Competition: Northern Premier League East

Bradford Park Avenue vs Heaton Stannington

Heaton Stannington gave themselves a mountain to climb at Bradford (Park Avenue) – and never quite recovered from a shocking start which saw them 2-0 down inside six minutes.

It was the Stan who got the game underway, playing the ball straight back to goalkeeper Lewis Brass who launched the ball upfield. The home side sent the ball back his way and put him under pressure immediately. He found Liam Doyle but the right-back’s first touch was heavy, putting the ball on a plate for the advancing Jack Normanton, who was able to scoop the ball over Brass into an empty net.

The second blow was dealt just five minutes later, as Bradford’s left winger was able to burst past Doyle out wide and then play a perfect through ball into the centre for Connor Shanks to slot away.

Many in the Horsfall Stadium would’ve expected this to become a procession, but the Stan stabilised. The damage that had been done in the early stages meant that the home side were much harder to break down, but had the game remained goalless after the opening exchanges, there’s every chance this could’ve been a positive result.

After a quarter of an hour, Dan Stephenson tried his luck from 25 yards to attempt to pull back into the game, but it wasn’t too much of a challenge for goalkeeper Ed Hall. Another 15 or so minutes later, Konner Lamb was able to burst into the area and shoot, but again, the keeper only had to move minimally to get himself on top of the ball.

While the result will have undoubtedly been a disappointment for manager Dean Nicholson and his staff, the biggest concern of the afternoon will have been the loss of Leighton Hopper, Louis Anderson and Liam Doyle to injury, with the latter looking the most serious. But the effort of the players can’t be faulted – mistakes happen but it’s how you recover and learn from them that matters, and although they came away from West Yorkshire empty-handed, they can be pleased with their work rate and determination when the game settled to keep the score down and to try to get something out of it.

Attention turns now to a Coast Road derby against Whitley Bay in the Northumberland Senior Cup, which could prove to be a good opportunity to make some changes and build some confidence ahead of a return to league action next Saturday when the Stan are at home to Brighouse Town.

Liam Milburn

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Heaton Stannington vs Newton Aycliffe

Heaton Stannington climbed into the top half of the Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division table after coming out on top in a six-goal thriller with North East neighbours Newton Aycliffe.

Lewis Brass returned in goal after missing the previous seven games through injury – and the away side tried to put him under pressure from the kick-off, shooting from the halfway line but without enough lift or power to really test him.

The Stan struggled in the opening stages of the game with Newton Aycliffe playing with dominance and determination. Their first big chance produced the game’s first goal, with some neat passing getting them from midfield to the front line with two quick touches. Cieran Jackson seized upon the ball, weaved between two defenders to get it into his right foot, before slotting into the bottom corner.

Aycliffe tried to double their lead just a few minutes later, but Dan Capewell got down to slide in front of an attempted low cross from captain Ethan Wood. The resulting corner was cleared behind for another one – and from that, Joe Ferguson saw an effort from the edge of the box crack the post, via at least one deflection.

Having improved as the half progressed, the Stan bagged an essential equaliser on 37 minutes. The Aycliffe defence got in front of Joseph Thompson to block the ball from finding him for what would’ve surely been a goal, and then the resulting corner was saved well by the goalkeeper Jim Pollard, but only into the path of Leighton Hopper to stab home his seventh of the season.

Whatever manager Dean Nicholson said at half time had clearly had an effect, because the home side turned the game in their favour from the restart, creating all of the chances in a frantic opening 15 minutes. They deservedly went ahead just after the hour mark when a good spell of passing play in the opposition third ended up at the feet of Connor Walker with enough time and space to steady himself, pick his spot and fire the Stan into the lead.

Just six minutes later, a bit of breathing room. Brass got the ball forward, Joseph Thompson gambled on the flick from a teammate, battled with his defender to retain possession, and then racing through to slot it into the far side of the goal. Louis Anderson had only been on the pitch for around 30 seconds when he made it 4-1, running onto a neat flick by Richie Slaughter before poking home with his left foot.

