29th April 2017 - Silsden AFC 0 v 3 Cheadle Town - The final league match of the season and one to savour. The morn was spent reviewing the previous night's gig that went down mighty well with the hungry spiky tops and those who happened to be in the gaff at the time of the racket making. Even though I was fagged out I had enough energy left to anticipate the drive to the The Cobbydale Construction Stadium and lap up another 90 minutes of soccer action. So, after a good dinner (oh man those Bacon Ribs), me and my missus set off and arrived at the ground 1 hour and 20 minutes later. Tea and choccy were had and a stand under a quiet enclosure whilst watching the teams prepare and admiring the panoramic views - what a splendid place to watch a match. A few heads arrived, the 3pm deadline approached and out came the teams, shook hands and the game got underway.
At the off and Silsden's No 10 (Nicky McNally) was right at it and latched onto a ball and intelligently attempted to chip the opposing keeper. The ball looped and it was most unfortunate that it bounced back off the crossbar - what a start that would have been! Instantaneously No 9 (Mark Everingham) flashed down the wing, crossed and found his No 11 (Tom Henderson) who rifled a shot in and made the keeper produce a good save and keep his under the cosh team still in it. More pressure followed, this time the Cobbydalers No 8 (Josh Eastwood) had a punt but the shot was high into the sky and this allowed the guests to regroup and gather their challenging gonads for the task ahead. Cheadle now responded and Liam Tonge played a beautiful ball that allowed the No 9 (Chris Sherrington) to chase down, connect with and force yet another save from the mittman. An all action start and the Sils were at it again moments later when the hairless No 7 (Danny Bunch) crossed and won a corner and then got himself in the box to get his glabrous globe on the ball but knock it straight at the protector of the mesh - good work though even though not gifted with a bonus. Silsden were now passing well, Cheadle were hustling hard and in fact nearly had a player sneak in and break the deadlock but was denied at the last by a quick off the mark keeper. Next and a corner to Silsden, No 5 (Dan Illingworth) lost his marker with elusive feet and nutted goalward with the ball needing a good goalkeeping clearance once again. Cheadle now grew into the game, and a break came that saw Rhys Webb get the ball with 3 men to beat. He jinked and dinked, stayed cool and worked a gap and let fly with an effort that gave his team the lead that shockingly went against the general flow. What a bloody good goal though!
The game now settled, Cheadle had suppressed Silsden's early threat and brought about a balance to proceedings. Saying this, Silsden did force the visitors No 1 to save again when a superb touch header was latched onto and a firm low shot came. The Cobbydalers were grafting, some eye-catching sequences were making Cheadle work hard but work hard they did and kept all danger minimal. The game had a quiet spell until Cheadle's No 10 (Rhys Webb) grabbed the ball yet again, stayed impressively calm, rode several sub-tackles and fired home with natural aplomb. Silsden were stunned to the core. The half time whistle blew soon after, the smash and garb tactics of the guests were set to take all the glory.
Tea and chocolate for me and my fine lady and a tootle at the local cricket were I witnessed a pace bowler take a wicket and put the opposing team on 76 for 8 - crikey and Silsden AFC thought they were struggling. A chat with the fine gent that is Cheadle's Club Secretary and the two sides came back out.
To the second half and The Town started brightest when fine work from their No 3 (Davison Banda), allowed him to weave in and fire, resulting in a shot that just missed the mark, At this point we were invaded by a bunch of underage screaming Silsden hoodlums who rushed around, made a racket and then fled to a hill on the opposite side of the ground - what a manic bunch they were but you can't fault em' ha, ha. Moments later a lovely lady came in search of the raffle winners and lo and behold it was me and the missus who had the winning ticket and gratefully accepted a bottle of Hardy's Shiraz - what a bonus!
Back to the match, Silsden were now working even harder with several crosses punted in and some good impetus. The forceful effort ended in one move that saw Bunch take a punt then McNally have a prod only for both to be denied by a keeper on fine form. A grand double save for sure. Cheadle responded with some honest midfield mither, with Tonge having a shot pulled wide followed by another shot by a colleague who got the same result. Silsden were backing off a little too much and allowing their opponents time to operate and cultivate with Sherrington next given opportunity to have a dig and fail to make a strike that mattered. Warning, warning, warning - but was anyone listening? A period of back and forth combat ensued and the thermals rose as the home team became desperate and the away team became defiant. Webb of Cheadle had two more attempts on goal albeit rather lazy they appeared and Silsden continued to run themselves ragged in pursuit of a goal back. Some final pressure from the Cobbydale Crew saw a wild shot fly high, a header glide wide and a free-kick get disappointingly hoofed into the the sturdy Cheadle wall. A late corner was nutted and saved yet again and another cross looked promising but led to a counterattack that saw Webb advance with slow grace, cross to a comrade who laid the ball off for Dane Smith to welly home 3 minutes into injury time. The celebration was had and soon after the death toll for Silsden came - a mugging had taken place and the perpetrators were worthy of their gains. I enjoyed this one and at the end had a couple of players to mull over as to the Man of the Match selection. I pondered and decided that it must go to Cheadle Towns No 1 (Jonathan McIlwaine) who made several good saves at crucial times and who commandeered his back line with eagerness and passion. I thought it was a solid performance that backed up his teams worthy win - nice one fella.
FINAL THOUGHT - Silsden were out of sorts today and also just didn't have the run of the ball but they tried their best and their No 7 (Danny Bunch) is worthy of a mention for the ground he covered and the tireless stint he put in. Cheadle Town are on a roll with 5 wins on the bounce and if they start next season like they have ended this one they will be a darn handful for every team in the league and be pushing for a major prize methinks. Finally one must mention the referee today, a Mr Emmanuel Edet I believe who conducted himself marvellously throughout, communicated clearly and firmly with all players and let the game flow, was fair in all decisions and who set a good example of how the game should be marshalled. It is a thankless task and after viewing 68 matches this season I think it is time to give a final round of applause for the men in the middle and their thankless task. I wouldn't entertain the job and I give full respect to those that do - today was an fine display of how it should be done! Now where's that bottle of Shiraz - hiccup!
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