Saturday`s Vanarama Conference Review.... Vanarama Conference leaders Barnet overturned a..... ....half-time deficit to register a 3-1 win over Macclesfield Town at The Hive on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points. The first opening of the game saw Barnets Charlie MacDonald force a solid stop out of Rhys Taylor before the Bees squandered a second chance through Luisma Villa, who blazed over from 10 yards. Villa was in the action again when Taylor tipped his curling effort over the bar before Macclesfield struck the woodwork when Scott Barrows shot was deflected onto the post. Taylor made his third decent save of the half to deny MacDonald for a second time and it proved an important intervention as Macclesfield edged ahead 4 minutes before the break when Adriano Mokes shot trickled into the bottom corner. Barnet needed a response after the restart and 12 minutes into the second period, they got back on level terms when Andy Yiadom was able to turn in from close range after some good approach play. Three minutes later, the turnaround was complete when John Akinde rose above the Macclesfield defence to head home his 16th goal of the campaign. Chances began to dry up for both teams as the game became competitive in the middle of the pitch with only a Lee Cook free-kick coming close to adding to the score sheet. Macclesfield began to throw men forward as the game approached a conclusion but 2 minutes into added-on time, they were caught on the break by the home side when Curtis Weston raced clear of the defence before flicking the ball over the goalkeeper. Second-placed Grimsby Town were held to a 1-1 draw at bottom-markers AFC Telford United, despite dominating for much of the game at New Bucks Head. Grimsby pushed forward at will early on. Nathan Arnold had a decent strike well kept out by Bucks` keeper Freddy Hall before Lenell John-Lewis was denied by the Bermudan after being put through on goal. Hall was back in the action to prevent Jon-Paul Pittman from opening the scoring before Telford took a surprise lead after 34 minutes when Andy Parrys long-range effort beat Mariners` keeper James McKeown. Grimsby brushed off the set-back by continuing to push forward but after Hall made a fourth save of the half to keep out Arnold, the Mariners went into the break facing a deficit. Telford had chances to double their lead at the start of the second half, with Godfrey Poku and Rod McDonald getting efforts in on goal, but they were made to pay for their missed chances when Grimsby pulled level with 12 minutes gone in the second half. Pittman delivered an inviting ball to Jack Mackreth, who headed in his first goal for the club. Pittman almost turned from creator to goalscorer 5 minutes later when latching onto a flick from John-Lewis but the busy Hall just got enough on the ball to turn it behind for a corner. Telford were holding their own but it was Grimsby who had the late opportunities to nick a winner. However, after Scott Neilson had driven wide from distance, the home side were able to hang on for an important point. Bristol Rovers produced a convincing performance in a 2-0 win over Welling United at the Memorial Stadium. It was goalless at the break, but coming on at half-time, recent signing Nathan Blissett made it 1-0 on 53-minutes when he linked up well with Angelo Balanta to chip the ball past Welling `keeper Benji Buchel. Seventeen minutes from time Matty Taylor was hacked down in the area by Zach Fagan and duly got up to dispatch the resulting spot-kick into the roof of the net to make it 2-0. The visitors played the last half-hour with ten-men after Jake Gallagher lunged in on Lee Mansell and was shown a straight red card. A single goal from John Goddard was enough to give Woking a hard-fought win over Braintree Town at Kingfield to help the Cards bounce back from Tuesdays 3-1 defeat at Grimsby. The only goal of the game after 37 minutes when skipper Josh Payne put in a free-kick from the left which caused havoc in the visitors box before the ball fell to Goddard, who hit it down into the turf from 15 yards and into the far corner. The final whistle was greeted with relief from the majority of the 1,622 spectators as the Cards climbed to fourth in the table. Forest Green Rovers got back to winning ways against struggling Dartford at the New Lawn and are now just two points below the top five. Rovers opened the scoring in the 5th minute from the games first corner, central defender Eddie Oshodi meeting Rob Sinclairs delivery with a firm header that left Darts` keeper Jason Brown helpless. It was precisely the fillip Ady Pennocks side needed after four successive draws, and Brown was called upon to make a sharp reaction save to keep out Lee Hughes header from an Elliott Frear cross. Dartfords influence and confidence swelled as the first half progressed, and they were unlucky not to draw level on 41 minutes when skipper Elliot Bradbrooks header from a Lee Noble corner struck the top of the bar. Russells handling was sure to clutch a near-post effort from Harris, and on 70 minutes Rovers doubled their lead when Sinclair waltzed past Tom Bender and crossed for James Norwood to side-foot home his 10th goal of the season. Bender curled wide from 20 yards before his side pulled one back on 82 minutes – the goal coming while Bennett was off the field receiving treatment for a hand injury. It was as scrappy goal, Matt Mitchel-Kings effort from a Noble corner striking Oshodi on the back of the head before bounding into the back of the net. Torquay United