The old football cliché, a game of two halves, is no doubt the best way you could describe this clash at the Payaro stadium as Hanley Town and Clitheroe played out a 1-1 draw.
Clitheroe had the better of the first half which concluded with their danger man Sefton Gonzales scoring his 15th goal of the season. However, after the break, it was all Hanley as they threw everything forward looking for the equaliser which came just after the hour mark when right-back Jayden Cotterill got forward before slotting the ball under the legs of goalkeeper Chris Thompson.
Both sides had chances to win the game late on, but a draw was probably the fairest result in the end.
Even before Saturday, we knew there would be at least one change to Hanley’s lineup as 1st choice goalkeeper Kieran Harrison was suspended following his red card at Mossley last weekend. The club brought in former Stoke City shot stopper Dale Eve on dual registration from National League North side Hereford FC, he would go onto have a fantastic afternoon as he made two fine saves to ensure Hanley gained a point.
His first save of the afternoon came on 14 minutes when Gonzales’ flick on fell to Reece Webb-Foster who saw Eve spring across the line to push his effort away from goal. It was a chance that looked destined to hit the back of the net so, Eve did well to calmly get across his line to make the save.
It wasn’t the best 45 minutes from a Hanley perspective and, their only chance of the first half came on 26 minutes when a long ball found Louis Dodds who beat the defender to the ball before flicking it over Thompson. The home fans were expecting the effort to dip into the back of the net but, it floated just over the crossbar.
Gonzales thought he had opened the scoring on 43 minutes when the ball dropped over the Hanley defence to the forward who made no mistake in slotting the ball past Eve. However, as the forward and his teammates started to celebrate they spotted the assistant referee’s flag being raised for offside.
What separates great goal scorers from the rest of the pack is not letting those moments get them down and, that was the case for Gonzales as just two minutes later he did have the ball in the back of the net. This time he timed his run to perfection to beat the offside trap set by the Hanley defence, who seem to stop as they expected the flag to go up again. It never came and the former Droyslden forward rolled the ball past the onrushing Eve to break the deadlock.
After the break, the hosts had most, if not all, of the play as they went in search of an equaliser. The first chance saw defender Joel Stair go close as he headed a Jake Twyford corner just wide of Thompson’s goal.
The Hanley players were left feeling aggrieved that they were not awarded a penalty on 58 minutes when Shotton had his arm pulled back as he went to win the ball from another Twyford corner and, despite his appeals, the referee wasn’t moved in awarding the spot kick.
Instead, they were celebrating a well deserved equaliser just minutes later when defender Cotterill got forward from his defensive position before playing a cute one-two with Dodds, at this point the defender was inside the penalty area where he slotted the ball under the legs of Thompson to bring Hanley level. It was the defender’s first goal of the season and it could well be a crucial one in the final few months of the campaign.
With the wind in their sail, Hanley went looking for a second goal which they almost got on 70 minutes as a defensive clearance fell to top scorer Twyford, who smashed a volley just wide of Thompson’s goal. Had the effort found the net then it would have been a contender for goal of the season as he had put a lot of spin into the ball, which in the end probably took it wide of his target.
Meanwhile, Clitheroe were certainly not out of the match, especially with Gonzales on the pitch, but he was kept rather quiet by Shotton and Stair. The only time he caused any problems saw him set up Richard Baker who saw his low drive from the edge of the area well saved by the debutant goalkeeper. While Clitheroe left-back Darren Holden could have won the game with 10 minutes to go for the Lancashire side when Eve’s punched clearance fell to the defender on the edge of the area, but he smashed the effort over the crossbar.
The final chance of the game fell to Kieran Brown. He had two attempts to score as his first shot from the edge of the area was blocked by Billy Priestley. The rebound fell to him which he put wide of the goal and, with that Hanley’s chances of winning their first home league game of the season went. However, they will be pleased with a point and the performance against a side pushing for the playoff places.
Hanley’s next opportunity to break that hoodoo is on Tuesday night as Glossop North End are the visitors to the Payaro Stadium.
After the game, I spoke to Hanley Town player-manager Ryan Shotton to get his reaction on the game.
Hanley Town: Eve, Cotterill, Moris, Sanders (Blake, 79), J.Stair, Shotton, Turner, Twyford, Brown, Dodds (T.Stair, 74) and Walford (Jones, 74).
Unused subs: Bailey and Chale.
Clitheroe: Thompson, Hanson, Holden, Baker, Pugh, Priestley, Webb-Foster (Davenport, 64), Dent (Cane, 81), Gonzales, Wilkins, Obasoto.
Unused subs: Burrows and Russell.
