North Ferriby VS Clipstone

North Ferriby 2 Clipstone 1

Ash Walker at the Dransfield Stadium

North Ferriby remain three points clear at the top of the Northern Counties East League Division One table but were pushed hard for their 2-1 victory by a determined Clipstone team. The Villagers were far from their best but cheered on by their biggest crowd of the season, an impressive 649 at the Dransfield Stadium.

It was a tough first half for the league leaders who didn’t really get themselves into the game in the opening 45 minutes despite leading 1-0 at half-time. Clipstone striker Josh Pickering was a constant thorn in the side of Ferriby but he was unable to make the chances created count.

There was an early slim chance of a penalty for the visitors when Pickering was almost in on goal and looked to go down but a goal kick was given. It didn’t happen and Ferriby raced down the other end but it was a tame shot from Danny Emerton before Tom Corner sent in Jackson Jowett only for a good cover tackle by Tom Weaver to stem the danger.

The goal finally came on 22 minutes when a great build up led to the first corner of the game to Ferriby as they pushed forward. Jamie Forrester sent in a great corner to find the head of Levi Tarbotton and he powered the Villagers into a 1-0 lead which they took into half-time.

As half-time approached Ferriby continued to press as Corner was in on goal on the half hour but his shot was high and wide. Danny East and Ben Leyland then combined but the East shot was poor before Clipstone hit back with an attack of their own through dangerman Pickering.

The striker raced through on goal only to be fouled by Tarbotton for a free kick to the visitors about 25 yards out. There was a four-man Ferriby wall but Pickering hit the ball straight at the wall and the rebound well wide of the target and the chance was gone.

Ferriby had two late first half chances to increase their lead as Forrester and Louis Kirk pushed forward but the final ball was poor. A Josh Dennett long throw then saw Corner head on but East failed to convert the chance before Jowett found himself in space but his shot was easily saved.

The early second half pressure came from Ferriby with Corner and East having chances before Clipstone managed to equalise. Clipstone got a free kick, which fell to Will Heather and he fired past Jordan Douglas with a big deflection off skipper Niall Tilsley.

A quick response was required and it came less than a minute later when Corner was involved again when he took a great ball from East. Corner slid the ball across the area to Jowett who tapped home his first league goal in Ferriby colours for a 2-1 lead which was how it stayed until the final whistle.

North Ferriby boss Chris Bolder shared his thoughts on the victory after the game. When asked about his sides below par performance Bolder said, “We weren’t at our best by a long shot today even though we controlled the game and we dominated possession and we created some chances just not an abundance of chances. The biggest problem we had today was our quality and decision making in the final third”. 

When asked about what he thought of Clipstone’s performance Bolder went on to say that, “Sometimes you can get lost looking at the league positions of sides as we have already seen that on the day any team can beat anybody in this league. 

Bolder was asked about Jackson Jowett’s performance and his goal, “What we ask the lads to do he does, so for the goal he is in the right place at the right time. The more minutes he gets the better he will become. There are elements of his game he will be happy with today and there will be elements he will want to improve upon”. 

Ferriby: Douglas, Dennett, Leyland, Tarbotton, Tilsley ©, Kirk Forrester (Carew 77), Emerton, East (Shortland 68), Corner, Jowett (Buttle 66) Subs not used: Exall, Plummer

Clipstone: Bryan, Wright, Carrington, Weaver, Whitton, Warwick (Nwose 62), Ing (Hardwick 77), Blackbourn ©, Lowe (Barnard 88), Heather, Pickering Subs all used.

Referee: Chris Arnell

Half-time: 1-0