Yorkshire Amateur League Division 1 – Saturday 24th March 2018
Full-time: Idle FC 6 – 3 Garforth Rangers FC
Goals: A. Irving (x3), J. Strudwick (x2), Medley
MOTM: T. Simonett
After yet another weekend of postponements, Idle returned to action this weekend against Garforth Rangers. With the Hanson School pitch out of action again, the 3G pitch at Goals Bradford was commandeered for the fifth or sixth time this season.
First of all, it’s probably best that we mention the no-show from Danny Rosconie. After a heavy night at The Highfield, the defender was nowhere to be seen come game time. The incriminating Snapchat evidence said it all to be honest. Here’s a snippet of his story…
Anyway, onto the football!
Rangers are a relatively young side and their quality defied their league position to a certain extent. Idle began the game well, pressing the away team in possession and winning the ball back early. It was setting up to be a bit of a feisty game with tackles coming in from both sides.
Idle eventually asserted some level of dominance and took the lead through Aaron Irving. However, it was set to be one of those games with the pendulum swinging both ways in the first half. Rangers were quick to grab an equaliser with one ball over the top of the defence and a calm finish from the forward.
Idle were still confident at this point and kept playing football out from the back and through the Garforth lines. The home side took the lead again, this time through a Jack Strudwick penalty after Adam Medley was brought down in the box after decimating Rangers defensive line with his pace and dribbling.
Once again the lead wasn’t to last long as Rangers got themselves back into the game for a second time. It was another through ball over the Idle defence to release the forward, however, with the forward clearly in an offside position, the referee failed to blow his whistle and the forward slotted the ball past Marcus Strudwick in the Idle goal.
Idle managed to bounce back quickly and took the lead for a third time in the match with Medley bundling the ball home from close range after some good interplay between midfield and attack.
A major turning point in the match came close to the end of the first half after the Rangers centre-back decided he fancied himself as the next Rocky Balboa. After a collision with Simonett in the box, the big man caught the Idle midfielder with a solid right hook to the side of the head.
This was quickly followed by Luke Chandler bursting into the quickest sprint of his career to confront the lunatic in question. Chandler was also on the end of a slap and thus the referee had no choice but to send Balboa for an early bath. It’s safe to say Adrian won’t be happy with you pal!
After the melee had dissipated it was back to the football with Idle in the ascendancy and it was Irving who popped up with the goal of the game to extend the lead. A goal-kick from M. Strudwick was flicked on by Simonett in the middle of the park which then found Irving in behind the Rangers defence. As the ball bounced over his shoulder, Irving hit a sublime strike on the half volley which looped over the keeper to make it 4-2 to the blues!
It was reminiscent of Pajtim Kasami versus Crystal Palace or Jamie Vardy versus Liverpool! Just for you that, Cookson/Chandler…
Not to be deterred by a red card and a two goal deficit, Rangers had M. Strudwick to thank for another foothold in the match as the Idle keeper managed to spill the ball at the striker’s feet who finished from a tight angle. It was 4-3 going into the half time interval.
With Rangers tiring, the second half was very much dominated by Idle who were passing the ball around at a canter and created several opportunities to increase their lead. Rangers showed heart and determination to keep battling however, Idle’s passing and movement was beginning to take its toll, opening up the Rangers defence with ease. The Rangers keeper was certainly their Man of the Match as he made some outstanding saves from close range to keep the score at 4-3.
Idle did eventually extend their lead with further strikes from J. Strudwick and Irving whose goals effectively put the game to bed. Irving was also denied another stone-wall penalty in the second half when he was bundled to the ground by the Rangers centre back. The referee decided it wasn’t enough to award a penalty even though this one was even more blatant than the one he wasn’t awarded against Leeds Medics two weeks ago!
Arguably the biggest talking point of the second half was the fact that Jamie Allen somehow managed to find himself in the opposition box and with time to ‘shoot’ (I use that term loosely). Some fantastic interplay between the left-back and Mitchell out on the left wing opened up the space in the box and a world class first touch was followed by the best clearance of the day…
Idle played out the game, recording a 6-3 victory and securing another important 3 points. With 6 league games to go, every game is important now with matches scheduled Saturday’s and Monday’s up to the end of April and the Division 1 trophy still all to play for.
By Jamie Allen
The Playmaker 
Posted on March 26, 2018
0