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Tadcaster Albion 3 Silsden AFC 1 (6th August 2024)

Tadcaster Albion 3 Silsden AFC 1 (6th August 2024)

John Clothier7 Aug 2024 - 19:04

Brewers Overcome Cobbydalers for Third Win on the Bounce

Tadcaster saw off early pressure from a confident Silsden AFC side to claim a 3-1 home victory, their second league win in a row and their third in all competitions. Electric performances from attacking midfielder Alfie Dean, alongside goal scorer’s Elliot Andrew and Luca Bolino, extended the Brewers’ impressive unbeaten run in the NCEL Premier Division to 11 matches since February.

The away side matched the Brewer's form prior to kick off with a league and cup win, against Campion and Liversedge respectively, and enjoyed their most dominant spell early on. Cody Cromack picked up the ball in the middle, moving it wide to the right wing to Toby Jeffrey who picked out the head of Kayle Price - their top scorer last season - forcing a comfortable save from Green. A minute later, Luke Brooksbank played a neat through ball to wing back Daniel Hunt on the left who created room for the return ball with a fake shot, yet Brooksbank couldn’t keep the attempt on goal down.

A lively start to the match, with both sides looking to break through the midfield with pace, continued as Alfie Dean found room in the channel and spread the play to Luca Bolino. Silsden keeper Colin Bradbury initially thought about striding out to meet him, only to retreat on second thoughts which encouraged Bolino to play an early ball that evaded Elliot Andrew awaiting a tap in.

Andrew would have the first clear opening, latching onto a through ball from right wingback Josh Hardcastle after a quick free kick caught Silsden lapsing in concentration. This prompted centre half Jake Cassidy’s perfectly timed sliding intervention, conceding the game’s first corner.

Elliot Holmes was called into action on 14 minutes after Sam Kitchen was caught short of passing options in midfield. Silsden’s high tempo passing play found Brooksbank in space, cutting the ball back from the right to Jeffrey whose powerful shot was blocked on the line by Holmes’ sharp header. Silsden were mounting further pressure on the Brewers’ back line. Harry Coates’ long pass picked out Price, sprinting in behind before lobbing the ball over the onrushing Sam Green’s net.

Moments later, Brooksbank showed great feet moving away from several attempted tackles and hit a low drive which Green saved by getting down smartly to his right. He would challenge Tadcaster’s last line of defence once more after 22 minutes, with a dipping shot being palmed away.

For all their possession and chances, however, the first goal went to the resistant Tadcaster. Winger Jeffrey was robbed of the ball on halfway and Brewer’s midfielder Kieran Greenway burst through the middle before floating a lovely, weighted pass to Luca Bolino, cutting in from the left. He controlled deftly, rounded the goalkeeper and slotted the ball into an empty net. 1-0. (24 minutes).

Tadcaster then went close to a second through captain Dan Thirkell, who received acclaim for his clean sheet from over 6,000 people on the FA Cup’s Instagram after Green’s dismissal on Saturday. He connected with Alfie Dean’s corner and headed onto the top of the crossbar.

Breaking away on another efficient counter attack, Josh Hardcastle picked out Sam Greenway who ran at the Silsden penalty area, flicked the ball over a defender’s head and was brought down in the box by a desperate lunge. With no hesitation, Referee, Chris Rose, awarded the penalty before sending off Silsden centre back Jake Cassidy for dissent. Brewer’s striker Elliot Andrew tucked the ball into the bottom left, sending Bradbury the wrong way. 2-0 (44 minutes).

The Brewers dominated much of the second half and were in search of a third. The ball worked its way quickly along the ground from Hardcastle running infield from the right, picking out Dean who looked left for Bolino. He created plenty of problems for Silsden acting as an inside forward looking to carve out his own opportunities, and rattled the left post just shy of the hour mark.

His work ethic would soon pay off. Chasing down a loose ball and coming out of a scramble by the away side’s left corner flag on top, Bolino angled a low pass into Andrew who fired an instinctual low shot into the right corner with the end of his boot. Bolino now had 5 goal involvements in just 2 games, registering a combined 1 goal and 4 assists in both the league and the FA Cup. 3-0 (56 minutes).

The 10 men of Silsden gave themselves a lifeline with 10 minutes of regular time left. An in swinging corner was headed onto the crossbar, rebounding out and eventually falling to Kayle Price. He executed a sweetly struck volley into the bottom left. 3-1 (81 minutes)

Bolino rattled the post a second time in the closing minutes after Albert Ibrahimi’s run forward, managing to get past several retreating players before picking out the in-form winger.

Tadcaster’s eventual victory was slightly soured as substitute Ben Tweed, returning to the Young Guns FC Arena after re-signing with the club, was on the end of a high challenge and after several minutes needed assistance to leave the field of play in considerable pain.

The Brewers carried out their game plan of counter-attack using the widths of the pitch perfectly, yet were also eager to press Silsden out of the defensive half. The away side threatened early on and were very fluid in shape during spells of possession yet lacked a clinical edge.

The Brewers are now up to second in the league table, and travel to Eccleshill United this Saturday (KO 3.00 pm) seeking a third straight league win.

Attendance: 254

“Tony Howarth Golf “ Man of the Match: Luca Bolino

Tadcaster: Green, Hardcastle, Owen (‘70 Wilson), Thirkell (C), Holmes, Kitchen (‘76 Shepherd), Cassius-Gill (‘62 Tweed), Greenway, Andrew (‘70 Hines), Dean (‘76 Ibrahimi), Bolino
Silsden: Bradbury, Hunt (‘47 Hudson), Clarke, Daly (C), Coates, Cassidy (sent off), Jeffrey (‘45 Contah), Cromack (‘81 Thompson), Price, Brooksbank (‘64 Greaves), Stewart

Report from Oliver Whitmore - Photos courtesy Craig Dinsdale and Keith Handley

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