George Brimson, Henry Muggeridge and Ashley Kington.
Town well beaten by promotion hopefuls
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
2:46 PM
Clevedon Town were well beaten by play-off hopefuls North Leigh at the Hand Stadium.
CLEVEDON Town entertained Evo-Stik Southern League play-off hopefuls North Leigh on a heavy pitch and were well beaten 3-0.
North Leigh started the stronger team, adapting to the wet conditions better than their hosts, and testing the Clevedon defence on several occasions.
They took the lead in the 19th minute when captain Stuart Hole confidently converted a penalty awarded against Rhymel Henderson-Hudson for handball. North Leigh continued to push forward and Clevedon keeper Jason Mellor saved well from Morgan Williams.
The Seasiders, having weathered the storm, then created a couple of chances of their own when first Matt Thorne had a shot blocked on the line and then skipper Ashley Kington went close.
North Leigh responded positively through Elliott Osbourne- Ricketts whose dipping shot was tipped over the bar by Mellor at full stretch and then a curling effort from Michael Hopkins sailed just wide of the post.
The second period had only just started when North Leigh went 2-0 up. Osbourne-Ricketts made a powerful surge from the halfway line and slipped the ball into Williams who beat Mellor with an excellent finish.
Johnny Moss had a chance to reduce the arrears, but shot straight at keeper Sam Warren. Williams should then have made it three for North Leigh but skewed his shot wide of the target and Hopkins was also denied by a good save from Mellor.
The third goal came soon after when dead ball specialist Hole scored his second of the game with a free kick from the edge of the box.
Several Clevedon players were clearly struggling with the heavy conditions and suffering from having played 120 minutes against Thatcham three days earlier.
Manager Micky Bell made three quick substitutions to freshen things up and one of the replacements, Cameron Brown, went desperately close to scoring a consolation goal for the Seasiders.
But that was the last of the meaningful action and soon after the referee blew the final whistle to confirm a well deserved 3-0 victory for North Leigh.
n Town have qualified for the semi-finals of the Red Insure Cup after beating Thatcham Town 4-1.
Micky Bell’s side got through after extra time, with goals coming from Jonnny Moss (2), Matt Fisher and Reeko Best.
