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Bacup Borough 1 Glossop NE 3

Jonathan Haggart
27/ 2/2008

CONVENTIONAL wisdom says that good teams can play badly and win, which suggests that this Glossop team is pretty decent because they never really got going against Bacup on Saturday, yet still ran out comfortable victors.

For 30 minutes the Hillmen struggled to get into the game and, despite Rick Bailey forcing a save after twisting and turning, were second best.

They were their own worst enemy as relegation-threatened Bacup were given opportunities to exploit sloppy passing and poor communication, so it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 15th minute.

Tony Carroll got behind the North End backline but cut back his pass behind all the incoming forwards.

However, Josh Westmerland and a Bacup player both slid for a tackle at the edge of the 18-yard box, and whoever got the touch simply poked it back into the area where Hartley only had to control, turn and place the ball into the net from six yards.

That ought to have been a wake-up call, but three minutes later, Carroll nearly doubled Bacup’s lead with a free kick heading for the top corner before Fielding athletically diverted it onto the bar.

Glossop were then handed a lifeline when Bailey put a ball through for Dave Young whose run was halted by a defender’s lunge, but he got up to net the penalty.

An undeserved half-time lead was secured 10 minutes later when a cross was cleared to Jamie Kay 20 yards out where he controlled the ball on his chest before hitting a drive that beat the keeper.

Even then, Bacup had two chances to equalise as Stephenson hit the bar and Morris’ backpass put Fielding in all sorts of trouble, but Carroll got the ball caught in his feet before being brought down by Yates.

The second half followed a similar pattern as Bacup made better use of the ball without making too many clear cut chances, although Cryer should have done better with his header from a corner.

The game was settled in the 74th minute when a Bacup corner saw Glossop break at pace, Steve Lunt picking out James Acton who sidestepped the defence before finding Kieron Lugsden who dispatched the ball high into the net.

To be fair to Glossop, they closed out the game well from there as Bacup never got another sniff at goal, but they will know more will be required on Saturday when they host St Helens at Surrey Street.

Attendance: 57