Glossop North End......2
Barnoldswick Town.....1
town missed out on the chance to go top of the North West Counties League Premier Division on Saturday on a bitterly-cold day that didn’t however, deter a second half streaker!
Barnoldswick welcomed Jack Overson back into the starting lineup, but had the Jordan brothers Lewis and Spencer plus skipper Russell Clarke all missing through various reasons.
The pitch was in fairly good condition given the freezing temperatures, and the match started with Glossop on the offensive, winning a corner after three minutes, and they could have taken the lead as the ball somehow managed to go right across goal line with no one able to get a touch on it.
Town themselves should have taken the lead two minutes later, Neil Chapman finding himself totally unmarked 10 yards out, but he fired his shot straight at Ben Proctor in the Glossop goal, the ball rebounding off his legs to safety.
Glossop then forced another two corners on the bounce, Shaun Clough clearing one off the line and the other defended desperately by the Town defence, who were throwing bodies between the goal and the ball to keep it out.
Town were guilty of giving the ball away too often, and Glossop should have gone ahead after 19 minutes, as a break down the Town right saw the ball played across the area into the path of Darren Hamilton, who managed to hit the outside of the post with the goal at his mercy.
Two minutes later only a brilliant Shaun Airey tackle prevented Hamilton from scoring as Glossop applied the pressure on the Town defence.
Billy Carrington was brought into the action after 28 minutes, coming out to save a through ball which appeared to put Sam Hinds clear on his goal.
Town’s next effort on goal came eight minutes before the break, a Paul Fildes shot from 20 yards out that whistled just over the bar. But the first 45 minutes belonged to Glossop, who had most of the possession with Town always on the back foot.
The second half opened where the first had left off, with the Town supporters hoping that they could hang on for a draw, as while Glossop had a lot of possession, there wasn’t many clear cut chances being created.
Aaron Hollindrakemade a great block to keep a shot out from another dangerous corner after 60 minutes, before Town made a double substitution, Neil Chapman and Connor Smith being replaced by Stewart Airdrie and Liam Garbutt.
This didn’t have the expected outcome as Town immediately went 1-0 down.
Daley Rothwell was allowed to pick the ball up unchallenged in midfield, and he moved forward and from fully 30 yards out smashed a shot that Carrington, diving to his right, could only palm into the top corner.
Four minutes later Jay Gorton managed to get the ball over the Town goal line from close in after a scramble in the six-yard box.
It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes that Town looked like they might rescue something from the match, when they started to put some pressure on the Glossop defence.
Proceedings were halted for a while as a male streaker took to the field, and whether this had an unsettling thing on the Glossop defence or not, within a minute a Town goal arrived.
Liam Blades got to the goal line and placed a cross just past the far post, where Fildes headed the ball back across the goal mouth to Garbutt, who hammered it home from six yards out.
Fildes then played a great one two with Airdrie, who put him clear wide right, and he cut in and placed his shot to the left of the advancing Proctor but inches wide of the far post.
Hollindrake had another good chance to equalise but scuffed his shot wide of the post when he should really have hit the target from 10 yards out.
On the bright side, Overson got 90 minutes in which is a boost for the team. Hopefully Town can bounce back at home to derby rivals Padiham on Boxing Day.