Football: Depleted Kirkbymoorside suffer (From Gazette & Herald)

Football: Depleted Kirkbymoorside suffer

3:18pm Wednesday 17th October 2012 in Sport

DEPLETED Kirkbymoorside paid the price of a sub-standard Wearside League display to crash 3-1 at home to Easington Colliery.

Player-manager Alex Strickland was struck by a flurry of unavailability leaving him with a starting 11 of which at least two players were suffering from recent knocks.

The first half was fairly even but the Moorsiders found themselves two goals down at the interval after terrible defensive errors.

The first came after 14 minutes when the ball was needlessly given away near the half-way line. Carl Winspear drove into the box passing to John Bowes to stick out a leg and divert the ball past Jordan Rivis.

The second goal, four minutes before half-time, was shambolic.

A Bowes free-kick from 40 yards out was allowed to bounce through a crowd of players and fly into the net.

Kirkby’s Sarjo Cham, Strickland and Johnny Brown had efforts well off target, while Chris Rhodes and Nathan James both tested Easington goalkeeper Kevin Winspear.

Kirkby improved after the break, netting after 55 minutes when a free-kick was headed out to James, whose mis-hit shot found Jonathon Birbeck, who turned and fired low into the corner of the net from 10 yards.

It looked as if Kirkby had levelled after 67 minutes when Brown got on the end of a Paul Hodgson free-kick with a looping header back across goal and in at the far post. But it was chalked off after Brown was deemed fractionally offside.

Rivis then produced a great save to deny Taylor and he also did well to gather a low bouncing effort from Martin Fowler.

Kirkby began to mount some pressure and another Hodgson free-kick was just slightly over-hit. In a last desperate effort, Karl Richardson was deployed as an emergency striker, but the closest Kirkby came was in the 90th minute when a Cham shot, which was going wide took a deflection from a defender and resulted in a corner.

With almost everyone pushing forward, Kirkby were caught out in the third minute of stoppage time as substitute Kris Hope raced clear from the half-way line to slot past the advancing Rivis.

The defeat followed a 4-1 loss at Boldon CA, the Moorsiders’ seventh successive away reverse this season.

Kirkby only showed glimpses of their short passing game and far too often resorted to a long ball up the middle which was either cleared or ran harmlessly through to the Boldon ’keeper.

Boldon took the lead on 10 minutes after Adam Sharp won the race with goalkeeper Dave Gardner and slipped the ball beyond him.

Kirkby’s response saw an effort from Chris Rhodes saved by Boldon ’keeper Alan Greenan’s legs.

Gardner, meanwhile, was alert three times to foil Boldon efforts.

In a second-half shuffle by Kirkby, the injured Rhodes was withdrawn and Henry Kwami moved to centre-back alongside Matty Bower.

Brown got on the end of a corner from Birbeck and headed the ball down and in with power to level the score.

But the visitors rarely posed a threat after that and Boldon strolled on to the points with goals from Davidson, Sharp and Davidson again.

This weekend sees a break from league action as Kirkby travel to York St John University for a North Riding County Cup game.

There then follows two games which really must produce a decent points haul if the Moorsiders are to have any chance of climbing the Wearside League table.

They are at bottom side Silksworth Rangers on Wednesday, October 24, and then at home to fellow strugglers Darlington Cleveland Bridge.