Kirton Town turned their attention to the cup this weekend with a tricky away tie at old leake, nearly all players were available so Kirton were able to field a strong squad and bench .Callum McDonald returned and went straight into the back four, Dean Fisher returned and was used as a substitute, even Michael Collins returned after a long injury and made his place on the bench.
The game started at a good pace, with the first few battles been won and lost in midfield, but after 10 mins it was Jamie Hall in the Kirton goal who was called into action twice, making a double save with his legs in seconds to stop old leake from taking a early lead, a few mins later he again made a smart double save close to goal as leake threatened to take to lead, but the danger after the saves was soon cleared. Kirton pressed more after this and had a couple of half chances from James Hardy and Declan Sands but they were cleared. Then on 29 mins we see the move and goal of the season for Kirton town, Richard Ford as ever and looking more like him old self broke a attack up in his own half, he strode forward ,held off the challenges from a couple of players ,before realising James hard with a great pass, he strode forward and played a brilliant diagonal ball into space in the box, as the old leake keeper called for the ball ,but Declan Sands had nipped in and tucked a shot through the keepers legs and into the net to give Kirton a deserved lead. There was a few harsh challenges after the goal ,mostly on Kirton players , but the referee kept his cards in his pocket, Kirton had a chance to extend their lead before half time ,but the chance was over and wide ,half time score 0-1 to Kirton.
The second half started without any changes been made, and with the first few minutes of the second half ,it was Kirton who looked more likely to score, Kirton back four and especially Kurt West dealt with most things that came at them, and at the same time he weren’t afraid to venture forward to help in the attack, Marc Neal kirtons midfield maestro was always looking to dribble forward ,but this resulted in him getting a few bad challenges on himself, Tom Owens was making a nuisance of himself too on the wing , and it was after 15 mins that he brought the save of the game from the old leake keeper ,a move down leakes right , and Martin Durrant the captain found himself out wide , and with not a lot on laid a ball across the box onto the waiting Owens , he unleashed a great strike ,that looked all the way a goal before the home keeper made a brilliant diving save pushing the ball away for a Kirton corner, Tom Owens was replaced by Dean Fisher straight after this as he is lacking a bit of match fitness.10 mins later and Kirton made another substitution as Kyle Bates who got a bad knock in the box , which could have resulted in a penalty but wasn’t given, he was replaced by Reece West. Kirton were denied by two more great saves from the home keeper , who even with loosing had kept his team in the game with four or five brilliant stops, and five minutes later he nearly stopped kirtons second goal, Kurt West ran with the ball and crossed to find Reece on the edge of the box, he evaded one tackle before firing a shot at goal, the keeper got his hand to it after seeing it late ,but the ball bounced up and spun into the back of the net to give Kirton a 0-2 lead.Micheal Collins was the third substitute to come on soon after ,when Declan Sands pulled up after a challenge with a slight leg pull.Micheal did well when he came on after such a long time out and fitted in well for his few minutes back, Old Leake made a couple of substitutions and had 3 players booked , but didn’t really look like getting back into the game, as the final whistle blew, Kirton were pleased with their win , and no more so than Jamie Hall in goal who with all his injury problems had kept a rare and deserved clean sheet .................. well done Kirton Town ,looked good deserved the win, now let’s keep this form going ,Kurt West was named player of the match for the second week running.
