Wibsey 1 Steeton AFC 9

STEETON made the most of their unexpected home advantage on Saturday as they crushed Wibsey 9-1 at Summerhill Lane in the West Riding County Amateur Premier Division.

Wibsey agreed to play this match at Steeton as their own pitch was waterlogged and the hosts wasted no time in opening the scoring. Andy Briggs neatly lobbed the ball over the visiting goalkeeper after less than 60 seconds.

The lead was doubled in similar fashion by Briggs' strike partner Ben Clarkson just six minutes later. The ball had not yet been in Steeton's penalty area and the players were stroking the ball around confidently.

Skipper Michael Rhodes, Steve Pearson and Elliot Scott were so dominant at the back that goalkeeper Joe Mash remained a virtual spectator throughout the first half.

Midfielders Jonah Smith, Ben Richardson, Andy Holden, Toby Jeffrey and Tim Hird outsmarted the opposition and pushed the ball forward constantly but the third goal did not come until the 25th minute.

Some smart work down the left from Richardson ended with a cross finding Clarkson, who made no mistake in firing the ball home.

Clarkson completed his hat-trick soon after by scoring the fourth after charging down a back pass and slipping the ball into the empty net.

Eight minutes later, Clarkson controlled the ball superbly and chested it down into the path of Richardson who drilled the ball past the helpless goalkeeper.

Three minutes before the interval Briggs smashed home his second to make the half-time score 6-0.

Wibsey brought on a substitute goalkeeper for the second half and seemed to play with more confidence in the opening minutes of it.

Neither goalkeeper was tested until around 65 minutes though when Mash was called upon to push a fierce drive around the post.

On 67 minutes, Alistair Morgan replaced Scott in defence and a minute later Briggs became the second Steeton player to complete a hat-trick when he broke free down the right and fired a drive across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner.

Six minutes later, the striker grabbed his fourth goal when he poked the ball home after a scramble involving a number of players in the Wibsey penalty area.

In the meantime, Steeton manager Roy Mason replaced Clarkson with young striker Jordan Daniel, who made an impressive debut.

In the 77th minute, Briggs broke free and with only the goalkeeper to beat, he unselfishly slid the ball into the path of Richardson who squeezed the ball home from a tight angle.

After this goal, Briggs was replaced by Adam Smith who went close with a header after fine work by Daniel, but his effort was smartly saved.

Five minutes before the end, Wibsey scored a consolation goal but it did not take the shine off a fine victory which helped Steeton to climb back into third in the table behind leaders Salts, who lost to second placed Route One Rovers.

Team: Mash, Rhodes, Scott (Morgan), Hird, Pearson, Jeffrey, Holden, J. Smith, Clarkson (Daniel), Briggs (A. Smith), Richardson.