Sport The two Stuarts are toasts of friendly win
Bentley 1
Woodlands Athletic 2
Stuart's Butler and Maundrill were the toast of the Woodlands after their second half goals gave the Woodlands a second consecutive victory against a combative Bentley side.
With no referee and a pitch more akin to rugby the visitors attempted to play a passing game and started to exert a fair amount of early pressure.
Weakened by travel sickness and the Goole triathalon Barker and Will O'Donnell dealt comfortably with what the home side were able to offer. Due to illness, Barker had to be withdrawn early.
This gave Thornton a chance to establish himself, which he managed quite well. Butler and Bottomley were effective in the full back roles, overlapping wherever possible.
It was one such move down the Woodlands left which presented Bentley with their first real chance. Keeper Hewson was up to it and held comfortably to justify Cooper's decision to retain him.
As the half wore in it was the home side who finished the stronger, hitting the bar twice and forcing Hewson into an amazing save, the ball zipping off the turf after hitting a divot. All square at the break but things would soon change.
A darting run by Pheasant started a move which found Maundrill in acres, bearing down on goal he was cruelly hacked from behind, which resulted in nothing more than a penalty. As the Woodlands players surrounded the referee, protestations were waved away, where was the card? All this added pressure to Mandrill but this mattered little as he coolly tucked away the spot kick to make it one nil.
The home side then came into the game more however poor finishing and some good work by the Woodland rear guard ensured the score remained one nil. That was until a corner on 71 minutes was floated in and Chapman was on hand to restore parity.
It could have ended that way but credit must go to both sides for continuing the fight. Taylor and captain Collins continued to run themselves into the ground but the crowning moment of the game was preceded by good work from Bond and Rob Butler. They fed Bottomley whose perfect cross was passed into the net by Man of the Match Stuart Butler.
Rob Butler had a couple of late chances to put the game beyond the reach of Bentley but was unable to capitalise on good work from the wings.
Woodlands may face some bigger tests and they will have to play better if they are to make any impact this season, however they left South Yorkshire with a win which matters a great deal.
Team: Hewson, Bottomley, S. Butler, Barker (Thornton 24), W. O'Donnell, Pheasant, Collins* (capt.) (Cooper 72), R. Butler, Taylor, Maundrill, D. O'Donnell* (Bond 36)
*Both players rejoined the game as part of the roll on, roll off policy agreed between the two teams prior to kick-off.
Published on 4th September 2008 in Sport.
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