Sport Handy Andy on the mark in Goole blitz
Goole AFC 6, Chorley 3
The Vikings made light work of a spirited Chorley at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds on Saturday, and it was their in-form strikers who made it a good day all round.
None more so than Andy Parton, who took his goalscoring tally to 13 in just seven games for the club, four here against the league's basement club coming after agreeing to stay at the VPG despite overtures from North Ferriby United.
And with strike partner Duncan Bray in scintillating form as well, there will be clubs far higher in the league that will become concerned about the newfound scoring spree.
In fact, since October 28 - three days before Parton's arrival - Goole have scored 25 times in eight games and although their defence which, it has to be said, was minus Lee Harper and Liam Chapman once more, continues to concede more than is really acceptable, the situation does look far more rosy.
Parton's second hat-trick of his fledgling Goole career came in the opening 46 minutes, the first after just four, a simple task of making sure from Rob Constable's header across goal, but his second on 33 minutes was all his own as he cut in from the left and beat the keeper with a well-placed shot in the corner.
If his first half goal was quick, his hat-trick goal came within a minute of the restart and it was quality finishing from a player full of confidence.
His fourth was simple, effective and calculated as Shane Marshall's clearance found Duncan Bray, whose 40-yard cross ball fell into the path of the former Scunthorpe striker and he left Mark Thorley helpless with yet another confident finish.
It wasn't all about Parton, although his goalscoring feats have to be applauded, but his fellow striker Duncan Bray was excellent, and he laid on another goal for James McDaid which gave Goole a 3-0 lead just before the break, and then scored Goole's sixth as an absolute rout looked possible, cutting in from the right-hand side and lashing the ball home on the angle.
Bray, who missed three games through suspension, is proving what everyone knew he was, and that is far too good to be playing Northern Counties East football. His partnership with Parton, not forgetting Dean Lackie in this equation either, is exciting and promising to give the Goole supporters some exciting fare in the second half of the season.
The only blips on the afternoon were the fact that the league's bottom club, and with only nine goals to their credit, managed to score three. Dean Lackie's failure to clear his lines on half time allowed Sheppard to give them some hope at the break, and although the Vikings continued to extinguish that in the second half, a header by Steve Williams and a nice finish from Jordan Goodeve made things respectable.
Indeed, the last twenty minutes, where they played without a recognised keeper after Thorley pulled a groin muscle, was their best in the game as conditions deteriorated markedly.
Having said that, if Goole had been steadier themselves in front of goal, we might have witnessed their record goals tally, which would have beaten the eight scored on numerous occasions in their Central Midlands League days, and latterly at Maltby in the Northern Counties East in January 2005.
But it was Parton's day, and although the lad cannot possibly keep scoring in the same vein - can he? - supporters can rightly believe that Goole are the top half side they wanted to be at the start of the season, but one which looked a long way off only a month ago.
Published on 30th November 2006 in Sport.
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