In another exciting game at Yarnfield’s Wellbeing Park, Stone Old Alleynians came out on top with a great win against promotion-chasing Gornal Athletic.
Having lost at Gornal earlier in the season, the Old Boys were expecting a tough game and it looked ominous as Gornal dominated the first five or 10 minutes, but without creating a good opening. Alleynians appeared to have taken the lead when wing-back Grant Bigham exchanged passes with Buckley and expertly beat the keeper. The referee’s assistant however flagged Bigham offside, which proved an unpopular decision with the large amount of supporters opposite who had seen him run past a defender to take the return pass.
The Old Boys then suffered a blow when the speedy Bigham was forced off with hamstring problems to be replaced by Josh Renshaw. This did not stop the home side’s momentum, however, and a jinking run by Buckley, whose pace was causing the Gornal defence problems, nearly resulted in another goal. On 35 minutes Stone deservedly took the lead courtesy of Heard’s diving header from Matt Thomas’s left-wing cross.
Half Time:- Stone Old Alleynians 1 – Gornal Athletic 0
Gornal came close after 10 minutes of the second half with a shot just clearing the angle before the Old Alleynians increased their lead. Jamie Cartwright picked out Heard on the left with a 35-yard pass, who still had plenty of work to do. He cut inside, jinked around his marker and sent in a superb shot into the far corner to give the keeper no chance.
The Old Boys then had to reshuffle their side again, with an injured Buckley being replaced by Adam Tomkinson. With 15 minutes left, the visitors began exerting more pressure on the home goal and the warnings were there, as the ball bounced around the Stone area before going narrowly wide. With five minutes to go Gornal pulled one back to set up a tense finish, when a weaving run and shot beat Heath only to come back off the post to be converted by Tom Timmins.
Final Score:- Stone Old Alleynians 2 – Bartestree 1
In the Staffs County League, Stone Old Alleynians match, at Hilton, was called off due to the state of the pitch.
On Saturday 21st December the Old Alleynians home match v Trysull has been postponed, due to the visitor’s cup commitments. The reserves are away to Holditch in the SCL Div 2, 2pm kick-off
