REPORT | Taddy Up To 3rd After Convincing Home Win

Simon Collins made two changes to the side that won 3-1 at Belper Town last week as Casey Stewart was recalled to the starting line-up and James Hodges came in for his debut deputising for Michael Ingham in goal.

On a mild afternoon in Yorkshire with the low sun beaming down, it was great to see the terraces packed to the rafters and many new supporters trying out non-league football with it being the International break.

Stamford stopper Danny Haystead was first to be called into action tipping Casey Stewart’s shot/cross wide of the goal. However it was the visitors who went incredibly close to breaking the deadlock from the resulting set-piece. A short corner by Taddy quickly broke down igniting a dangerous counter-attack for the away side. Liam Adams marauded down the left-wing before pulling back to an on-rushing Bradley Fortnam-Tomlinson who’s fierce effort from 12 yards was terrifically pushed over by debutant Hodges. The stand-out stand-in stopper was called upon once more from the resulting corner as Adams lashed goalwards but Hodges again kept Stamford at bay flinging a right hand up.

It was a frantic end-to-end start to the contest with both sides going hammer and tongs for the early advantage. Billy Whitehouse pulled back to Joe Lumsden on a second phase of a corner but his hurried effort was kicked clear by Haystead helped by the pressure from Joe Burgess. Soon after and it was Stamford’s turn to threaten again as Chris Salt’s raking ball in behind the Brewers was latched onto by Fortnam-Tomlinson but he couldn’t test James Hodges with Harry Coates applying the pressure.

As the frenetic nature of the encounter calmed down slightly, Taddy started to gain a clear foothold on the match. Joe Lumsden pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area but could only turn into teammate Chris Howarth who was on the ground after a battle with Henry Eve. The Brewers were starting to click into gear with the contest almost half an hour down, Casey Stewart going close guiding a Jack Walters cross narrowly wide of the near post.

Fortnam-Tomlinson certainly looked like Stamford’s best route to goal as picked up the pieces on a corner and lashed wide of the mark with the away dugout providing an ‘ooohh’.

Nevertheless it was in fact Tadcaster who drew first blood on 32 minutes courtesy of the aforementioned Casey Stewart. Billy Whitehouse picked up the second ball and with the visitors seemingly stretched, slid in Stewart who confidently stroked past Haystead first time giving Albion the lead. Simon Collins’ men were well on top at this point and should have been two goals up six minutes later. Paddy Miller escaped his man on a corner but flicked just the wrong side of the far post after bouncing off the defender’s back.

However the second goal did arrive two minutes later for Taddy after some terrific quick-thinking. Pete Davidson cleverly took a quick free-kick releasing Joe Lumsden in behind and the top scorer duly obliged sliding through the legs of Danny Haystead.

With Stamford looking to pull one back before the close of the half, Michael Armstrong tried his luck from distance striking hard and low but Hodges got down smartly to his right to hold again.

2-0 is always a precarious scoreline, but 3-0, not so much as Taddy effectively wrapped up the points three minutes into the second half. Impressively it was another dose of quick-thinking by Albion as Billy Whitehouse played a short corner to Pete Davidson and returned it back to the flying winger who drove into the box and rifled into the back of the net leaving Haystead with no chance.

The home side came close to a fourth shortly after the hour mark as Haystead parried Casey Stewart’s fierce drive but the angle became too tight for Lumsden to turn in the rebound. Tadcaster’s intensity and determination to pressurise their opponents decreased following the third goals as Stamford enjoyed their best spell of the match following a double substitution.

Huge centre-back Henry Eze was pushed up front by Stamford in a bid to spark a comeback and it was he who teed up Ollie Brown-Hill but his side-footed was never troubling Hodges in the Albion goal. The combination between Ellis Barkworth and Billy Whitehouse down Taddy’s right-hand side seems to only be getting better and better as the games go by as the two youngsters played a superb one-two to get Whitehouse flying into the box but his cross agonisingly evaded substitute Aiden Savory.

The Daniels continued to plug away looking for a consolation goal and they almost found it on 71 minutes when Liam Adams was played through who decided to square past Hodges to Brown-Hill but an excellent block from Barkworth ended the attack.

With the contest petering out, Aiden Savory almost netted a fourth for the Brewers after Chris Howarth delivered but Haystead superbly tipped over the close range header. Adams had one final chance for the visitors but his headed attempt was well wide of the mark.

The result sees Tadcaster extend their unbeaten league run to seven and jump up to 3rd in the Evo-Stik East League.

Full-Time: Tadcaster Albion 3-0 Stamford

Tadcaster: Hodges, Barkworth, Walters, Rose, Coates, Miller, Whitehouse (Colley 85), Davidson©, Lumsden (Savory 65), Howarth (Roper 85), Stewart
Unused: Mycoe, Barrett

Stamford: Haystead, Cooke, Egginton (Morris 63), Armstrong, Salt, Eze, Burgess, Duffy©, Adams, Fortnam-Tomlinson (Brown-Hill 63), Challinor
Unused: Hussey, Tarris