It could’ve been even more comfortable just a couple of minutes later but Aycliffe’s defence tightened up and gave themselves a platform to rescue something from a game that had totally fallen away from them. It looked as though they would have a fighting chance on 78 minutes when they were awarded a penalty, but Dean Thexton blazed his kick over the bar, much to the delight of Stan goalkeeper Brass who received a booking for his overzealous celebration.

Aycliffe did pull a goal back to make it 4-2 in injury time through Cole Kiernan, but the job had been done earlier in the match with the Stan showing the kind of dominance and clinical finishing that some games have missed this season. Another historic night as the club secured its first home league win in the Northern Premier League East Division – and attention now turns to a trip to Bradford (Park Avenue) on Saturday to see if they can make it back-to-back league victories for the first time.

Liam Milburn

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Stocksbridge Park Steels vs Heaton Stannington

An injury time winner for Stocksbridge denied the Stan what would’ve been a hard-fought and well-earned point in South Yorkshire.

The first big chance went the way of the home side on nine minutes – as an eye-of-the-needle pass was slotted from midfield through to the striker Jack Haslam. He raced towards goal but goalkeeper Callum Corkhill made himself big and the shot was slotted wide.

The Stan did well to keep Stocksbridge at bay in a dominant spell of pressure which saw us penned into our own half for a good while. With the box packed, Haslam tried again on 12 minutes but this time his attempt was a sneaky bend into the near post from wide that needed more accuracy to work.

The strong defensive work paid off and the Stan capitalised on a calamity at the back to take the lead on 28 minutes. A Dan Capewell header to clear eventually found its way to Richie Slaughter who was able to fire one over everyone into space for Konner Lamb to run onto – just as Joe Shepherd did last Saturday against North Ferriby.

Stocksbridge keeper Ben Townsend may have won the race, but he failed to gather the ball from his feet and Lamb was able to nip it away from under him. With the goalkeeper beaten, Lamb just had to steady himself to avoid a calamity of his own, which he did and gave the Stan a leader just before the half hour mark.

The home side went back on the offensive and had opportunities to level. Daniel Hernandez headed against the post in first half injury time and an inviting cross looking for Joao Silva was an easy gather for Corkhill not long after the interval.

The men in yellow and blue found their equaliser just before the hour mark, but it began with a Stan attack. Lamb forced the keeper down to a save, but it was always going to be difficult, charging at goal from the right but only able to shoot with the same foot.

Up the other end, a high ball was played into the box by the Stocksbridge midfield. It was brilliantly controlled by Haslam to bring it down, and then another touch allowed him to flick it over Corkhill and into the net.

A draw would’ve been a fair result. The two sides exchanged blows but neither side looked as though they’d done enough to take all three points. A low effort from Kurtis Turner on 63 minutes was easy for Corkhill, and a Hopper volley a few minutes later was too central to get the better of Townsend in the home goal.

The introduction of debutant Joe Thompson made a big difference, injecting pace and trickery out wide. A dangerous cross on 70 minutes made the Stocksbridge keeper work, and when found in space deep into injury time, with the option to shoot towards the near post or send a low ball into the mixer, neither really happened and a good chance to nick it was wasted.

Unfortunately there was still one more chance in the game and it was gobbled up by Stocksbridge in the third minute of injury time. As they’d done so much in the game, the box was filled with yellow and blue shirts, and when Oliwier Grzelak saw an opening through the crowd to shoot, he took it and send a powerful effort past Corkhill to spark jubilant scenes in the home sections and dismay in the Far Corner.

A devastating way to lose, having never looked like losing. The Stan have 11 days until they return to league action with a home game against Newton Aycliffe, with the small matter of an FA Trophy match away to friends Clitheroe in the meantime.

Liam Milburn

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Liversedge vs Heaton Stannington

The Stan rounded out August with their first ever non-league step 4 win in a warm and wonderful away day at Liversedge.

They almost got themselves into a sticky situation in the opening minutes however, as a lofted back-pass to goalkeeper Callum Corkhill was chased down by the Liversedge attack, but thankfully the resulting move was blocked. This gave the Stan a platform to counter-attack, and great work from Konner Lamb to carry and cross was just missing someone to finish in the box.

