The Stan Army made the long journey to the north bank of the Humber to take on North Ferriby who in a previous incarnation as North Ferriby United played in the National North League. The Stan earned an important away point against tough opposition despite the opportunity being there to take all 3 points especially in the 2nd half when they dominated possession & had a player advantage. There were 3 changes from Wednesday’s draw with Blyth Town with Shepherd, Groves & Robson replacing Stephenson, Walker & Adamson. 

The 1st clear opportunity of the match came for the Stan in the 4th minute when a Capewell header from a free kick was deflected for a corner from which the home keeper punched the ball clear. The ball came back in & the keeper had to clear again. 2 minutes later & North Ferriby won a corner from which Brass caught the ball. Hopper then broke forward, but his shot was blocked & the same thing happened again soon after. A common theme in the game then started when bad tackles were made on Hopper then twice on Errington. In 12 minutes, a Beattie header was put out for a corner. In 15 minutes, Brass punched clear from a home corner although the flag was up for a foul. A Stan attack was then blocked followed by Errington shooting wide. There was more Stan pressure in the 19th minute followed by a North Ferriby counterattack which came to nothing. There was not much between the teams & in 23 minutes Brass had to clear which was followed by a Beattie counterattack which ended with the home keeper getting to the final ball before Hopper. In 24 minutes, Brass made an easy save which was followed soon after by a North Ferriby corner which they headed over the bar. A Groves free kick in the 28th minute was caught by the home keeper followed by an advancing Beattie being hacked down. This was followed by dreadful tackles on Evans & Shepherd. In 33 minutes, a home attack was blocked for a corner from which the resulting headed ball went straight to Brass. North Ferriby then shot well over the Stan bar from a free kick. In 38 minutes, another bad challenge on Evans saw Hogg receive a straight red card. Both teams still tried to attack & in the 40th minute an Errington counterattack & shot forced a save from the home keeper. The half ended with more Stan pressure but no goals.

With a player advantage, the Stan dominated possession in the 2nd half, but North Ferriby managed to stop their efforts to score. The home keeper had to make a save in the 47th minute although 3 minutes later Capewell had to head clear at the other end. It was all Stan for the next 15 minutes until North Ferriby eventually got a corner. In this period of Stan possession & pressure, Hopper sliced the ball over the bar & shot over the bar & the home keeper had to get down to save an Errington effort. In the 64th minute, Hopper advanced into the home 6-yard box but the keeper just got to the ball 1st. 3 minutes later & a ball from a Groves corner was cleared twice. The Stan were still dominating possession & having almost all the chances but without any end product. The Stan continued to attack & in the 74th minute a Hopper ball into the box hit a home player’s hand but no penalty was given. North Ferriby continued to be very physical as they tried to stop the Stan get the goal they desired. Sub Burn shot over in the 80th minute followed by the home keeper being booked for time wasting which he continued to try & do until the final whistle. Evans, whose performance both at the back & going forward won him man of the match, forced a save from the home keeper in 82 minutes. This was followed by an Errington long range effort being easily caught by the home keeper. The Stan continued to pressurise & the match ended with Hopper being pulled down in the home box as he was about to shoot but nothing was given.

Despite having most of the possession in the 2nd half, the Stan could not get the all-important winning goal. Lack of clear chances, very physical & time-consuming opposition & poor refereeing also played their part. 9th placed Stan now host Consett on Monday followed by a much shorter trip next Saturday to take on Blue Star in the FA Cup.                                 

Kevin Mochrie

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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