Relieved Teversal survive loss of two-goal lead to cross Bridge

Buoyed by their heroics in two big local derbies, Teversal survived the loss of a two-goal lead to add to the woes of relegation-threatened Worsbrough Bridge Athletic.
GOAL! -- Teversal celebrate their opening goal on their way to victory at Worsbrough Bridge.GOAL! -- Teversal celebrate their opening goal on their way to victory at Worsbrough Bridge.
GOAL! -- Teversal celebrate their opening goal on their way to victory at Worsbrough Bridge.

After beating AFC Mansfield and holding Shirebrook Town to a draw, Teversal looked set for a convincing victory at Worsbrough, who are languishing in the bottom two of the Toolstation Northern Counties East League, First Division table.

A much-changed side went two up thanks to goals in the opening 36 minutes from James McCann and Jacob Tittley. Things got uncomfortable as the Barnsley outfit, with only one home win all season, drew level. But the Tevie Boys came good in the end as a superb header by Richard Guest 12 minutes from time earned them a 3-2 victory that cemented 11th place in the table.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A fine, flowing move gave the visitors their breakthrough goal in the 18th minute when Gary Atkins and Lewis Weaver combined with man-of-the-match Brad Cox, who found McCann unmarked. With time and space, he calmly curled an effort over home ‘keeper Michael Fallis and into the top corner of the net.

At the other end, teenage goalie Josh Turton was forced into his first save of the afternoon when a clever step-over by Jordan Lodge allowed Rob Oldham to fire in a low shot that the Teversal man was equal to at the base of his near post.

Moments later, Turton only just averted catastrophe when miskicking a clearance and having to chase back and hack the ball off his own line. However, with the wind raging and the snow swirling, the visitors appeared to calm any lingering nerves when netting a fortunate second goal. Left-back Tittley pumped a free-kick towards the box from the halfway-line and, helped by a strong gust of wind, the ball caught out Fallis who, at full stretch, could only tip it into the roof of his own net.

That’s how the score stayed until half-time and with Worsbrough on a poor run of form, few in the paltry crowd of 25 held out much hope of a recovery by them. However, they gave themselves a lifeline with a goal four minutes into the second period when Liam Price was given the time and space to lay an inviting ball in behind full-back Kyle Hempshall for Oldham to lift over the advancing Turton for a clinical finish.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The strike was the inspiration for a Worsbrough resurgence, and the Teversal backline had to be at its best as the home side became the dominant force.

The equaliser arrived in the 75th minute, courtesy of another bizarre free-kick. This time, after a rash foul in midfield by Luke Fisher, home man Craig Goodyear took Tittley’s cue from earlier and fired the ball towards goal. As it bounced just in front of Turton, the ‘keeper couldn’t hold on and Lodge reacted quickest to score.

A shock defeat was now one of the options for Teversal, so manager Dean Short must have been pleased with the reaction of his troops, who regained the initiative immediately. A corner by Tittley found Guest, whose powerful header from 12 yards beat the desperate efforts of defenders on the line.

Having let Worsbrough back into the game once, Teversal had no intentions of doing so again and saw out the game in a disciplined finale that restricted the hosts to just a couple of half-chances. On Saturday (kick-off 3 pm), they are on their travels again -- this time to Hallam, who lie seventh in the table. The Sheffield outfit have lost only once away from home but have suffered six defeats on their own patch.

TEVERSAL LINE-UP -- Turton/ Hempshall, Tittley, Gregory, Fisher, Watson, Guest, Atkins, Cox, Weaver (Moody 70), McCann. SUBS NOT USED: Staniforth, Short, Tighe, Sheppard.