into this fixture with some trepidation as the training field had been noticeably empty of the majority of reserve team players. Coming up against a team at the top of their league and on their own postage stamp pitch it was always going to be hard and so it proved. The reasons for playing on such a small pitch when there was an ‘adults’ pitch within thirty yards soon became apparent as Thornhill abandoned all attempts at the ‘beautiful game and played to their strengths by getting the ball to their two very useful front players. The Bardsey defence conceded far too much territory and the Thornhill players found themselves almost invariably in plenty of space and made Bardsey pay severely by scoring three goals in fifteen minutes as well as having what looked to be a legitimate goal disallowed. We didi to our credit try to play football and after a good period of play managed to end the half at 4-2 down with some hopes of a second half revival. However it was not to be and a continuation of lax defending and some eccentric decisions by some players allowed Thornhill to score twice more and effectively end the game as a contest.

This was the worst performance of the season in the most important game for some time and we must look at ourselves our preparation and attitude. Lack of fitness not only lets ourselves down but also our team mates. Training and preparation are almost important as the game itself. The only player who could hold his head up after this game was Josh Yanac whose tireless running and commitment should be held up as an example to the rest of the team. The official verdict from the manager was ‘rubbish’(or words to that effect) and it would be hard to disagree on this performance.

The only positives for the day is that we know know our way round Saviletown,don’t trust a ‘Tom-Tom’ and we found a new beer for the club- Not all bad then!

BARDSEY RES 1 - 0 RIPON CITY RESERVES

13-2-10

A single goal from Craig Bird gave Bardsey all three points in an end to end game at Keswick Lane. Both sides created plenty of chances and the score could easily have been five to four but misses from a few yards out kept the score looking professional. Bardsey even brought on Jimbo to show the other attackers how to miss in style and he lived up to his early promise by ballooning one over the bar from all of two yards. The referee gave a sympathy corner to spare the players blushes but admitted he thought it must have been deflected as it went so high in such a short distance. There was no further incident after the referee made sure Cliffys' standing order to the WRCFA would be working again this month and the game finished with all four points to the home team.