North End defeated by league newcomers Norton
North West Counties League Premier Division
Norton United 5, Glossop North End 3
Glossop visited league newcomers Norton United on Saturday full of confidence following excellent recent performances, but the bubble was quickly burst as the Hillmen found themselves 4-0 down after a mere 31 minutes and looking down the barrel of a severe embarrassment.
Norton were ahead inside three minutes as the Glossop defence failed to clear a cross from the left, leaving midfielder Rob Heath to strike past the isolated Ben Proctor.
Glossop nearly got back on level terms just before the quarter hour as new signing Harry Bockarie, having stayed up from a set-piece, found the ball at his feet but his shot produced a fine save from Norton goalkeeper Daniel Lloyd-Weston.
This was just the prelude to a frantic 12 minutes as Norton scored three times thanks to a penalty by Tom Fogg following a foul by Proctor, a fine shot under pressure by Niall Green after a defensive mistake and a beautifully struck free-kick from 25 yards by captain Richard Smith.
On the stroke of half-time a through ball by Mark Battersby found Nathan Bond free on goal, his shot eluding the onrushing Lloyd-Weston to give the scoreline a hint of respectability.
Glossop changed things around at half-time - Daley Rothwell and Dean McGregor taking to the field - as they needed a quick goal to gain some confidence, and it came within eight minutes of the re-start as Lloyd-Weston did well to save an effort from Battersby only for the ball to fall for Jake Williams who calmly slotted the ball into the unprotected net.
Then on 72 minutes the ball fell to Adam Oakes just inside the area and his trusty left foot did what was needed to make the score 4-3 to the home side.
But Norton were not about to give up and went straight down the other end where a strike worthy of winning any match was unleashed by Green giving Proctor no chance.
Still the Hillmen did not give up despite the forced substitution of the injured Battersby by returning defender Sean Hazelden. And it was Hazelden, playing in an unaccustomed forward role, who had a chance to score as a cross from the left by Oakes found him unchallenged in the box but his header just went over the bar.
Glossop: Proctor, Williams, Browne, Jones, Bockarie, Allen, Marshall (Rothwell), Oakes, Bond, Battersby (Hazelden). Connolly (McGregor (D)).
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Weather for Buxton
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
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