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Glossop NE 3 - 1 Nelson

23/ 4/2008

WHAT should have been a comfortable victory for the Hillmen was made a bit more difficult thanks to the weather and a period where North End switched off a little.

However, the obvious gap in quality between the two teams told after a first half which was a bit of a non-event thanks to the wind.

While Glossop had most of the possession, the unpredictable gust meant the final ball was nearly impossible to play; crosses would be overhit when it dropped suddenly and underhit when it returned.

The first chance fell Nelson’s way though when a long ball allowed Mugan a chance to get behind the defence, but Fielding came off his line quickly and Mugan showed the lack of confidence among teams at the bottom by poking his shot wide.

It was a clever corner that led to North End’s half-time lead when Dave Young spotted an unmarked Rick Bailey at the edge of the area, skimming a pass to the midfielder who drove a shot high into the net for his 10th of the season.

Glossop applied pressure at the start of the second half, Acton having a shot deflected wide, Hamilton shooting over and then sending a low diving header into the side-netting with half the ground fooled into thinking it had hit the net. They doubled the lead on 68 minutes when Hamilton flicked on a corner and Jay Gorton bundled the ball over the line, along with anybody else who happened to get in his ultra-determined way.

North End then started to relax, Nelson pulling a goal back five minutes later in the simplest of fashions as O’Neill met a corner at the near post and angled it in.

Glossop were suddenly under pressure, unable to get back to the level they had previously reached as Stanley fired over for the visitors and Heyhurst forced Fielding into a tremendous save. The points were finally wrapped up in injury time when Bailey broke from his own area after a Nelson corner was cleared, running as far as the Nelson penalty area where his effort was blocked.

The ball fell to Young who squared it to Acton whose cool finish was too cool for the onrushing keeper.

Attendance: 97