Bottesford not strong enough

Bottesford Town 1 Leeds Carnegie 3

WITH five regular first team players missing, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Bottesford Town and they fell 3-1 at home to Leeds Carnegie.

Bottesford took the game to the visitors from the start and Luke Mascall tested the keeper in the second minute.

Mark Anderson then did well to turn his defender, but his effort went straight to the Leeds keeper's arms.

Carnegie then began to come more into the game.

It was whilst the home defence were under pressure that Tim Lowe, in trying to clear his lines, put the ball into his own net in the 30th minute.

From the restart, a ball played back to the usually reliable Phil Rowland saw him try to turn Chib Chilaka, allowing the player to dispossess him and score a simple goal.

Just before the break, home keeper Adam Nicholson pulled off a fine save to deny Kyle Hawthorne a certain goal.

The second half was more of a balanced affair, but it was the visitors who got the next important goal when Andy Cooper was allowed far too much space to pick his spot in the 52nd minute.

Not to be undone, Town continued to push forward and were rewarded with a fine Craig Mitchell goal in the 75th minute.

The final quarter saw both teams create further opportunities but Bottesford were just not strong enough against a well disciplined University side.