Match Report: Ossett United 0 Marske United 3

With Kev Burgess suspended, Nathan Thomas injured and Matty Cornish and Jack Degruchy unavailable, manager Graeme Lee’s options were severely limited and the manager opted for a 3-4-3 formation with Aaron Cunningham coming into the team in place of Burgess alongside Nathan Dale and Dan Myers.

Josh MacDonald and Jake Hackett filled the wing back roles with Jason Kennedy and Josh Robertson in the centre of midfield. Up front Donald Chimalilo and a fit again Eddie Church played either side of Adam Boyes.

On a warm day, the game got off to a slow start with the first chance of the game arriving after 10 minutes when Desmond Amponsah was given too much time to create a chance but his low shot from 25 yards was easily gathered by Nathan Harker.

At the other end, a great run forward by Myers set up Church, but the striker’s shot from 25 yards went well over the bar. With the clock showing 20 minutes, Marske had a golden chance to take the lead.

Church did superbly to bring the ball down following a MacDonald pass. but his shot was well saved by Ossett stopper Joseph Green; the rebound then seemed to just hit Chimalilo and Green recovered to claim the loose ball.

Ossett countered but Myers did superbly to recover and block Ibrahim’s cross for a corner, which came to nothing. On 27 minutes, Marske took the lead with a deserved goal for Church.

Chimalilo did well to make it to the byline where his cross was deflected and found Boyes who saw his header well saved by Green but Church was on hand to score from inside the 6 yard box.

On the half hour mark, Ossett failed to clear a Hackett free kick and the ball fell to Chimalilo, who fired over the bar.

At the other end, a mistake from MacDonald, who saw his back pass fall well short and the ball was picked up by Amponsah, who tried his luck from 25 yards. The shot took a deflection which slightly wrong-footed Harker, who recovered well to make a good save.

Ossett were having a good period in the game and had a decent chance on 32 minutes when Ibrahim’s cross evaded everyone except Derry Robson but the midfielder sliced his shot horribly wide.

With half time approaching, the home side had a good chance to equalise when a free kick from Paddy Miller found the unmarked James Burke but the defender got his header completely wrong and the ball went a long way wide of Harker’s goal. With 43 minutes gone, Kennedy won the ball in midfield and set up Church but his effort went high over the bar. The half ended with Burke playing a delightful ball to Ibrahim, who couldn’t quite control the ball and the chance was gone.

Half Time: Ossett 0 Marske 1

Marske had an excellent chance to make it 2-0 at the start of the second half when some delightful interplay involving Boyes, Hackett and Kennedy ended with Chimalilo back heeling the ball into the path of MacDonald who delivered a cross to the back post, which was headed wide by Boyes.

However, Marske weren’t to be denied and doubled their lead on 53 minutes. After referee Adewunmi Soneye did very well to get out of the way of the ball, Chimalilo was fouled giving Marske a free kick 20 yards out. Up stepped MacDonald, and with the help of a slight deflection off the wall, the ball was curled into the top corner, giving Green no chance.

On the hour mark, Marske were forced into their first chance with Jorge Sikora making his first appearance of the season replacing Cunningham, who had been injured a few minutes earlier. A minute later, Ibrahim did well to get in front of Sikora, but his shot went wide. On 63 minutes, Robertson was the first player booked for kicking the ball away after a free kick had gone Ossett’s way.

On 64 minutes, a mass scramble in the Marske box saw a number of half chances for the home side, with Marske unable to clear the ball until a ricochet ended up in the grateful arms of Harker. With the game at the half way point of the second half, Robertson tried his luck from 30 yards, but his effort went comfortably over the bar.

On 68 minutes, Marske had a chance to make the game safe when Church flicked the ball on to Chimalilo who showed great skill to control the ball but the end product didn’t match and was sliced wide. With 21 minutes left, Marske made their second change with Chimalilo replaced by Lewis Leech as Marske switched to a 3-4-1-2 formation with Leech playing behind Boyes and Church. Leech very quickly found his way into the referee’s notebook for a foul on Ibrahim on the touchline, which seemed a little harsh.

From the ensuing free kick the ball fell to substitute Zach Dearnley on the edge of the box and his sweetly hit volley was tipped over brilliantly by Harker. Ossett were piling on the pressure forcing a succession of corners that Marske defended admirably, with centre back Harry Coates pushed up front in the search to get back into the game. However, it was Marske who grabbed the third and decisive goal on 81 minutes.

Church played a lovely ball to Boyes who held off defenders and fired across the keeper into the bottom corner for the striker’s 6th goal in 4 games. With 7 minutes left, Dale was possibly lucky not to be sent off with a poor challenge on Ibrahim.

However, referee Soneye, quickly diffused the situation by quickly getting his yellow card out of his pocket. From the resulting free kick, Miller tried to catch Harker out at the near post but the ball went into the side netting. The final action of the game saw a 4th card for Marske, this time to Church, with the referee indicating it was for a number of fouls through the game.

Full Time: Ossett United 0 Marske United 3

Teams:
Ossett: Green, Woodcock, Burke (Dearnley), Gregory, Coates, Miller, Ibrahim, Robson, Ferreira, Reaney (McLoughlin), Amponsah (Plater)
Subs (not used): Lipka, Bailey, John, Mintus

Marske: Harker, MacDonald, Myers, Kennedy, Cunningham (Sikora), Dale, Hackett, Robertson, Boyes, Church, Chimalilo (Leech)
Subs (not used): Thomas, Yaqub

Match Report by Mark Hathaway. Photo Credit Scott Merylees