Sunday 14th March 2010 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

Yeadon Westfield 0

Horsforth Fairweather 1

Team: Sedgwick - Gough, Armstrong, Banoub - Markham, J.Bell, Horton, Monaghan, Hinkins - A.Bell, Newsome. Subs: Buttery, Ferguson; unused subs: Foss, Frei, Herron. Scorer: A.Bell.

  If the stop-start nature of the latter part of the season was causing Horsforth any problems, there was little sign of it in this superb, hard-fought win against in-form Westfield.

  The team news was as controversial as usual, Woody setting out to mirror Westfield's 3-5-2 formation with Andy Gough, Baz Armstrong and Simon Banoub the back line. Chris Markham was switched to the right of the midfield, with Jamie Bell, Lee Monaghan and Richard Horton the central three and Simon Hinkins restored to the side down the left. Lee Mon was equalling John Steenson's record of all-time appearances today, 454 games spread over 20 seasons. John Newsome partnered Anthony Bell up front. By far the main item of interest, however, was the inclusion of HFFC legend Steve Sedgwick between the sticks in the absence of either of the club's recognised goalkeepers.

  The first half was inconclusive, as neither team was able to produce much by way of a threat on the other's goal. Two well-organised defences contributed most of the game's moments of quality, and though I felt we had marginally the better chances, nil-nil was a fair enough reflection of the balance of play overall.

  The second half was only two and a half minutes old when the decisive moment arrived, Ant latching onto Lee Mon's pass and beating the home keeper from distance. We enjoyed quite a good spell immediately after that, and might have made the game safe on a couple of occasions, but as the game wore on Westfield got better and better, so much so that we were quite plainly hanging on long before the end. The home side's inclusion of our former star Adolph Masocha as one of their midfielders meant they were at times playing with three men up front, and this asked a lot of questions of our stretched back three. Particular satisfaction then in reporting that our defence stood firm against all that came their way. Westfield's ability to manufacture chances from set pieces is bordering on legendary, and they laid siege to our goal for long periods, but a series of excellent defensive headers and some magic moments from Sedge, scampering around his goal area at times yet always finding himself in the right position, kept them at bay. On the rare occasions Sedge was beaten, there were others on hand to save the day, Jamie heading one off the line and an awesome last-ditch goal-saving tackle from Lee Mon being among the highlights. We had a few moments of our own too, and the Westfield goalie had a busier second half, but it would be unfair to deny that the home team dominated the game territorially in the closing twenty or thirty minutes. Chris Buttery was brought into the fray for his debut, and clearly will add a great deal to our midfield in months and years to come, while Kev Ferguson slotted in superbly when Nooby went down injured with ten minutes left, but it would be hard to find a Horsforth player undeserving of praise today.

  A truly determined and disciplined performance against one of the league's strongest teams, and a great result, however much we rode our luck in the last half hour or so. We had played some very good football in patches - perhaps not as much as we would have liked but the Queensway pitches don't exactly lend themselves to our passing game - and defended dourly when we needed to. I doubt anyone who wore the green and black shirt today will be less than pleased with their endeavours, but I think the man who bravely donned the orange jersey merits singular praise, not just for the calm and collected way he conducted himself during the game, but the dedication to the club's cause and sheer bottle he demonstrated by agreeing to take on what could easily have been a thankless task. A splendid result, which finally lifts us off the bottom of the table, and as sound a performance as I've witnessed for a long while.

  Other league games: Clothiers v Rawdon OB postponed; Crossflatts Village v Malt Shovel not played 2-0 win awarded to Malt Shovel.

Sunday 7th March 2010 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

  Yeadon Westfield v Horsforth Fairweather postponed, pitch frozen. This game may be on next week, please watch this space.

  Other league games: Crossflatts FC 11, Clothiers 4; Malt Shovel 7, Horsforth St Margarets 0; Rawdon OB 5, Crossflatts Village 3.

Sunday 28th February 2010 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

  Horsforth Fairweather v Crossflatts Village - postponed due to ground clash.

  The club with whom we share pitch 1 at Bedquits, New Saints, are playing their Sunday District Cup Quarter-Final against the Wykebeck, rearranged from last week.

