Late Goal For Matt Beadle
Matt Beadle spared Heaton Mersey's blushes with a late goal
which salvaged the leaders a share of the spoils with Cheadle,
the defending champions, in an entertaining 11-11 draw the
North of England League Premier Division. Having led 5-2 midway
through the first quarter it looked like Mersey were going
to extend their advantage at the top of the table and make
it eight victories in nine outings this term. But back came
last year's treble-winners and the tide soon turned in their
favour as they opened up an 11-8 lead thanks to four goals
from Gareth Wilkinson and other goals from Phil Lynch (3),
Daren Baythorpe (2) and Dave Carman (2).
However, Mersey were not to be overshadowed and once Steve
Morley and Thomas Gallagher had reduced the deficit, Beadle
popped up right on queue to equalise with less than a minute
left. The former Nottingham attacker even had a chance to
win it with five seconds remaining, but his powerful shot
flew inches wide.
"I think both sides were a little disappointed they
didn't win," admitted Richard Smith, Mersey's England
international goalkeeper. "We started really well, but
conceded too many soft goals and let them back into it. Our
defence wasn't very good, but I don't think we would have
come back from three goals down this time last year, so it
was a good achievement. Out attack were excellent.
"In the end a draw was a fair result for both sides,
but we were a little disappointed because we felt the game
was there for the taking. We didn't play well enough to win,
though."
Beadle and Morley both scored hat-tricks for Mersey, while
co-captain James Gallagher (2), Dan Heighway, Andy Ellison
and [Thomas] Gallagher added the rest.
Stockport seized the opportunity to close the gap at the
top following Mersey and Cheadle's draw, but it was a far
from convincing 11-10 victory away to Timperley. The Beech
Road club trailed 4-3 at the interval, but dug deep to snatch
full points after their south Manchester opponents had produced
a spirited fightback.
Tommy Foster top-scored for Stockport with four goals and
Nathan Singleton netted a hat-trick, while Ryan Garnsworthy,
the Australian international midfielder, replied with four
goals for the home team which proved in vain.
Manchester Waconians made light work of dispensing with Boardman
& Eccles following a 14-6 triumph at Wilmslow Road, while
Wilmslow's Chris Mountney scored four in his side's comfortable
13-8 win against strugglers Brooklands Hulmeians, having led
3-2, 9-3 and 10-6.
Results (Saturday 15th November)
Men's North of England League - Premier Division:
Cheadle 11, Heaton Mersey 11; Timperley 10, Stockport 11;
Wilmslow 13, Brooklands Hulmeians 8; Manchester Waconians
14, Boardman & Eccles 6. Division 2: Stopfordians 11,
Rochdale A 11; Sheffield Steelers 17, Sheffield University
3; Nottingham 11, Manchester Waconians A 5; Heaton Mersey
A 5, Norbury 9; Stockport A 17, Cheadle A 4; Brooklands Hulmeians
A 4, Oldham 10. Division 3: Cheadle B 9, Heaton Mersey B 14;
Boardman & Eccles A 11, Stockport B 5; Cheadle Hulme 17,
Ashton-under-Lyne 11. Division 4: Oldham A 11, Leeds University
11; Heaton Mersey Guild 9, Brooklands Hulmeians Ex A 12. Division
5: Norbury A 10, Manchester Waconians C 6; Heaton Mersey C
3, Wilmslow A 21; Stockport C 9, Cheadle C 1.
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