Entrance = £2
Programme = £1
Tea (x2) = £2
Total = £5
All roads lead to Olivers Mount for me (on occasion at least), as I seem to be drawn back here by some greater footballing force. I haven’t had the chance to see a game here this year, so took advantage of this Under-19 fixture under floodlights, and sandwiched in between a couple of Liverpool games. Surprisingly, this wasn’t free, and I parted with £2 entry plus £1 for a programme. The friendly woman on the turnstile-cum-portakabin apologised that there the rather thin programme was £1 this evening – apparently this was because of the lack of a 50-50 tote/draw this evening. Not a problem as I have no truck with any funds going back to this great local club.
On the pitch, this game pitted 5th-placed Handsworth against 7th-placed Buxton, with the early league looking close (mainly due to the fact that only 11 teams participate, and most have played only 4-5 games thus far). This encounter belied the two places between the clubs, with Handsworth – to be frank – running amok and bossing the game throughout. In my notes from the first half, I didn’t record a single decent attempt from Buxton, with Handsworth easily over-running their Derbyshire opponents. As usual, their game was full of pace, with Kyle Lilley lively on the left wing, and James Dawes (at number 9) looking Rooney-esque in his swift decisive attacks. The latter forced a save from the keeper’s legs, whilst even the full-backs (Blakemore on the right, Dacre on the left) had opportunities to open the scoring. How Handsworth weren’t in front by half-time was a mystery – Phillips did have the ball in the net after a fast move involving Safi, and Dawes hit a volley over from close range. Goalless at the break, but Buxton were being ‘thrashed nil-nil’.
I wondered if Buxton could do anything to stop the home side, and for a time in the second-half, it seemed they might frustrate the Ambers. First, Dawes had another shot – this time scooped over the bar – then, a Buxton player registered a superb shot on target heading for the top corner, well-saved by Jones. Dawes fired another shot wide, before Buxton’s 11 had a free-kick blocked on the edge of the box. Just when it seemed as if this would end in a frustrating stalemate, on 66 minutes, Blakemore headed in from close range in what looked like a possible own-goal. As is so often the case, it took a less than classy goal to open the floodgates. After that it was one-way traffic. Beaumont doubled the home lead shortly after, converting a great assist from Lilley, before Dawes set up number 16 (I think it was Carroll) to make it 3-0. By complete coincidence, the goal came on 9.16, having involved an assist from 9 to 16! The Ambers rounded off the evening with a headed goal from one of their defenders, and a long-overdue goal for Dawes, who dummied and shimmied his way to create space for a shot. Late on Buxton’s 10 forced a save from Jones in the home goal, but it was too little too late. Handsworth had deservedly won a game they had dominated. Good luck to them with this league – on this performance, they should be up there at the business end of the season.
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