It's Tuesday night at the Stade de France, and in-form Ossett Town – who haven't been beaten since November – are expected to stuff Salford City. Ossett hammered top of the table Curzon Ashton in their last outing, while the Ammies got beat 2-0 by Curzon at home last week. No contest? Au contraire!
Salford begin by passing the ball around, Barcelona style, and never let up – with little triangles and exquisite interplay baffling the Ossett bruisers. Early in the first half the reward comes when a cross falls invitingly for right back Chris Collins-Reed to flash it into the net from outside the area a la Seamus Coleman. By half time it could be five as Ossett barely get a sniff but it remains 0-1.
The second half sees more stylish play from the Ammies and soon Matty Purcell doubles the lead with a well placed shot after a one-two with Jack Laird. 0-2. And in the last minute, the brilliant Stuart Cook waltzes through the Ossett defence on the byline, almost from the corner flag to the near post and cuts the ball back for Matty Purcell to score his second of the evening to end the game 0-3.
A superb performance from Salford City that even has the Ossett Town officials drooling at the Ammies' class…
It's Saturday afternoon in Kendal at a ground that sits opposite a graveyard. The pitch is a cow patch. It's windy. And Salford cannot get their passing game going at all as the ball bobbles off various species of divot. After trying the Barca style for a few minutes the players almost give up and begin pumping the ball forward in the air which plays right into the paws of the Kendal defenders and midfield.
After only nine minutes Kendal take the lead when hesitancy in the Salford defence allows an attacker to drill a shot into the top of the goal for a 1-0 lead. A dozen minutes later and it's 2-0. In reply the only notable effort from the Ammies is a Sam Fitzgerald shot that fizzes just wide.
The second half sees more of the first half, with Salford producing virtually nothing in the final third of the pitch and Kendal Town doing likewise, the game a stalemate of free kicks and off key headers.
Matty Purcell almost pulls a goal back for Salford with a well placed shot that the Kendal keeper saves with his legs. Sub, Danny Browne, gets stuck in for Salford but gets a bit too stuck into a Kendal defender after he gets kicked and is sent off for retaliation.
Now down to ten men the Ammies continue to press forward but there's little end product. Instead it's the home team who attack and, with the Salford defence exposed horribly in the dying minutes, a penalty is given when an attacker is hauled down in the area. It's saved by on-loan keeper, someone Clements, playing his first game.
The final whistle goes. And everyone's wondering how a team that played so well on Tuesday night could play so ordinary a few days later. We blame the divots.
Photos by Andrew Goudie of the Ossett Town game
Next home game Saturday 15th March v Ossett Albion.
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