Bridge Crossing Victory

Finishing work is always a relief , get home have some tea, go to the match , what could be better. A nice way to finish the day. For the players of Radcliffe Borough it is often the start of another work period, most will have been up early for day jobs, travel to and from, think about the game , get to the ground and perform, a tall order that is often overlooked by supporters. Afternoon naps and massages are not the pre match normal in the Unibond world. Bamber Bridge will be the visitors who had been easy winners at the last meeting. Boro at home need to get on track. Changes to saturdays line up with Martyn Forrest replacing the now departed Lee Connell. Mark Drew returns from his knock to go in midfield with Sampson back at full back duties. Tom Brookes was back on the bench with Lee Unsworth missing through injury. A decent following of Brig fans helped boost a disappointing home crowd. The tempo was up from the start with Roscoe & Griff Jones looking lively from the off. brig get the first corner of the game and with few games of late look sharp enough. Early warning from the visitors as Neil Zarac is given offside from the second ball in from the corner , his header goes narrowly wide. Mark Drew serves up the first telling pass of the night releasing Griff Jones he puts in a cross that Owen Roberts can only just get something on it to send it skyward.
No shape to the game in the first fifteen with both sides closing down quickly. Priestley is called into action from a fierce shot by Tom Ince that takes a deflection and sees the keeper alive to push past the post. Bridge force another corner on 16 minutes, Boro don't learn from the earlier warning and from a standing header at the near post Colin McAllister scores with a simple header. An early blow to a bright start. Mark Drew again plays a positive forward ball that is intended for the run of Roscoe, McCann defends very coolly to see it safe. Griff Jones uses his strength to wrestle possession on the edge of the Brig box and gets his shot away, the block sends the ball for the corner. Roberts delivers a testing one that leaves Zarac the only option of heading over his own bar with some confusion from the defending side. Mark Drew delivers the corner that is put on a plate for the prolific centre half Dawson to add to his impressive tally with a net breaking header for 1-1! A period of Boro pressure follows lead by a great battling challenge by Sampson ,Griff Jones takes up and switches out to Roberts his cross his sliced uncomfortably out by the defender. Bamber relieve the pressure and win a corner and remain dangerous. After Brockley is booked unnecessarily for back chat, Brig show how dangerous they can be as they break after a poor clearance for Priestley a testing cross is sent in as the ball falls a shot flys in toward goal that is miraculously headed out by Dawson as it was goal bound with the keeper beaten. Boro keep going and Forrest supplies a chance for Griff Jones who sets himself well to lob over the keeper and bar. Owen Roberts his in a good slot to fire in a shot from a loose ball but sees it wide. With the whistle about to be blown for the half Boro push into the last third as the way is blocked the ball is kind to Roberts who fires in a great shot that the keeper can only parry into the path of the waiting Roscoe who takes his chance and whips the ball past the grounded keeper to give Boro the lead 2-1. Half time , good times.
No changes to the second half except that Brig come out of the traps quicker and with Roberts waiting and calling for offside Alex Porter gets behind the defence he is allowed two attempts to cross and finds Zico-Black who is left waiting to nod home at the far post 2-2 Boro caught napping. Griff Jones finds himself in the box working hard to win advantage, his work rate continues to be impressive throughout the game and his intelligent play can be seen in most attacks. His strike partner Roscoe is making the ball stick and shows the skill best when he feeds the ball out to Roberts who wastes the chance to cross. Bamber Bridge start to enjoy a period of pressure going into the hour mark and have boro digging deep to clear their lines. Forrest continues to pick decent passes and the combination of himself and Drew may be the answer to unlock defences and feed our forwards runs. Boro look long to free pressure from Brig knocking on the door, they are finding good positions and look the most likely to score first. Ince gets a shot in after a half clearance by Mark Jones, the play moves to the other end and sees mark Jones in action again as he wins the ball and takes it to the Bridge box he elects to set up Griff Jones who is smothered out. The visitors change Edmeads off & Brown on and continue to press, the next 10 minutes belong to Bamber Bridge as they create very good chances , the pick is Mason as he finds himself in the 6 yard box but shoots well wide when he should have scored. Steel is in the mix and sends a great ball into Porter he as a double attempt before the cross is cleared by Kelly the ball runs into the path of Zico-Black who as been the pick of the visitors team his shot flys close to the bar but over. Boro catch Brig narrowly offside as they press hard, Boro relieve the flow by clearing long at times ok but the clearances need to find a blue shirt and are at times only adding to the pressure. Priestley pulls off a fine save to deny Porter as boro look for the flag. The best relief is a goal and Roberts produces a clearance finds him out wide on the flank and he moves into the left end edge of the box with a man in front to beat, his confidence is high and it showed as he got the ball on his trusty left peg to fire low across the keeper and into the net, the Boro faithful are in voice. 15 minutes to go and it is down to sheer effort. Hearts are in the mouth as Priestley elects to punch clear with attackers waiting on the edge. Boro dig deep and want the win. Howson and Oates replace Roscoe and Griff Jones who will welcome their beds after the long working day. The ref adds on 3 minutes whilst all wait the win , Forrest typifies the Boro display as his last ditch block on the edge of the box sees out the game. A great win and a great game of football , all have earned a crust today both on the pitch and off , next time you hear somebody moaning about a poor pass ask them if they made a mistake at work today!

see you in Skem
Paul.