Terling Villa returned to winning ways coming from behind to see off a hard fought battle with Bell United.
Terling started the game well with Tristan Woolfenden letting of an early strike which Utd keeper, Eddie Coomber, did well to tip wide for an early corner. Villa continued to dominate until they failed to clear a long ball into the box which Kev Wells duly volleyed past keeper Gavin Woolfenden to give the home side an early lead.
It wasn't long before Villa were back level. A neat ball into the feet of Woolfenden from midfield saw the striker lay captain Rik Cridland in the clear, who dispatched the opportunity with venom into the top right hand corner. It could have been 2 for Cridland only moments later, a deep cross from David Cornwell found the 50p head of Cridland, who somehow managed to put it wide of the far post! This wasn't the miss of the game however....more on that to follow...!
Half time came and went with Villa looking to come out on top and claim an early goal, and their wishes soon came true when striker Tristan Woolfenden raced clear, his shot saved by keeper Coomber in the Utd goal, however James Alliston was on hand to claim a tap in for his 17th league goal of the season.
Onto the miss of the game (or season!), a delightful through ball for striker Woolfenden and a burst of pace saw him round the Utd keeper, with an open goal at his mercy, he somehow managed to pass the ball past the far post, rather that into the empty net! Cries of "you're s*** and you know you are" were roaring from the crowd, with Woolfenden wishing the ground could swallow him alive!
Thankfully Villa managed to hold on and the miss did not prove costly. A tremendous display of fight and passion saw Villa over the line to remain on top of the league with 3 games to go, and a title win firmly in their own hands.
After the game, keeper Gavin Woolfenden has this to say of his brothers open goal miss "well i'm not being funny, but a dog with three legs could have scored that, it's got to be the worst miss I've ever seen! Can you believe this guy is the top scorer in the BNESL league right now? What a joke! Ronaldo of the BNESL they call him, more like Eeyore!! What a donkey!!"
He further added "I had another great game, second match in a row that I've won the MOM award. If I don't win players player of the year then that's it, i'm off next season to a club where i'm appreciated. Every point this team has won this season has been because of my saves. Might as well call us a one man team!!"
Skipper Rik Cridland added "I was having a good game up til my injury, the best I've played for a long time. You wouldn't believe i'm a northern boy would ya? Pulling up with a hammy injury in the 57th minute. Clearly my northern tough boy genes have gone missing, I just couldn't carry on".
Villa are away to New Street Saints at Bramston Sports Centre in Witham on Sunday, looking to pick up maximum points before their two league title showdown matches with Witham Galacticos and Valley Green.