earned a first win in four games to end Eastleighs six-match unbeaten run with a 2-0 Plainmoor success. Toby Ajala gave the Gulls an early 6th minute lead as he fired in from the left. Craig McAllister hit the bar with a header late on for Eastleigh, who created few chances before the Gulls got their second with less than 4 minutes remaining on the clock. Top scorer Ryan Bowman headed into an empty net after Louis Briscoes powerful effort had been palmed towards the striker by Spitfires` keeper Ross Flitney. FC Halifax Town secured a 2-0 win against strugglers Alfreton Town at The Shay to move up to eighth in the league. It was a dominant performance from the Shaymen, who certainly seemed to put their recent defeats firmly in the past. Lois Maynard and Jamie Jackson both got on the scoresheet, with a particularly impressive display coming from front-man Scott Boden. The breakthrough came just past the hour-mark when Paul Marshall’s corner found Maynard in the box, who was able to scramble the ball into the back of the net to score his fourth of the season. Second half substitute Jackson was able to double the Shaymen’s lead 8 minutes from time, after Ross Dyer was originally set on his way by Boden, he saw his shot denied by Alfreton keeper Sam Johnson, but Jackson was able to fire the ball into the back of the net. Dover Athletic beat Gateshead 2-1 at the International Stadium and are now six games unbeaten in the league. Dover took the lead against the run of play, with Stefan Payne bagging his ninth goal of the season when he prodded home a left-wing cross on 21 minutes. A couple of minutes later, Nick Deverdics slammed an effort against the bar but the home side were level on 37 minutes when Alex Rodman collected a pass in the area and planted a shot past Whites` keeper Andy Rafferty. Just 5 minutes later, Whites were back in front when centre-half Sean Francis towered above everyone and headed home his second goal of the season. Dover then had a penalty appeal turned down in first half injury-time when Deverdics was shoved over inside the box but Dover went into the break ahead. In the second half, Chris Kinnear`s side were forced to hold on to their lead in the face of sustained pressure from the home side and on the counter, Payne raced through but could only side-foot straight at the keeper on 65 minutes. With 18 minutes to go, Danny Wright missed a wonderful chance to draw Gateshead level, hitting wide from close range when he should have scored. But, Dover held on for a fine win to dent Gateshead`s play-off hopes. Altrincham came from a goal down to beat Kidderminster Harrier at Moss Lane to move up to seventeenth in the table. After good recent performances against Bristol Rovers, Grimsby Town and Wrexham, Kidderminster started the game well. Marvin Johnson fired the visitors into a 50th minute lead only for the hosts to take all three points thanks to efforts by James Lawrie 7 minutes later and then a header from top scorer Damian Reeves with less than 4 minutes remaining. Wrexham ended a run of nine league games without a win as they beat Aldershot Town 3-1 at The Racecourse Ground. Aldershot took a 13th minute lead, Dan Holman took advantage of a slip by Ross White and ran at goal before firing past Jonathan Flatt. But Wrexham were back on level terms in the 26th minute, Neil Ashton supplied the through ball and Mark Carrington slotted past Smith. It was still end-to-end and Aldershot’s Jaydon Gibbs struck the top of the bar with a cross but Wrexham took the lead 3 minutes into the second half through Andy Bishop. There was little in it after that, Wrexham still going at the visitors without creating anything of note but the Reds also looking solid at the back. Bishop headed narrowly over the bar from Connor Jennings’ centre before Louis Moult came on for Wes York, and the striker put Wrexham 3-1 ahead on 71 minutes. Carrington supplied a superb through ball that Moult latched onto and after he was felled in the area by Gibbs - the striker converted the resulting penalty. Tom Miller’s second goal in two games earned Lincoln City a 1-0 win over struggling Southport at Sincil Bank. City flew out of the block and in the first minute they had already rattled the post. Ben Tomlinson had a snap shot in the middle of the area, and his effort was palmed away by David Raya Martin. The ball fell into the path of Jon Nolan, but his stretching effort hit the post. Southport were not ready to let Lincoln run the show, and after forcing a corner a low ball found Joe Connor unmarked and his volley was tipped brilliantly over the bar by City keeper Paul Farman. Lincoln made the breakthrough on 62 minutes. Good work from Nolan and Marcus Marshall saw City earn a corner. Sean Newton stepped up and his delivery was perfect for Miller, who headed it into the back of the net. Southport continued to push, but City dug into secure another win. Nuneaton Town moved up to third-bottom after earning a crucial 3-2 win at Liberty Way against Chester FC, who made them sweat at the end. James Armson and Lee Fowler scored two goals in a 3-minute spell to hand Boro a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes. Substitute Craig Hobson made it 2-1 just 5 minutes after the break, but substitute Marcus Barrington extended Nuneaton lead with 10 minutes to go. Hobson netted a second for Steve Burr`s side in the 88th minute, but Chester failed to find an equaliser.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 16:29:43 +0000
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