Match report: Maine Road 0 – 2 Abbey Hey

Abbey Hey’s short travel to local rivals Maine Road, resulted in a long-awaited victory for the Abbey, as they came out on top at Brantingham Road.

The first opportunity of the game for Abbey Hey came in the twelfth minute, as a long throw-in caught the Maine Road defence off guard and found Darrhyl Mason, who’s shot was struck into the side netting.

Luke Jackson almost put Abbey into the lead in the late stages of the first half, with him latching onto a long ball in behind the home teams back line. The winger fired a driven shot at goal, forcing the Maine Road goalkeeper into action to conclude an uneventful first half.

After a number of attacks down the right flank, Darrhyl Mason eventually found substitute Luke Hincks at the back post, who fired home the first goal of the game, putting Abbey Hey in the lead.

The 80th minute of the game saw disallowed goals for both teams. Maine Road were the first to have their goal chalked off, as the referee deemed a foul from their corner in which they had scored from. Then it was Abbey Hey’s turn as they replicated the same offence that had occurred moments before, and the game remained 1-0.

Five minutes later, after a great combination from the Alvarez brothers down the left-hand side of the pitch, Darrhyl Mason’s header appeared to strike the arm of the Maine Road defender, and the referee pointed to the spot.

Mason stepped up to take the penalty and slotted the ball into the bottom right of the goal, doubling the lead for Abbey Hey and taking his goal tally up to six goals in the league this season.

As the game came to a close, The Abbey found themselves with a free kick within striking distance. Rafael Alvarez fired the ball over the wall and into the post, almost rounding up a dominant second half performance from the players.

Full Time saw Abbey Hey come out as 2-0 winners against local side Maine Road, as we climb up the table and into 8th place in the North West Counties First Division South.

Our focus now lies ahead into our next game, which sees us take on Eccleshall away from home on Saturday in the Edward Case Cup fixture which was postponed in December.

Match report by Derek Fairclough