  Other league games: Crossflatts FC 4, Rawdon OB 0; Yeadon Westfield 7, Horsforth St Margarets 1.

  PC Sports Leaue Cup Quarter-Final: Clothiers 0, Malt Shovel 2.

  Semi-Finals at Otley Town FC, 4th April: Malt Shovel v Crossflatts FC; Rawdon OB v New Variety Club.

Sunday 21st February 2010:

  Friendly: Horsforth Town v Horsforth Fairweather - postponed, snow.

  This game may be rearranged for a free Sunday in March or April, depending on the clubs' fixture lists.

  Wharfedale FA Cup Quarter-Finals: Malt Shovel v Ventus United; Saltaire Rangers v Rawdon OB; Yeadon Westfield v Otley Town; Yorkshire Rose v Horsforth St Margarets.

  No official news yet, but I would be amazed if any of the above games were played. Yet more fixture turmoil is confidently predicted...

  Keighley FA Sunday Cup Quarter-Finals: Crossflatts Village v Three Horses Keighley. Also Crossflatts FC v Keighley Victoria Hotel or Silsden (21st March).

Sunday 14th February 2010 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

Horsforth Fairweather 1

Yeadon Westfield 1

Team: Merifield - Herron, Gough, Banoub, Armstrong - J.Bell, Horton, Markham, Monaghan - A.Bell, S.Goodall. Subs: Newsome, Sinnott, Hinkins; unused subs: Ferguson, Vernon. Scorer: Horton. Cautioned: Banoub.

  Horsforth had just one enforced change for this game, Steve Sedgwick being unavailable and Barry Armstrong recalled to the defence, in the rather unusual position of left-back. Club captain Lee Monaghan was also brought back, in a left-sided midfield role, while Sam Goodall was preferred up front.

  This was not a great game by any standards, as two of the Wharfedale Triangle's most long-serving clubs fought out the 90 minutes for the most part in a congested midfield. The first half was especially poor entertainment, with neither team able to string many passes together, the one moment of note being the 32nd minute goal for the visitors, simplicity itself as a free header by Jimmy Phillips from a deep throw-in down our right found its way over the goal-line, and another game we simply had to win was drifting away from us. Games between these well-matched sides are often a contrast in styles, with the result usually going the way of whichever team is allowed to play on their own terms, and this one was definitely heading for an away win.

  The game could hardly have gotten worse, and in fairness both teams did play a bit more football after the break. It will come as no surprise to the regular reader of these reports that Westfield were eternally inventive at set pieces, and could easily have made the game safe from the corners and free kicks that Horsforth conceded, but it will shock few people to learn that our own team spirit was not found wanting either. A formation that had seemed narrow from the start became even more lacking in genuine width as first John Newsome replaced Sam, then Mike Sinnott took over from Jamie Bell, and Fairweather decided to take on Westfield in their own specialist area, up the middle of the pitch. It was only in the last few minutes that we got the breakthrough, with Simon Hinkins now on as our last throw of the dice from the bench. Diligent work from John led to his dispossessing the otherwise faultless Westfield keeper on the edge of the box, and John's unselfish pass into the danger area found its way to Hinky, whose blocked effort in turn found Richard Horton, who found the net from close range. Westfield still had more than enough chances to win the game, and there was still work to do from the reliable Andy Merifield in our goal, but the game ended in a fairly honourable draw.

  Personally, I thought we could have had few complaints had we lost this game, our inability to defend set pieces properly being matched only by the profligate way we were conceding them. Lack of communication between players at key moments, lack of width in our attack and - considering the number of quality footballers in our side - a our puzzling inability to pass the ball, the last only partially excused by the uneven surface, meant the initiative had almost entirely been with Westfield, who I am sure will regard the draw as points dropped. Some indifferent finishing by the away side, a handful of moments of heroic defending and a touch of fortune, had all conspired to earn us the chance to snatch a draw, but this was not by any stretch of the imagination even a half-decent performance, nor a particularly good result against a relatively uninspired Westfield side.

