Colwyn Bay 0 County 0 ; Conference North
Well.....it`s
630+ minutes now, since County scored in
a match, after today`s hard fought goal less draw away to Colwyn Bay. It
was pretty much a repeat of recent performances with the defence in rock solid
form never really looking troubled, and ably assisted by Jamie Milligan who did
his best, along with workaholic Phil Jevons, to forge a link twixt defence
and attack. Moke gave
us a pretty decent 90 minutes as well,
and if Kristian Dennis tends to disappoint somewhat , he none the less will
feel aggrieved to have seen keeper Chris Sanna claw his header from the line
with time running out and the blues getting ever more confident as the game
went on.
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| Alan Lord before the start. |
County had
looked confident all game long, playing some reasonable football, but it
usually fell down in the last third where the ideas ran out. That said Sanna
had a couple of more than routine saves to make before the break, and a crucial
one late on, so being too critical is perhaps not called for- they were working
hard and I will take that!
There were 2
County changes at 3 o`clock as the teams came out- Platt for Moses and
Lofthouse in place of Churchman.
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| Kyle Jacobs. |
The Platt move was to work well enough, but
young Lofthouse disappointed , and like Churchman the game before looked ready
for a rest.
Play opened
with Jacobs and Lees in the thick of the action, and Duxbury likewise ushering
Gareth Evans out of harm`s way. From this County went long – Moke a whisker
away from embarrassing Sanna on the charge.County persisted, or
rather....Jevons did ,and things looked on the up as he picked Dennis out, and
again as County`s number nine forced a corner off Danny Taylor. The kick whizzed
over, and a further cross from the
right, before the ball fell nicely for
Platt whose shot unfortunately went
wide.
That was a
decent start , but what followed wasn`t by anyone`s yardstick as the ball was
played out of defence by the Welsh side – reaching the County box , where
Ormson was advancing for it. Ormson`s advance gained
him the ball, but this fact looked not to concern Evans who ,with the ball not
remotely at issue, swung his boot smack into Ormson`s face!
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| Evans takes the Pistorius Defence ` I didn`t mean to guv' |
It was a crudely
unacceptable assault, and should have seen Evans walking, but instead referee
Robert Jones bottled it and waved a spineless yellow at him! The `Chelsea Rent
Boy’ chants that followed, aimed at the official, were amusing, but hardly
enough of a rebuke for such an awful decision.
Lees was to
the fore next, blocking a run by Sean Williams and then heading clear from the
resultant corner, as Colwyn Bay, with Williams and ex Hatter Cameron Darkwah
looking lively, pressed the blues back. In response O`Halloran joined the
fray and ended the County angst, but
when Jevons and Moke worked it clear, and the ball reached Platt, the move
broke down when he lost himself in a brief orgy of over elaboration.
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| Darkwah v Lees. |
Darkwah
meanwhile was giving every indication of
wanting to embarrass County , but despite another energetic run from Cameron,
O`Halloran.....Lees and company remained pretty much untroubled. Indeed, with
10 minutes gone the action was at
Sanna`s end where the keeper did
brilliantly to keep a mighty strike from Moke out. It was a belter....and a
good save too! Then Jevons had a go, but his volley met the same fate with
Sanna again emerging , feathers unruffled, with the ball.
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| Ist half action. |
It was end
to end after this, and the 12th minute saw Jamie Tolley head over
the bar after a loose ball from Duxbury had set him up. A storming run by O`Halloran
then saw Sanna thwart Jevons again with a decent save.....followed by a break
by Darkwah for Bay that ended on the edge of the County box.
If the
football was perhaps less than wonderful, it was a pretty competitive affair,
and with 15 minutes gone, the home side thought they had a chance of sneaking
one. It stemmed from another Darkwah run, and he did well to ping a cross over
on the end of it.In a flash Robert Hopley was onto it, but in another the
liners flag was up and relief was palpable for County.