This same pattern of play happened several times in the match – with Lamb and Hopper linking up to get the ball into good crossing or shooting positions without finding the net.

But the deadlock was broken midway into the first half, and it was a gift from the Liversedge defence who tried to play out from the back from a goal kick, but panicked goalkeeper Dylan Parkin turned possession over to Louis Anderson. His shot rebounded off the defender, fell to Hopper, who found Lamb in front of him in acres of space to slot home.

The Stan presented the home side with a gift of their own 15 minutes later, when failure to clear our lines from a Liversedge attack allowed Jack Dyche enough of a sight of the ball to steal it from Kailem Beattie’s feet with one touch to bend it beautifully into the net.

Moments later, Liversedge almost went ahead with a shot from the edge of the area, but Corkhill did well to get down low to push it away.

Having scored a magnificent free kick in the Garforth replay, Dan Stephenson will have fancied his chances from 30 yards on the hour mark after he was bundled over on his way towards goal, and while his effort was powerful enough, it was low and wide.

But the Stan wouldn’t wait too much longer for their chance to get ahead again. A Liversedge attack on 64 minutes was broken up by the corner flag, which our players seemed to think was going to result in a free kick against them, but play continued and we used the hesitation to our advantage.

A big punt up field was controlled by Konner Lamb, who used the momentum of the ball to drive out to the right, drag his man with him and then left him for dead as he steamed into the box. Hopper ran almost parallel with him into a scoring position and was there for the cutback across goal, and although his first effort was blocked, the second was a simple tap-in.

The Stan secured the vital first victory six minutes later, as a Kane Evans long throw into the centre was knocked on by a Liversedge defender, straight into the path of Lamb, who was able to play it to substitute Andy Burn. His pass into the box found Hopper in space to hold up and then feed the on-rushing Stephenson to poke home at the near-post.

While Liversedge piled on the pressure to take something from the game, there were no real tests of Corkhill in goal for the remainder of the game, and if anything the Stan could’ve made it even more convincing.

The performances have been there in recent weeks but the 3 points have eluded us, but in this game the win was totally deserved and now that it’s off our back, there’s every hope for more to follow in the coming weeks.

Liam Milburn

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Heaton Stannington vs Consett

Having picked up their first point of the season at North Ferriby two days earlier, Heaton Stannington ended the August bank holiday weekend with a first point at Grounsell Park with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Consett.

The away side had the first chance inside the first minute – Callum Corkhill’s kick up field was seized upon by a red shirt in midfield, who played the ball forward to their left winger. He ran into the area and tried to sneak the ball in under the keeper at his near post – it was off target but it showed their confidence in attack and willingness to hit us early.

The Stan took the lead on 10 minutes. A corner pinballed around the box, eventually landing for Hopper inside the six-yard box, but he was tripped as he tried to hold it up and the referee had no hesitation as he pointed to the spot. The only person with less hesitation was Hopper himself as he calmly side-footed the penalty into the bottom-right corner.

It was almost 2-0 just a few minutes later as some good combination play between Hopper, Sayer and Walker put Louis Anderson in on goal, but a heavy touch on the bouncing ball meant that he had to improvise and scissor kick for his finish, and ended up giving the keeper a save from close range.

Being more clinical is something the Stan need to sort out sharp if they are to start turning draws into wins. Having had plenty of opportunities to go further ahead, Consett seized upon some good fortune and equalised with four minutes of the first half remaining. The referee incorrectly awarded them a throw 18 yards from goal, which they used to their advantage, managed to work a cross into the area for Marc Costello to flick home.

Just before the break, Richie Slaughter forced a good save from the Consett keeper with a neat side-footed volley from the edge of the area.

The Stan restored their lead on 56 minutes. Kane Evans pumped forward a diagonal ball towards the penalty area, and Leighton Hopper got between the Consett centre-backs to control it beautifully. He had the time and space to work it onto his left foot and he bent a shot into the far top corner.

But the lead was short-lived – a cross from the right wasn’t dealt with and allowed Isaac Walker to drill a shot low into the bottom corner.

