Match Details
Toolstation Northern East Counties Football League
Eccleshill United 3-1 Silsden AFC
Tuesday 29th March
The Mitton Group Stadium
Match Report
Silsden fell to a 3-1 defeat away to Eccleshill United on Tuesday night. Despite leading 1-0 at half time, three second half goals gave the Eagles the win.
Josi Bradshaw opened the scoring on seven minutes but goals from Jonny Irving, Sam Bradley and Luke Aldrich moved the hosts up to 2nd in the league, whilst we remain 12th.
In truth, Eccleshill controlled the game for the majority and limited us to few chances, particularly in the second half where the defence were put under almost constant pressure.
The game did start brightly for Sils, after seven minutes an early corner was worked short for Jack Normanton. His low shot was spilt by the keeper and Bradshaw was on hand to turn the ball into the net, a real poachers effort from the number 9.
Eccleshill reacted well to going behind, forcing a number of corners that were well dealt with by the Silsden defence. Captain Arley Barnes, playing as a makeshift left back, was fortunate not to put past his own goalkeeper when a looping header drifted narrowly wide of the post, much to the relief of both him and George Dalton in goal.
Whilst Bradshaw did get one on one with the keeper at one point before seeing the ball nicked away from him, the hosts continued to pile forward as they pressed for an equaliser, Dalton being called into action to push a snapshot over. An Eccleshill strike then rattled the crossbar before the Silsden keeper made a good save from the rebound on the verge of half time.
The second half continued in the same vein, with the hosts finding their equaliser on 55 minutes. A mistake at the back allowed Irving in behind and he made no mistake, slotting the ball beyond an onrushing Dalton.
They would take the lead just 10 minutes later. A cross looped into the box and an instinctive finish on the volley put us 2-1 down. With possible promotion at stake, the Eagles didn’t take their foot off the gas and would add a third through Luke Aldrich. He brought down a long ball brilliantly, had one more touch to open himself up and then fired beyond Dalton.
There were no real chances to speak of as the game came to its conclusion, the score ending 3-1. Eccleshill showed why they are fighting for promotion this campaign. The boys will hope to bounce back on Saturday when we host Goole at home in the penultimate game of the season.
Hope to see you all there!
Silsden Lineup: Dalton, Pownall, Barnes (c), Hancock, Walker, Parsons, Normanton, Mitchell (Hudson, 83), Bradshaw, Donovan (Thompson, 70), Riley (Gartland, 83)
Unused Subs: Stein, Illingworth