  Other league games: Crossflatts FC 8, Crossflatts Village 3; Horsforth St Margarets 2, Rawdon OB 3; Malt Shovel 7, Clothiers 2.

Sunday 7th February 2010 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

Horsforth Fairweather 2

Crossflatts FC 3

Team: Merifield - Herron, Gough, Banoub, Sedgwick - J.Bell, Horton, Markham, Hinkins - A.Bell, Newsome. Subs: Sinnott, S.Goodall, Jones; unused subs: Armstrong, Monaghan. Scorers: A.Bell, Newsome.

  The extent of the recent mini-revival was always going to be sorely tested by the visit of the league champions. With an uncommonly large number of squad members to choose from, Horsforth made just the one team change, Steve Sedgwick back in the side at left-back, replacing the particularly unlucky Chris Jones. Sedge, the club's official vice-captain for the last few seasons, wore the captain's armband, taking over from Richard Horton, who had done such a splendid job as stand-in over the last couple of games.

  Horsforth opened the game like a house on fire, and quickly took a two-goal lead. Simon Banoub's through ball provoked a dodgy pass-back to the Flatts keeper, and the alert Anthony Bell was on hand to intercept and lob the ball into the empty net. Richard put Ant through on goal, and though his shot was saved by the excellent away keeper, John Newsome followed up to score from close range, and there were still just 11 minutes on the watch.

  It could hardly get better after that, and we needed a few minutes of consolidation for our shock lead to sink in, but only one minute later the away side reduced the arrears when a superb cross from the left-back was headed home, and you might have felt the champions had regained the initiative. Quite the opposite really, the game settled down a bit after the early flurry of goals, but Horsforth gave at least as good as we got in all areas of the pitch, and felt ourselves to be quite good value for the 2-1 half-time lead, all the more so after Chris Markham found himself clean through on goals but was denied by the goalie.

  The second half was a very evenly-balanced contest, with both sides playing some fine open attacking football. Horsforth still had as much of the play as the away team, and reinvigorated the midfield with the introduction of Mike Sinnott, who had made such a promising debut in the previous game. Sixteen minutes in, however, the game's key turning point arrived, as Sedge was adjudged to have conceded a penalty. Personally, I thought it was a clear-cut and correct decision by the referee, even though the dive was unnecessarily theatrical. With the match level at 2-2, Horsforth immediately brought Sam Goodall into the attack, replacing John, who had been incapacitated with a head wound and took himself off to hospital for a check-up. Still, it was anybody's game, and there were chances at both ends during the busy second period, Andy Merifield doing especially well to make one key save with his finger-tips at full stretch that needed every one of his six feet and thirteen inches, and Sedge heading one off our line on a rare occasion when Mezzer was beaten, all this balanced by an eye-catching parry by the Flatts keeper from one of Ant's accurate headers into the top corner. The winning goal arrived on 37 minutes of the half, the away side working the ball in from their left again, and for once our defence neither pushing out, as they had done to great effect many times previously, nor marking tightly enough, and the ball swept in off an unlucky deflection from Sedge himself. We still had our chances after this turn of events, but the away side dealt with all our attacks and went home with three much-needed points in their bid to retain their title in the face of the challenges from Rawdon and Malt Shovel.

  This had been, above all else, a very good game of football between two teams of some quality. Our disappointment at losing it, while understandable and justifiable, must be tempered by the realisation that, in my opinion anyway, we had played as well as we have done for a few years. If the recent results, and the handful of points picked up, had suggested Horsforth were a team in false position in the table, this performance confirmed that view, even if it came in a game from which we got no tangible reward. What we need to do now, is keep up this level of intensity, this kind of commitment and this quality of football for the remainder of the season, and whatever the outcome we will be able to hold our heads high. We deserved more from this game, but what we take from it should stand us in good stead for the future.

  By the way, John was quickly discharged from Wharfedale Hospital with a bit of superglue on his head, and says he will be back at training on Tuesday, though I fear he may need a new shirt next weekend.

  Other league games: Clothiers 1, Yeadon Westfield 5.

  WRCFA County Sunday Cup Quarter-Final: HT Sports 4, Rawdon OB 0.

  This page last updated 14/03/2010.