North Ferriby VS Swallownest

North Ferriby FC v Swallownest FC Match Report (2.11.19)

Urban Newton

Floodlight failure caused North Ferriby FC's fixture with Swallownest FC to be abandoned with seven minutes of the ninety remaining.

The Villagers were 2-0 up, putting in a dominant and assured performance before the abandonment.

Debutant Joe Dale had a fantastic chance to open his Ferriby account on eight minutes. He checked inside of right-back Charlie Myers. His curling effort just inside the visitors' area was straight at the goalkeeper however.

Swallownest captain Oliver Grady looked the most likely candidate to create for the South Yorkshire side. He was restricted well however, with his influence only coming from wide and deep areas.

Just after the half hour mark, Ferriby had another golden opportunity to score. Lone striker Tom Corner held the ball up and backheeled to the onrushing Danny Norton, making a late run from the right. His shot was also too close to keeper Joel Statham.

Ferriby centre-half Levi Tarbotton, making his second appearance, nearly gifted away a goal. His header back to Jordan Douglas was too short but the goalkeeper managed to close the angles of the oncoming Richard Williams.

Despite going close on two occasions, the Villagers did take the lead two minutes before the interval.

Norton whipped in from the right and Dale met it well with his head at back post. The winger's effort crashed the underside of the crossbar and he managed to swoop down well to convert the rebound with a diving header from six yards out.

That is Dale's second goal at the Dransfield Stadium this season, having scored for Selby Town in the NCEL League Cup back in September.

The floodlights came on right on the stroke of half-time as the sky went from dull to dark. The rain also returned for the second half, with its persistency being particularly highlighted in the lights of the floodlights that actually wanted to stay on.

After a frantic and feisty start to the second forty-five, which included Swallownest's Aaron Statham being sinbinned, the Villagers doubled their lead.

The recently-introduced Danny Emerton hit well to keeper Statham's right from twenty-five yards. Statham parried out wide but only as far as Dale who squared for Eddie Birch. He tapped in from point-blank.

Jamie Forrester made his long-awaited comeback with fifteen minutes remaining. The midfielder replaced goal scorer Birch.

Gary Bradshaw, North Ferriby United all-time top goal scorer, also made his Grange Lane return replacing fellow debutant Dale.

After further intermittent floodlight failure, the referee decided to abandon the game with eighty-three minutes gone.

There was no chance for the faults to be altered, and the floodlights were all in perfect frustratingly less than five minutes after the abandonment.

There is no guarantee of a Villagers' victory, as we will have to wait for the league to announce their decision when they meet at the end of this month.

North Ferriby FC squad: Jordan Douglas; Will Taylor, Laurence McKay, Levi Tarbotton, Dan Nichols; Russell Fry, Joel Shortland, Eddie Birch; Joel Shortland, Tom Corner, Danny Norton (off 54')

Substitutes: Louis Kirk, Lewis Exall, Jamie Forrester, Danny Emerton (on 54'), Gary Bradshaw

Attendance: 285