Things would get even worse just four minutes later as Consett went ahead. Another failure to clear our lines – this time from a corner – presented Liam Colledge with the chance to head into the far corner.

If there’s one thing we’ve seen so far this season, the Stan don’t go down without a fight, and they piled on the pressure to take something from the game. Having had one saved in the first half, Slaughter tried his luck from outside the box on 76 minutes and was successful this time.

The Consett keeper fisted away a corner, but the Stan got back onto the ball and kept the move alive. A second cross was headed out of the six-yard box, but only to our captain, who controlled, took it past one man, and then unleashed the cleanest of hits, leaving the keeper unable to do anything but watch it fly past his head.

Both sides had chances to win the game. Corkhill made a brilliant save low to his left on 86 minutes, and Connor Walker should’ve done better with an opportunity presented to him from Consett trying and failing to play out from the back.

Although it’s far too early to take the league table seriously, this point lifted the Stan out of the relegation zone, and once again there were plenty of signs to be optimistic about the first win of the season not being too far away.

Callum Corkhill; Kane Evans, Kailem Beattie (Jay Hornsby 58), Mark Turnbull, Joe Shepherd, Daniel Sayer (Marc Ellison 80); Andy Burn (Connor Walker 71), Richie Slaughter, Dan Stephenson; Leighton Hopper, Louis Anderson (James Harper 62)

Subs not used: Jordan Lashley

Liam Milburn

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North Ferriby vs Heaton Stannington

History was made at the Dransfield Stadium as Heaton Stannington picked up their first ever point in the Northern Premier League East Division – but they would’ve had three if they hadn’t conceded another late goal.

The first big chance of the game went to the home side midway through the first half – some good footwork from North Ferriby’s left winger allowed him space to drive a bal into the area, a gift for someone in the area, if only that person existed. They would have an almost identical chance at the start of the second half, again with no-one to turn it in.

The Stan responded with their first good opportunity on the half-hour mark as some good pressure from Marc Ellison forced the home side to turn possession over, Richie Slaughter seized upon the loose ball to ping a lofted ball into the path of Hopper, who dragged his defender this way and that before bending a strike towards goal from the edge of the area – narrowly off-target.

A few minutes later Konner Lamb had a go at a curling shot, this time from the other side of the box. Given that this was the same spot that he scored his play-off final screamer from in May, you’d have fancied him to find the back of the net, but it was an easy catch for home goalkeeper Ben Bottomley.

The Stan took a deserved lead on 60 minutes. Mark Turnbull lofted in a free kick from just inside the North Ferriby half which was gleefully knocked on by Danny Sayer. The men in amber were dominant in the box and eventually found Konner Lamb in an ideal position to shoot on his left. The home defence will have felt that they had him covered from his favoured weapon, so he improvised and flicked the ball with the outside of his boot and found the top corner. A goal just as impressive as his stunner in the previous game against Garforth – but in a completely different way.

It looked as though the lead was going to be short-lived, as just four minutes later North Ferriby were awarded a penalty when their right-winger burst into the box and was hauled down. But Callum Corkhill – deputising for Lewis Brass – dived to his left and confidently pushed the penalty out of danger.

Just as they have in previous games, the Stan could’ve put the game out of sight and made sure of their first win. A good low ball across the face of goal on 77 minutes was just missing a touch to double the lead. Minutes later a central free kick on the edge of the D was fired straight at the keeper.

The Stan are learning fast that they need to take their chances when they get them – and they were punished once again on 88 minutes. North Ferriby piled on the pressure, found space to cross from the right, and in trying to clear the ball, Marc Ellison turned it into his own net.

A heartbreaking way to drop two points in the dying minutes, but another encouraging performance showed that if the Stan can be more clinical and concentrate on seeing games out, the first win at Step 4 can’t be too far away.

Callum Corkhill; Kane Evans, Kailem Beattie, Mark Turnbull, Joe Shepherd, Jay Hornsby (Jordan Lashley 74); Richie Slaughter (Andy Burn 61), Marc Ellison; Konner Lamb (Louis Anderson 66), Leighton Hopper (James Harper 86), Daniel Sayer

Subs not used: Alfie Marriott

Liam Milburn

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