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| More action from ist half. |
Back came County via Moke , but his
left footed strike climbed over the bar. Moke was looking lively...very lively
in fact, and aided by Kyle Jacobs offered a potentially potent option for AL`s
side, but they still had to concentrate and ensure the back door remained
locked, and OHalloran did particularly well in this respect blocking the route
to goal before joining Duxbury in keeping Evans quiet. Lees did likewise, but
one bit of work saw him run into trouble ,giving Darkwah another chance to show
his hand- he lifted his shot wide however.
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| Long throw ahoy! |
Bay`s best option in this period
seemed to be the long throw and a couple succeeded in pushing County onto the
back foot, but without ever suggesting that they would crumble. The response
from County ,usually had Milligan at its source and Moke and Jacobs charged
with turning defence into attack, but ,like Bay, they ran out of ideas the
closer they were to seeing the white`s of Sanna`s eyes. Instance the 27th
minute when a foul on Platt by Jamie Crowther ushered in a welcome free kick.
Milligan played this sideways to Jevons only for Dennis to fail to make
anything of it. Were County over anxious? Perhaps well aware of the long goal
drought? That may be so as Platt snatched at a shot 30 minutes in ,lifting it
high and wide of goal.....then Dennis did the same when a little composure
would have gone far. Again....Moke and Jacobs offered hope of something better,
more so when Jevons joined in, but when it reached Dennis , he lost the ball
and there the move ended.
A series of County throws ensured
that they gained ground after this , but with the inevitable breakdown of the
move that followed, our hosts had it on the break, and for a moment or so,
things looked better for them until Williams firmly struck effort carried the
bar! Darkwah did his best to lift home gloom after this , but Jacobs waited his
moment and timed his challenge to perfection- danger over! We were 5 minutes
from the break now and Hopley did well
to send Evans clear ,but the County middle held and the threat disappeared.
Once more County replied with
Mulligan orchestrating things nicely .....yes.....the move was building well
,and Moke again looked on the verge of something, when Hopley laid him out with
as slack jawed a challenge as I have seen for some time. It was depressing to see such obnoxious crudity, and the
depression only increased when Milligan`s kick hit the wall and Lofthouse
lifted his follow up high into the crowd.
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| Milligan`s free kick...... |
The last minute of the half was lit
up by Duxbury who went on a Bale type run that carried him from deep ,well into
the Colwyn Bay half. Into the box he went ending it all with a decent strike,
but Sanna was equal to it and his dive kept it at 0-0 as the referee blew for
the break.
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| The Drum and sundry County supporters! |
585+ minutes had now elapsed since County had scored in a game,but Police
and Stewards, who generally had an easy time of it, spent the break `dealing
with’ about 2 dozen travelling fans who were viewing proceedings from a vantage
point outside the ground. Some element of illegality was no doubt involved but
I cared not and left them to it.
Straight off upon the re-start Colwyn
Bay had themselves a chance ,thanks to Tom Smyth having lumped a high one into
the County box from distance. It looked to be a chance anyway , but Evans, who should
by rights have been viewing proceedings from beyond the touchline, fluffed his
lines sending the poorest of shots wide.The quality from Bay did not noticeably
improve either even when assisted when the referee obliged them with a
ludicrously iffy free kick. It was nicely placed as well, and Tony Stephens
definitely fancied it, only to send his kick hopelessly wide of the target!
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| Moke on the charge ! |
Moke then took matters in hand –
creasing Bay with a cross that Smyth did well to head clear. Then he treated us
to a real dazzler of a run, going past 4 men before veering inside at speed. Bay responded through Royle who lumped the
pill out of the ground. The mother of all scrambles followed, with County just
unable to apply that final touch. Then.......they could( apply that touch) as
Jevons slid the ball into Dennis`s path and he leathered it home. Joy was short
lived however as referee brought play back for a Bay free kick
for......err......offside?....
