Glossop succumbed to an impressive Clitheroe side, who on the night simply blew them away with a high energy performance that they had no answer to.
From the outset, the home side were in the faces of anyone not in a blue shirt, and the pressure told very early on. In the 7th minute Scott Harries crossed from the right and Michael Hampson took advantage of some defensive hesitancy to nip in front of Matt Russell and head the ball into the corner of the net. Andy Robertson had no chance.
The Hillmen almost got a stroke of luck immediately when a defensive mis-kick was nearly sliced in, but went straight to the keeper but for the most part of the first half the ball wouldn’t stick up front and the midfield was over-powered, meaning that the defence was under almost constant pressure.
Jason Carey might have pinched a goal on the break on 25 minutes when a defensive header saw him behind the back four. However he was a long way from goal, and had to shoot under pressure from the edge, and it went just wide.
Glossop would have hoped to get to half time without conceding again so that they could regroup, but that hope was dashed on 35 minutes when a ball down the right flank put Harries one-on-one with Sam Barnes on the right side. He beat Barnes for pace and slotted a lovely finish in the far corner from a tight angle.
Then on 41 minutes the home side made it three. This time Glossop North End gave the ball away in midfield and it was played to the left flank. The cross found Sefton Gonzalez in the middle, but whilst his header hit the post it bounced onto the prone Robertson and rebounded into the net. Technically it was a very unfortunate own goal.
Glossop North End made two half time changes, but created very little of note in the second half. Josh Brizzell had a free kick from 30 yards that went just wide, and Sam Barnes had a goalward header blocked by a defender with the keeper beaten, but in truth the home side looked closer to adding. Substitute Darrhyl Mason spurned a golden chance to net with his first touch for the club, but somehow put his effort wide.
The tin hat was put on the evening when Matt Russell was sent off for a second yellow card with 15 minutes left. It was a soft booking, but the referee had set the bar low with the first caution of the evening – ironically for a foul on Russell – which looked very harsh.
The Hillmen needn’t be despondent. They were simply beaten by the better side on the night, just as Clitheroe had been in a 4-1 defeat at Surrey Street in October. They retain their 3rd place position and still look a good bet to qualify for the play-offs. There’s a reasonable chance they could come across Clitheroe again then.
