Trojans Reserves share goal feast with Pool

Trojans Reserves 5, Pool Reserves 5

These two local rivals played their full part in a pulsating mid-week fixture where defences most definitely came off second best.

Proof that football is a funny old game came in the shape of Trojans, having fallen behind to an early goal, hitting back to lead 3-1, before conceding four goals to trail 5-3, but staging a rousing comeback to level near the end.

Despite the early setback Tim Fendyke levelled before goals from Phil Constantine and an own goal when Constantine's free-kick was deflected in gave them a comfortable lead.

A series of defensive lapses saw Pool turn the game on it's head before Craig Renton reduced the arrears for the home side. Salvation for Trojans came in the form of a Stuart Dibb header from Constantine's inswinging corner to send the crowd home thoroughly entertained and leave both sides with some defensive headaches to solve.

Wellington 1, Trojans Reserves 2

Trojans Reserves forced their first league win of the season with a gutsy performance against the unpredictable Wellington.

The day started badly for Trojans with them travelling to Darley only to discover that their opponents now play on The Stray in Harrogate.

To add insult to injury when the game finally kicked-off late the visitors might have wished they were elsewhere as they conceded a first minute goal. New 'keeper Shane Mitchell, having impressed in pre-season, made his second blunder of the week when he palmed a harmless looking ball into his own net. In fairness the strong sun did not help.

Player manager Gary Shankland helped his side to get a grip on the game when he equalised on 20 minutes.

Man-of-the-Match Jonny Clarkson's dangerous cross was missed by the home defender and Shankland teed the ball up before lashing a right foot volley past the helpless John Bell.

With the visitors on a roll influential midfielder James Hoskin gave his side the lead with a neat header. Trojans could have extended their lead but Gareth Goodison was off target with a couple of attempts. Shankland was also guilty of a glaring miss when Bell spilled the ball on his own line but he was unable to react quickly enough to turn the loose ball home.

l Trojans Reserves visit neighbours Pool Reserves tonight (Thursday) with a 6.15pm kick-off. This fixture has been brought forward from Saturday which leaves Trojans Reserves without a game at the weekend.

Pool Reserves 3, Harold Styans Res 2

POOL Reserves played host to Harold Styans and despite creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities left it to the final minutes before stealing all three points.

Styans started the first-half well as Pool struggled to settle into their game. Styans took an early lead from a corner with a deflected effort giving Steval in goal no chance.

Pool battled hard but failed to create more than a handful of decent chances. A through ball from Graeme Evans put on-form striker Graham in the clear and he made no mistake with a powerful shot to pull Pool level on the stroke of half-time.

The second-half was a different story with Pool dominating the game. Mohammed ran his socks off up front and was unlucky not to score on several occasions. Smithson put Pool in front with a powerful drive which flew in off the underside of the bar.

Pool nearly paid dearly for their failure to finish the game off as Styans pulled level despite Pool's claims for off-side.

Constant pressure in the final min-utes paid off when a dangerous corner from Evans was headed in by an unfortunate Styans defender.

Match Point went to Ireland for his tireless running in midfield.

Otley Town Res 1, Ilkley AFC 1

In previous seasons Ilkley have found it difficult to gain a points at Otley in midweek evening games but were off to a flier when Hannaford scored within the first five minutes.

Having seized the initiative from the kick-off, Ilkley had already forced two corners when a superb through ball by Tweddle sliced Otley's defence in half and set Hannaford running clear to confidently place the ball across Bentley into the far corner.

For the next 20 minutes it was all Ilkley as Otley struggled to maintain possession. Tweddle might have doubled the score but his side-footed shot lacked the power to beat Bentley.

At the other end, Bainbridge was largely untroubled though handled well from a low shot by Wolfenden before he was stunned by the equaliser.

From an innocuous position just beyond the centre-circle, Vosper pushed the ball forward before blasting the ball goalward and into the top-corner from 40 yards. A shock for both teams and one that enabled Otley to gain more of the ball as Ilkley tried too hard to force another goal.