Ossett United 1-2 Cleethorpes Town
Northern Premier League (North-East Division)
Saturday 27th April 2024
If things had panned out differently, this defeat could have condemned Ossett United to relegation.
Instead - thanks to the brilliant 1-0 win at Hebburn Town in midweek, the pressure was off, it was all smiles, and there was something of a jovial atmosphere inside Ingfield yesterday for this end-of-season clash against Cleethorpes Town.
I’ve enjoyed watching both these teams at different points this season; Ossett to see for myself to see how Callum Hiddleston has been performing, plus Cleethorpes which has been a regular midweek haunt with them having a backlog of fixtures and playing their games mostly on Wednesday nights when it’s been a choice between either watching them or watching Coronation Street.
Needless to say I’ve not seen much of Roy Cropper lately!
As such there were lots of familiar faces involved with quite a few lads potentially playing their last games for their clubs before either leaving, returning to their parent clubs (as is the case with Harvey Tomlinson, Ben Bottomley and Max Adamson) or just going on holiday and having a relaxing summer before coming back and doing it all over again at this level next season.
I had to laugh that since Tuesday’s game where he got loads of stick from Hebburn’s ‘yoof’ element - ranging from his pink ‘keeper strip to his hairstyle, Callum Hiddleston has bowed to peer pressure and had a ‘mop chop’, but in this game he put in another good shift to underline his value - even though it wasn’t enough to prevent Cleethorpes from coming behind and grabbing the points thanks to Sam Kay’s last-minute winner.
On the whole, Clee Town were the better team and the scoreline was a fair outcome.
In the first half, the visitors looked alright and played as well as I’ve seen at any point in their general play, without particularly finding that cutting edge or killer instinct in front of goal. They had more possession but struggled to convert territory into chances - Harvey Tomlinson was probably the liveliest player in a red shirt and he had a couple of efforts which were routine and easily dealt with by Callum Hiddleston, as well as stubbing his foot on the ground when he went to let fly with another effort.
Ossett’s No.1 again showed his capabilities with clean-catching, good handling (including grabbing this ball from a corner), strong communication and coping well under pressure when being closed down and even had a coming together with Josh Walker which led to a bit of needle between the pair for the remainder of the game.
Ben Bottomley up at the other end didn’t have much to do in goal for Cleethorpes and with a proper ‘lull’ in the game occurring as the half-time break approached, it seemed like a typical end of season game that might finish 0-0.
Thankfully, the second half did get a bit better and not long after the re-start, Ossett struck first as Sam Tingle found space and beat Ben Bottomley with a low drive. A shame for Botts not to get another clean-sheet but he can draw confidence in the fact this has been a good loan for him, he had big shoes to fill when he replaced Heath Richardson, yet with four clean-sheets in seven appearances, he’s given a good account of himself and what he can do - and he ticks the box for another good, young ‘keeper in this area who can do a good job at this level.
Had the circumstances been different, there might have been a few folk chomping ferociously on their fingernails and willing Ossett to hold onto the lead to avoid relegation at this point.
Instead, there was more of a competition in the Cleethorpes Town team with a few lads all vying to be top scorer for the season - and on 75 minutes, they leveled things up when Alex Flett was afforded the space for a run, got to the edge of the box and unleashed a well-struck low drive that just went beyond the dive of Callum Hiddleston and into the bottom corner.
Again, a shame that Callum couldn’t finish the season with a clean-sheet (one of those things) but the confidence he’s regained, plaudits he’s received and performances he’s put in since being at Ossett are all reasons why I rate him and he’s another ‘keeper with so much to feel proud about right now.
At 1-1, it wasn’t quite over because in the latter stages Ossett began to drop back deeper and deeper to the point where they struggled to get out of their own half. It looked as if they’d run out of steam. It invited pressure and in the last minute of normal-time, Sam Kay - probably one of Clee’s shrewdest pieces of recruitment when they picked him up from Tadcaster Albion a couple of months ago, hooked the ball into the net from a yard out to give the Owls three points!
The result doesn’t affect the table too much but there were a few smiles in the clubhouse at full-time when news came through that Brighouse Town (sinking like a ship in recent weeks) finished in the bottom two?
Will they actually be relegated or will they get a reprieve given the vast number of teams at Step 3 and 4 who’ve either folded, gone bust or accepted voluntary relegation? That remains to be seen and, personally, I think they’ll get a reprieve but it was good to see that Bridlington Town stayed up because it's always a good away trip.
As for Ossett and Cleethorpes then Ossett end the season in 16th; Cleethorpes in 9th - and nine points outside the play-offs which will be contested between Stockton Town, Dunston, Pontefract Collieries and Carlton Town.
And at the very top of the table, Hebburn Town’s 3-0 win at Sheffield (which sounds more comfortable than it actually was because it was 0-0 until past the hour mark) means they’re champions and get to celebrate at last having experienced a nerve-jangling rollercoaster juggernaut of emotions in the past week.
My season isn’t quite done yet as I’ll find a few more games to go to, but to all the lads mentioned above who are out-of-contract this summer, good luck with things and I look forward to seeing you play football next season, wherever you end up!
