Armthorpe Welfare VS North Ferriby

Urban Newton
Armthorpe Welfare caused an upset in NCEL Division One on Saturday afternoon, beating North Ferriby FC 1-0 at the Welfare Ground.
It's the Villagers first defeat of the season, as they struggled to grab a firm hold on the game. It was a performance lacking in cutting-edge and was far from the standards they have set early on this season. 

The first half was generally poor. Chris Bolder's men lacked composure in possession, trying to rush the ball forwards at times.
Tom Oliver ran well down the left, but he was the only real outlet early on. On five minutes, he cut inside from wide-left and hit a cross-cum-shot that evaded both the goalkeeper's left hand post and the onrushing Tom Corner.

Ten minutes later Ben Leyland received a slide-rule pass inside the opposition area out on the right. The full-back's effort was typical of that of a full-back however. 
He blasted it high and it cannoned off the underside of the crossbar, bouncing off the line too. He claimed it had crossed the line but the referee was not interested in his appeals.
Tyler Walker was then given an early booking for the hosts. Laurence McKay went in strong but well in a tackle himself, but Walker wasn’t happy and brought down McKay cynically in retaliation.
Neither side took control of possession, aimlessly misplacing passes all half.

Wellie did create the best chance of the half however. A straight, long ball through the centre was not dealt by three Ferriby defenders. The pacey Liam Radford ran through and chopped it back to Adam Lee ten-yards out. He sidefooted wide to Lewis Exall's right-hand post though.
James Piercy came off at the interval for youngster Kean Parsons. Eddie Birch therefore took the armband, with Jason Mycoe slotting back into his familiar position at centre-half.
Ferriby went close as Emerton cut-inside from the right. He laid it into Parsons who flicked it back around the corner to him on the edge of the eighteen-yard box. The effort just went wide across goal.
Armthorpe then took the lead right on the hour-mark.
Liam Radford, who scored a penalty against Harrogate Railway in midweek, turned in a corner from close-range. That came after Craig Aspinall's freekick from twenty-yards forced a save from Exall.

Three minutes later Tom Corner headed a corner straight at keeper Alfie Stevens-Neale from six-yards out, as the Villagers looked to avoid embarrassment in Doncaster.
Joel Shortland's low effort late on was then claimed to have hit a hand but nothing was given.

Chris Bolder's side have to improve before they host Worsbrough Bridge on Saturday. It was a performance lacking in the composure and creativity they have shown so far this season. 
Meanwhile, after Michael Carmody questioned his side's effort on Wednesday night, this was the perfect response from Armthorpe, who claim their secomd win of the season.
North Ferriby FC squad: Lewis Exall; Ben Leyland (off 56'), Jack Mail, James Piercy (c) (off 45'), Laurence McKay; Jason Mycoe, Joel Shortland, Eddie Birch; Tom Oliver, Danny Emerton (off 71')
Subs: Jordan Douglas, Louis Kirk (on 71'), Danny Norton (on 56'), Sam Robinson, Kean Parsons (on 45')