Yorkshire Amateur suffer maximum penalty for losing lead in Winterton defeat

Yorkshire Amateur saw their lead stolen for the second consecutive match during their 2-1 defeat vs Winterton Rangers at the Southerns Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Louis Fialdini had put the Ammers ahead inside five minutes by getting in front of his defender to poke the ball in at the near post.

Dan Walker plotted the visitors’ comeback by scoring both goals, initially levelling in the 37th-minute by being the first to reach Josh Walker’s in-swinging cross from the left, before his 49th-minute penalty.

Mark Maspero led just his second match in charge of Yorkshire Amateur, having taken a point against Bottesford on Wednesday.

Wilfred Frimpong looked confident from the start, although unsuccessfully attempting to beat the Winterton right full-back on two occasions inside as many minutes.

But Fialdini had Frimpong to thank for assisting the opening goal, the former getting in front of his defender at the near post to put us ahead.

Frimpong’s usual trickery on the left ended with the winger turning onto his weaker left-foot, inside the box and almost running out of space before drilling in the cross for Fialdini’s attacking run.

Winterton had the ball in the net on 10 minutes following a free-kick, headed back into the box and then headed in but the flag was raised.

Newton Conde’s cross is deeper, after a quarter of an hour, curled too close to the ‘keeper with Fialdini running in.

Kane Clarke was on the stretch to receive a through ball behind Winterton’s defence and poke to goal but it was saved by the legs of the outrushing Nathan Popple.

A second well-struck Winterton set-piece worried Harold Edjangue’s goal, flicked on at the near left-hand post, across goal and fortunately wide.

Sam Meeson controlled well, first-time from a cross-field pass, left to right, and ran from his own half all the way into the visitor’s box, with Wilkinson covering the space vacated. Meeson’s lay-off for right-winger Conde created a shooting opportunity on the recipient’s left foot but it was blocked.

Strong hold-up from Josh Walker saw him turn Kadeem Morton and create a shot for the visitors, across goal and wide.

Conde typically countered immediately after, down the right, but was beaten to his own knock-on by a defender who allowed the ball to run out.

Fialdini’s pressing discomforted the visitor in possession, allowing Wilkinson to collect the ball 30-yards out and advance slightly before hitting a weak shot straight into Popple.

Fialdini turned provider for Conde’s shot on the right, with a pass from deep out to the winger.

Conde cut inside and curled towards the near post, easily collected by Popple.

And Fialdini wasn’t finished, crossing for Alfie Fox by the penalty spot who controlled the ball but didn’t have the time to shoot before a defender cleared.

Winterton’s counter through the middle saw Dan Walker pass ahead of Sam Walker’s run into the box, one-on-one.

The recipient shot first-time but it was straight at Edjangue.

The two combined for Winterton’s equaliser just minutes later as Dan Walker headed in at the near post.

Josh Walker found him with an in-swinging cross from the left.

Dan Walker was through on goal again but Edjangue closed the angle and saved on the edge of his box with five minutes remaining of normal time of the first-half.

Josh Walker had time to try from range with a half-volley into the near side-netting.

Fialdini’s turn to run beyond the defensive line was stopped short by the linesman, shortly before the ref whistled for the end of the first-half.

Morton rescued Edjangue shortly after the restart after the ‘keeper’s inability to gather the ball on the edge of his box was punished by Josh Walker’s pressure.

Collecting the ball, the visitor’s forward’s in-field pass into the box was intercepted at the last second by the retreating Morton.

The mistakes continued with a penalty awarded to Winterton on 49 minutes following Birama Diallo’s late challenge, giving the visitors a strong chance to take the lead

Dan Walker hit his spot-kick low into the bottom left-hand corner for his second of the match.

Edjangue was not happy with his next involvement either, spilling a cross which then needed to be cleared off the line by Omar Gikineh.

The center-half was as close from levelling for the Ammers, moments later, an audible clip could be heard during Gikineh’s swing, with his right leg, at a dipping ball at the far post following a deep free-kick from the right.

As Ammers forward Ousainey Juwara was introduced in the 58th-minute, full-back Diallo’s strong performance was rewarded by being moved into central-midfield, Mitchell Fox the man replaced with Newton Conde dropping back into defence.

Frimpong’s curled attempt, after cutting in from the left, was clear of Popple’s bar.

Kane Clarke was unable to add to his goal in midweek as he was replaced in the 78th-minute by Amar Bodaha.

Josh Walker should have put the game beyond doubt after Gikineh’s slip with just under ten minutes remaining.

The forward was gifted possession, one-on-one after Gikineh lost his footing, 30-yards out. Walker was caught up by Morton but not quickly enough to deny his shot, passed into Edjangue’s hands.

The previously at-fault centre-half went closest to reclaiming the Ammers a point in the final five minutes, flicking a header across goal, over the crowd but it dropped comfortably into Popple’s hands to grab all three points for Winterton.

There’s FA Vase action at the Southerns Stadium on Saturday 27th August for Yorkshire Amateur’s next fixture, hosting Longridge Town.