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| Duxbury and Crowther get acquainted ! |
It got a tad lively after this, with
Darkwah running at us again, and Duxbury sparring in lively fashion with
Crowther, who came off rather the worse.............. Dennis had a shot saved
by Sanna, and O`Halloran stopped Williams with an excellent saving tackle, but
County were not being faced with overwhelmingly good opposition, in fact I felt
that the Welsh side were pretty ordinary, so maybe something slightly special
might be possible later on! Meanwhile I looked on to see another Moke run ended
with a tug of his shirt from Tolley,which earned County a free kick ,but the
offender not so much as a gentle rebuke from the referee, whose mind I felt was
now probably occupied on the perils of the traffic on the M53 etc between the
ground and the Wirral rather than a rigorous punishment of felons, and seeing
the free kick come to nought only served to increase my cynicism! The mood improved
slightly on seeing another magic tackle by O`Halloran stop substitute James
Ellison in his tracks. Jevons waited his moment and with Mulligan in tow forced
Bay back again, and I was aghast to see the referee signal a corner after the
outstretched leg of Danny Taylor had sent Jevons sprawling in the box. I should
have known really....we do not get them do we? Jevons and O`Halloran both tried to make the corner
count, but then exchanged strong words having each felt impeded by the other- Jevons
getting to the ball but heading over the bar. County were playing some OK stuff
, but it all prompted the rather obvious question......” where`s the meat?”
Well...young Payne was on the bench....could he not have something to
contribute?
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| County press ! |
This was distracting stuff to ponder
on, but matters got temporarily iffy on the pitch next as following good work
by O`Halloran the otherwise excellent Jacobs upended a forward giving Bay a
free kick in a scoreable position. Again Stephens fancied it and lined up
accordingly, but so did Ellison and he took it ,and Ormson did not have to
budge as the kick went well wide.
There really wasn`t that much of
substance coming at County from their opponents, the trouble was that County
were struggling themselves to make anything from some promising approach play,
which made the continued absence of Payne all the more puzzling.
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| 2nd half action. |
Colwyn Bay did keep trying to breach
the County back line, but the closest they came was a back header ,after 80
minutes, from Williams which Ormson dealt with comfortably. Then it
happened......an attack of real penetration from the blues and it was started
by Milligan who kept pegging away until he could get a cross in. It was a
belter too and so was Dennis`s response. Dennis had been disappointing but the
header that followed was spot on and on target. It was going in for sure
,but Sanna, who was falling backwards towards goal, stretched out a hand to
somehow keep it out. County thought it over the line....unsurprisingly I
agreed, but liner and referee did not and it stayed 0-0!
That last action seemed to have
unnerved Bay and both Lofthouse and Duxbury saw shots charged down with the
home defence in disarray, not long after. Then Moke applied the pressure via a
lively run that ended with Dennis picking Platt out, but watching aghast as he
was blocked on trying in vain to turn and shoot in the box. Jacobs, Moke and
Jevons kept the momentum going, pushing Bay ever further back, but the ball
just would not oblige and nestle in Sanna`s net, and the keeper was obliged to
thump the ball over the stand with a minute or so left, when Platt sent Jevons
scooting clear!
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| Late surge from County. |
A Dennis shot that just cleared the bar......a
corner and some excellent defensive work from O`Halloran and that was
that....the game was over.
County left the field to generous
applause from over 800 supporters. I felt that that was the right
response......OK.....the quality of the football on show was not that great,
but County were trying...working hard...and their defensive excellence is there
for all to see! Here`s to next Saturday and a goal or two against Harrogate at
Edgeley Park in front of a bumper crowd!
County line up :
Ormson, Jacobs, Duxbury, Lees, O`Halloran,Mulligan,Lofthouse, Platt, Jevons, Moke, Dennis.
Subs not used; Charnock, Payne, Todd, Howard, Churchman
Colwyn Bay line up:
Sanna,Taylor, Stephens,Royle,Smyth,Crowther,
Attendance : 1056
Ian Brown
Additional Gallery;
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