Kidsgrove Ath 2 Belper Town 0 - Athletic find form at last
Kidsgrove picked up a valuable three points at The Seddon Stadium on Saturday with a solid 2-0 win over visitors Belper Town. Goals from Dave Walker and Karl Charlton secured the points, while Steve Hodgson made a series of good saves to ensure Athletic kept a clean sheet.
Grove included new signing Jonathan Crompton at centre back along side Andy Taylor. The 21-year old spent eight years at Manchester United's academy before moving to Port Vale where he teamed up with current Athletic midfielder Ross Davidson.
Kidsgrove started very well and could have taken the lead with 90 seconds on the clock as a cross by Danny Smith was inexplicably turned towards goal by Aaron Pride, forcing Belper keeper Andy Richmond into a diving stop. Just a minute later, the home side were in front as a perfectly-weighted ball from Sam Hall was met by Dave WALKER who calmly slotted the ball past Richmond from outside the area.
Walker had another half-chance on six minutes as Danny Griggs drove in a free-kick which Richmond parried but the rebound narrowly avoided the striker.
For The Nailers, Colin Marrison had a couple of opportunities, firstly shooting wide of the target and then drawing a good save out of Hodgson with a quarter of an hour on the clock.
Athletic were attacking with intent, and on 18 minutes another Griggs free-kick found Ash Carter. He drove a shot in that Davidson managed to deflect goalwards, but the ball was gathered by Richmond.
Davidson himself then went on a mazy run, evading the attentions of several Belper defenders, but his cross was a little too heavy for Walker to reach. Craig Dove was the next to attack, delivering a ball that Walker met with a header which was blocked for a corner.
At this point, the home side were camped in the opposition half. On 27 minutes Griggs and Dove combined well on the left with Dove feeding the ball into Karl Charlton who, despite losing his footing, managed to fire a shot in that Richmond saved with his legs. Two minutes later, Griggs played a neat chip into Walker but his effort went narrowly over the crossbar.
Having dominated to this point, Kidsgrove were then given a wake-up call as Ashley Longstaff's long-range strike produced a fine diving save from Hodgson. Barely a minute later, Charlie Weir demonstrated some great skill with an overhead kick that only just fell wide of the right hand post.
The first half showed no signed of fizzling out as the whistle approached. Firstly the ball fell to Carter within the six yard box, but his shot was straight at Richmond with the goal at his mercy. Then, on the stroke of half-time, Belper won a free kick 20 yards from goal which Jon Froggatt struck well, only to see Hodgson pull off a superb diving save to his left, tipping the ball around the post.
Athletic picked up where they had left off after the interval, with another Davidson run being halted just before he could play the ball into the danger area. On 54 minutes, Hall set up Charlton with another excellent pass but his powerful shot was narrowly wide of the far post. Froggatt then had a good opportunity for Belper, but was unable to beat Hodgson, who got down well to smother his attempt.
The home side extended their lead just before the hour mark. Walker fired in a shot from the edge of the area which cannoned off the post and bounced away. Carter picked up the loose ball and found CHARLTON who drove a low shot into the corner past Richmond's despairing dive.
Kidsgrove did not sit back after this and continued to push forward with the visitors' goal being put under siege. Danny Smith broke free from defence and played in Walker whose shot was beaten away, while Carter also had another attempt well saved.
With 69 minutes played, Walker picked up the ball on the right and delivered a good cross that Davidson could only hit over the cross bar when well positioned to score.
The final 20 minutes of the match were a different story, however, as Belper finally started to exert some pressure. Froggatt was again frustrated by Hodgson on 70 minutes as the Grove keeper pulled of a superb point-blank save.
Belper got even closer to finding a way back into the game five minutes later as Andy Rushbury's free kick was deflected onto the post and was hacked away to safety by Smith.
Longstaff then did well to hold off Andy Taylor and advanced on goal, only to see his shot go wide of the post, while Froggatt headed wide on 80 minutes.
Athletic made a couple of substitutions as the game drew to a close with Steve Brannan and Darren Twigg replacing Griggs and Walker. This seemed to draw the sting from visitors as an attacking threat, and it was Kidsgrove who had the best opportunity to add to their score in injury time as Brannan's cross found Twigg, but hi shot on the turn cleared Richmond's crossbar.
Team: Hodgson, D Smith, Dove, A Taylor, Crompton, Charlton, Carter, Hall, Walker (Twigg 83), Davidson, Griggs (Brannan 82). Unused subs: Basford, Bull.
Share Last updated: 6th December 2011, 20:25