GRINDLETON 3

Addingham 2

ADDINGHAM'S eleventh unbeaten game came to an end after the long haul to Grindleton.

Judging be the lacklustre performance one could have been forgiven for thinking the Addingham players had walked the 35 miles to North Yorkshire to play the game.

Addingham had beaten Grindleton by 2-0 earlier this season, but the home side were in no mood to let Addingham pull away at the top of Division One, a position they still hold but with the chasing pack now having a game in hand their lead is now a little precarious.

Recent games against poorer opposition had in fairness lulled Addingham into a false sense of security, but when their nearest rivals are the opposition the adrenaline alone should raise the players.

Sadly, all be it for a few brief moments they were poor throughout, and a highly motivated Grindleton side deservedly took both points that put them up into second place a point behind Addingham.

Grindleton started brightly, and Addingham, normally given to slow starts, were pushed back right from the off.

Gradually Cummings and Houlbrook in midfield were coming into the contest but the usual fluidity of the team was lacking.

When Addingham failed to clear a corner it was no surprise when Murphy pounced to give the home side a deserved lead.

It wasn't the first time Addingham had gone behind this season, but the overall lethargy on the day looked ominous.

Addingham were creating chances, but by and large, they were from distance and easily dealt with by the home keeper.

At half time the Addingham players were left in no doubt as to what they had to do.

Their reputation as league leaders had proceeded them and Grindleton was rising to the challenge.

Addingham were running in third gear and the effort required began to come early in the second half.

Barrow and Wild, largely ineffective in the first half, began to cause problems, and when the impressive Marriot replaced the injured Cummings, the signs looked good.

Indeed a Smales through ball was calmly and clinically finished by Brian Wild, and with parity restored it looked as though the balance of power was shifting.

Sadly Grindleton weren't playing by the same script and were in no mood to lie down.

They duly upped the pace and the wind was well and truly knocked from Addingham's sails yet again.

Andy Dobson did all in his power to parry the fierce shot skyward, but the attacker reacted quickest and tapped the ball home to put Grindleton back in front.

That they didn't increase the lead was largely due to Captain Dickinson and Dobson in goal.

The skipper, sensing the lack of desire in some of his team mates was leading a one-man crusade to keep Grindleton at bay.

When they did get through, they found Addingham's number one in awesome form.

As Addingham pushed on for an equaliser, gaps appeared and they were punished when Clavidge hit a beauty to give Grindleton a two-goal cushion.

As the game moved into the last ten minutes, Addingham inexplicably came to life, Wild forced a stunning save from the keeper and Collins drilled a shot just the wrong side of the post.

The telling moment though saw Barrow when clean through, smash his shot against the bar.

Had that gone in with five minutes left who knows what might have been, but what it did mean was that when Dickinson superbly headed home in the dying seconds it was little more than a consolation.

The wild screams of celebration by Grindleton at the final whistle showed what the victory meant to them, that they deserved it was not a question, but Addingham have the mental strength not to fold after what was, in fairness, just a bad day.

Hopefully a home game this Saturday against St. Paul's will give them the chance to get back to winning ways.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.