Stamford 1-1 New Mills

Monday 2nd January 2012

In the away fixture on August Bank Holiday, New Mills were top and had looked a team good enough to win the league. Since then they have gradually slipped down the league so Stamford were looking to reverse their defeat on that day and put the poor performance in their last game at Grantham behind them.

Stamford started brightly with Nathan Watson looking to take on defenders but New Mills had the first chance with their first move on the Stamford goal. The Stamford defence could not clear the ball and it fell to Carlos Meakin. Ross Whalin had to stretch to turn the ball past the far post for a corner.

With just seven minutes gone, Stamford again failed to clear the ball which ended up with Meakin again. This time he lobbed the ball over Whalin and into the far corner to put New Mills ahead.

Stamford responded and were level four minutes later. Bruno Holden held up the ball before releasing Watson to take the ball past two players to the bye line. His low hard cross was turned into his own net by Michael Bowles.

Stamford dominated the game from then but couldn’t convert that possession into clear chances. Too often players tried to work an opening to shoot themselves rather than picking out a team mate in a better position. Despite Stamford’s possession, James Coates in the New Mills goal had little to do. Jake Gibson had a good run which ended with the ball forced behind for a corner. Coates palmed away the Holden header. A couple of minutes later he palmed away a shot from Nick Ghislanzoni.

A superb ball from David Staff picked out Ghislanzoni and this time he chipped the ball over the New Mills defence for Watson but his first touch let him down and the ball ran through to Coates.

New Mills had hardly been in the Stamford half since they scored but a quick break needed a good clean tackle from Joe Pheasant to first win the ball and then clear it for a New Mills corner. Stamford won the ball back from the corner and a quick break set up Gibson. His shot took a deflection with Stamford players and supporters convinced it was handball and a penalty. The referee waved away the Stamford protests giving only a corner.

Despite having the majority of possession since equalising, that penalty shout was the best Stamford chance had in the half. Two minutes after the break Ghislanzoni had a superb chance to put Stamford ahead after a good run and cross from Gibson but, too casual, he pulled his shot wide. Minutes later another good chance for Ghislanzoni but this time hit straight at the keeper.

Ross Whalin had been a spectator for most of the game but just after the hour a rare move forward by New Mills led to a scramble to get the ball out of the Stamford area. The ball eventually fell to Ashley Stott but Whalin stopped his goal bound shot with an outstretched boot.

The play continued to be in one direction and a great cross from Watson found Adam Hewitt on the egde of the New Mills box. His first time shot flew just inches over the bar. Kieran Watson came on as a substitute and his first touch from a long perfectly placed cross from his brother took him into the New Mills area but his shot across goal drifted past the far post.

Moving into the last 15 minutes and New Mills must have thought Stamford didn’t look likely to score so started to push forward themselves but, like Stamford, their final touch was poor and their quick breaks fizzled out with the ball easily cleared by a Stamford defender. In the last minute they finally created a chance which could have won the game when the ball fell to Mark Innes on the edge of the Stamford area but his shot cleared the bar with ease.

Stamford certainly played better than they had in recent games. Had their finishing matched their dominance this would have been a comfortable win but without that, no-one could argue at the final result although after the game, players and supporters were still convinced they had been denied a stone wall penalty.

Stamford: Ross Whalin, Joe Pheasant, Adam Hewitt, Wayne Diuk, David Staff, Nahan Watson, Andy Toyne (Danny Brooks 70), Bruno Holden (Kieran Watson 65), Nick Ghislanzoni, Jake Gibson (Harry Deane 65),

Subs not used: Luke Garton, Danny Barrett.

MOM: Joe Pheasant

New Mills: James Coates, Jordan Edridge, Steven Pickford, Michael Bowler, Luke Gale, Mark Innes, Carlos Meakin, Kristian Cox (Justin Pickering 70), Anthony Field, Ashley Stott, Luke Horrocks