Tadcaster Albion 2-0 Pontefract Collieries

The Brewers cruised to victory against newly promoted Pontefract Collieries at the i2i stadium on a brisk Tuesday night after goals in each half from Jimmy Beadle and Adam Baker. After a tight first half Tad took the lead with a lovely move as Josh Barrett's cross was well tapped in by Beadle and just to make sure of the three points Adam Baker sealed it in the final minute.

Taddy boss Billy Miller made two changes to the comfortable win at Liversedge last Saturday with Jordan Armstrong back in after his suspension along with Josh Greening in place of Nick Black and Andy Milne who picked up a knock.

The first half could have been oh so different if Ponte converted one of the two golden chances that they created just two minutes in. The double chance came from a Tad corner which was cleared and the visitors broke away on the counter attack with pace as Aaron Moxam lofted a diagonal ball to Mark Whitehouse who just had Gary Stevens to beat but Stevens produced a brilliant point blank save. The rebound fell to the onrushing Max Leonard who just had to keep his shot down but leaning back he struck his effort over the crossbar of the empty net, this was an early let off for the Brewers.

Taddy's first noteworthy chance came five minutes later as a kind ricochet cannoned into the path of full-back Jordan Armstrong who was in behind the Colls' defence but his shot from an acute angle whistled over the mark.

Pontefract, who have had an indifferent start to life in the NCEL Premier Division were to be kept out by Stevens once more as Leonard struck hard but the Taddy stopper was equal to it with another decent save.

After this early flurry of chances, the contest cooled down so to speak, the home side were in the ascendency having the majority of the ball without creating any goal scoring opportunities.

Ponte's back line were finally undone in the 35th minute however after a lovely move. Josh Greening popped the ball out to Jordan Armstrong on the right who gave it to Josh Barrett early giving the wide-man the chance to run at the full-back and take him on and that is exactly what he did. Barrett squared up the defender and used his pace and strength to get beyond him relatively comfortably which allowed him to cross into the danger area and Jimmy Beadle was on-hand to finish expertly.

Half-Time: Tadcaster Albion 1-0 Pontefract Collieries

Into the second half and The Brewers got the perfect opportunity to double their lead and all but wrap up the win and the three points. Just ten minutes into the half and Josh Barrett's pace proved to be too much again as he was brought down by veteran Nigel Danby. There was some controversy about the incident though, the officials consulted about whether it was inside or outside the penalty area and they came to the conclusion that it was just inside. On another matter, Danby was very lucky to stay on the pitch as he had just received a yellow card five minutes earlier for going through the back of George Conway.

With all that being said and after waiting the best part of two minutes, Jimmy Beadle was finally given the go-ahead to take the penalty kick. Beadle struck it hard and low to the left but Craig Parry guessed right and saved it well, was it possibly too long a wait............

Stevens was called into action again in the opposite goal shortly after as Mark Whitehouse's strike from 18 yards was well dealt with, Taddy's number one was putting in a terrific performance.

The Brewers were comfortable in the second half as they dominated proceedings however the second goal seemed like it was just never going to come as chance after chance came and went. Matt Heath who is always a threat from set-pieces as we've discovered in the first month of the season came close again as he saw his header booted off the line.

Into the last ten minutes and obviously Colls had to push more men forward to try and get something from the match which resulted in more spaces for Tad to exploit. Josh Greening broke the offside trap, checked back and shifted it to Adam Baker who's shot was stopped by Parry's legs.

Substitute Nick Black was somehow denied eight minutes from time as Armstrong set Baker away down the right wing who squared to the unmarked Black waiting for a tap in but a blue shirt came from behind and did brilliantly to deflect it out for a corner.

Greening's shot from a tight angle was again saved by Parry however the second goal did finally come in the last minute as Adam Baker used his second wind to burst through the defence and coolly smash it into the back of the net to send The Brewers top of the league.

Full-Time: Tadcaster Albion 2-0 Pontefract Collieries