As with the previous game on Saturday again Glossop got themselves a two-goal cushion but again failed to net the vital third before making things difficult for themselves. This time they had a late late winner from Kelvin Lugsden to thank for the maximum, which cut the deficit on Runcorn Linnets to 6 points with 5 games in hand.
Abbey Hey 2, Glossop North End 3
North West Counties Premier Division
Monday 6th April 2015
Match Report – Jonathan Haggart
Photographer – Jim Lockwood
It all started to plan. It was only the 3rd minute when Kieran Lugsden, who had already had a shot saved by former-Hillman Jonny McIlwaine, picked up a threaded pass through the defence, and from a tight angle blasted the goal into the net.
Lugsden was at the centre of most Glossop North End attacks. He shot over the bar in the 13th minute and just wide with a low drive in the 16th. Then Ben Richardson’s curled corner was going in until headed off the line by an Abbey defender.
North End continued to press, although Abbey weren’t chanceless, and Brandon Zibaker should have done better with a header that went wide. Still, a 1-0 lead was satisfactory for the visitors.
Initially in the second half Glossop struggled to get going, but a 55th minute sprint with the ball by Sam Grimshaw from his own half into the heart of the Abbey box brought them to life again. Grimshaw should have shot, but at least lit the GNE blue touch paper again.
Lugsden hit the ball over from a corner, but in the 57th minute the lead was doubled. A ball over the top again made use of Mark Reed’s timing and pace, and his run got him behind the defence. As McIlwaine advanced, he clipped it home.
7 minutes later he should have repeated the dose in an almost carbon copy attack, but this time McIlwaine blocked the shot with his legs, and it would be the goalkeeper who would give his side some confidence. Time after time Glossop North End put crosses into the box, but the confident keeper kept plucking them out of the air.
Then with 15 minutes left a loose Grimshaw pass in midfield allowed a speculative through ball to the penalty spot that Zibaker, with defence and keeper converging, got the slightest touch to deviate the ball past them all and it dribbled into the net.
Then suddenly, with 5 minutes left the game was level. A long throw wasn’t dealt with and was picked up by Thomas Murray at the edge of the area. He cut inside and his low shot towards the net through a crowd of bodies that looked sure to be cut out, but somehow ended up in the corner of the net.
For a few minutes Abbey looked the side most likely to win it, and the North End defence tried to come to terms with losing the lead and an opposition buoyant with the chance of a top scalp. However, as the 90th minute ticked away, another sea change was signalled by Richardson’s deep cross that hit the bar and bounced away.
North End won a couple of corners, from the second of which, in the 93rd minute, Kelvin Lugsden rose highest to nod in from short range to spark grand celebrations among the sizeable Glossop contingent. Lugsden even got away with a twirling shirt, as he was surrounded by back-slapping colleagues who hid him from the referee’s eye.
It will put some energy in the player’s legs for the gruelling schedule the NWCFL has forced them into this week when, despite the FA’s health and safety guidelines suggesting they shouldn’t, GNE will be made to play on Wednesday and Thursday.
