Yorkshire Amateur recovered the deficit between themselves and safety to just four points by nullifying Clay Cross Town in a 3-1 victory on Saturday at The Southerns Stadium.
There was a new mould of recruits, five debutants that rallied Ammers’ latest league win, a performance reliant on technical ability & strength, limiting chances from the visitors.
Marcel Chigumira, Ralph Bertrand and Birama Diallo finished the moves to cement Ammers’ first win in eight matches.
Four debutants started, one on the bench. Ethan Kachosa, Liam Parker, Ralph Bertrand & Freddie Swales earnt full debuts, Philip Conteh was to wait. Craig Maynard and Marcel Chigumira too returned.
Ammers’ control of possession within the opening 10 minutes threatened also to be their downfall, Clay Cross proving in the initial fixture their content to play without the ball for large parts.
The pressure the visitors invited took it’s toll immediately when Chigumira won a penalty. Ethan Kachosa’s debut was confidently looking like it’d be marked with an assist, playing a ball between left full-back and centre-half. The first to the ball was Chigumira, the second a late challenge.
Power won the debate within Chigumira’s mind, blasted beyond the left of Alberry’s early dive the opposite way.
Swales’ physicality in the congested centre of midfield further added to Ammers’ control of possession, Clay Cross resorting to another foul in attempts to displace possession, central around 30-yards out. Chigumira ignored the distance, the bounce of the shot, infront of Alberry in goal, causing a spill, Kaiden Cheetham mishitting the rebound under challenge.
Ammers continued to win the physical battle, this time through Chigumira who held onto possession long enough to be joined by, and in-turn find, the run beyond by Cheetham but the recipient sliced his shot.
Gracjan Klimczak fulfilled the prophecy for Clay Cross Town’s proficiency on the counter to equalise on 18 minutes. In a similar style to the previous fixture, the forward raced beyond the Ammers defence and finished across goal into the bottom left-hand corner, more calmly than if trying to pronounce his name.
A weak kick from Alberry still had to be controlled well by Birama Diallo for Ammers to catch Clay Cross out of shape. He advanced infield from the right, infront of the threatening Chigumira, finding his pass to the forward. The visitors thought better of getting tight to Chigumira but were still caught out behind by the pace of Kachosa, wide on the right, his cross straight out of bounds.
Chigumira this turn went beyond, beating Ash Radmore again, supported deeper by Cheetham to open up space for the shot from the edge of the box, turning the single defender, onto his right foot and attempting to curl inside the far post.
Reformed advanced-midfielder Cheetham was getting a feel for the space available to him deeper, he both had a crossing opportunity wide from the left, over Chigumira & co. inside the box to run clear. He was again found on the edge of the box by Chigumira, smashed over.
Positioned closer to goal correlates to a better scoring return and Chigumira’s hold-up play proved prolific, teeing up Ralph Bertrand in first-half added-time. Chigumira, back to goal inside the box, laid the ball to Amers’ right ahead of the advancing Bertrand who needed just two touches to put the ball into goal via power from such close range.
The light drizzle could bail out Craig Maynard’s slip-up, rather appearing to be a lack of strength on his back-pass, the ball instead running into Klimczak’s path. He can’t convert, Viles parrying with his legs but that gave Josh Scully an opening on the edge, placed over.
It was one versus three against Chigumira’s favour after Cheetham’s clearance from his own half. With space out wide, Chigumira cut inside, round the first obstacle and attacked the two centre-halves camped inside their own box. From the edge, he chose near post, the ripple of the side-netting drawing initial excitement but the score remained 2-1.
Countering, Billy Brooks won’t have seen Parker until the defender had recovered the ground by the time both reached the edge of the box, sliding in to intercept and push the ball into Viles.
Diallo & Wade channelled their inner essence of Clay Cross, a deep pass with precision putting the latter one-on-one at goal. Wide from the left but the ball on his right, Diallo curled an inswinging, low, pacey delivery through the centre of the pitch and finding Wade beyond, against Alberry. Closed down by the ‘keeper, the near post effort is blocked wide.
A first touch from Finlay Wade, deep inside in his own half on the right, means Ammers got a shot at goal. Kachosa’s too lively for the press high in Ammers half, creating space on his right foot to chip into Wade, who is forced to rise his foot just below head height to then keep the ball in his control. He found Cheetham who made the use of Chigumira’s run beyond, stretching the visitor’s defence so Cheetham could comfortably round the sole aggressor on his route infield. The pass then came into the forward running beyond, crossed into the box and diverted goalward, saved.
It was a similar story for Amers’ third, Chigumira crossing, low, into Birama Diallo. The winger reverted infield to threaten goal, his first touch away from his marker and second smashed inside the near post with a minute over twenty minutes remaining.
Kachosa ran into trouble in the middle, 20-yards out, the ball not sitting for Josh Jackson to shoot so instead he played Liam Carrington within the right channel of the box, shooting over.
Rather than hold-on, Ammers had done plenty enough to return off the field with the full prize.
Next in line in the fixture list is Retford FC and a trip to South Yorkshire on Saturday 17th February in the NCEL Division One.