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Aaron Jarvis

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L L

 

Southport (H) 18.8.26

The Pitmen remain winless and pointless at the start of the new season as they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a late defensive capitulation against Scarborough Athletic at Keys Park

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Despite having been handed some harsh lessons by Merthyr Town on the opening day of the season last weekend, manager Kelvin Davis surprised many of the home supporters by naming an unchanged XI from the side that had started in South Wales. Ahkeem Rose, Jamie Morgan, Joel Taylor and George Williams were all still unavailable for selection with a variety of short-and-mid-term injury issues

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Scarborough had also been beaten on the opening day of the season, having been edged out 1-0 by the much-fancied South Shields at Scarborough Sports Village. Manager Jonathan Greening also decided to stick with the side that had started last week's game and elected not to make any knee-jerk reactions to a narrow defeat

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It was another glorious summer's day in South Staffordshire, with the emerald green Keys Park pitch looking absolutely perfect in the bright sunshine. Both sides were heavily backed, with over 2,500 fans in attendance. As had been the case at Pennydarren Park last weekend, the fans didn't have to wait long for the first goal of what would be a busy afternoon as Scarborough took full advantage of the home side's early-season defensive woes. A long kick forward from goalkeeper Ryan Whitley was headed away by Aaron Hayden but only as far as Alex Brown - his ball over the top caught George Langston and Hayden napping, which allowed the diminutive Luke Hall to nip in and fire a rising shot into the net from sixteen yards out that beat Sam Hornby convincingly

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​It was proving to be yet another sluggish start from the Pitmen, who couldn't find any rhythm in the opening ten minutes of the game as Scarborough dominated possession and looked to play the sprightly Hall and Mo Fadera into the acres of space in behind the full-backs at every opportunity. On eight minutes, Fadera's pace caused Niall Maher problems as he entered the penalty area on the right, only for Aaron Hayden to finally make the block tackle and clear

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The Pitmen's first real spell of bright play came on fourteen minutes as some neat football from Lenni Cirino on the left saw him run into space and play Jamie Cook through on goal, only for the forward to have his pocket picked at the last moment by some good covering defending from Jack Waldron

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The Pitmen were forced into the game's first substitution of the afternoon on nineteen minutes as Maher came off worst in a challenge with Fadera and was forced off the pitch after a bout of treatment; he was replaced on the left side of central defence by Aaron Harper-Bailey

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Fadera's pace continued to give the jittery and unconvincing Hednesford back three issues, with the former York City striker racing onto another ball over the top from Lewis Maloney on twenty-two minutes that put him clear of the Hednesford back line, only for Hornby to do brilliantly to divert Fadera's shot away from goal with his legs as he rushed out of his goal to meet the youngster

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Another direct ball forward, this time from Whitley on twenty-nine minutes, played Levi Colville in on goal as the Pitmen were caught ball-watching once more, with Langston eventually just about doing enough to put the midfielder off and shepherd him out of play

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The home side dragged themselves back into the game with the award of a penalty kick on thirty-two minutes; a neat passage of play down the right saw Dylan Mottley-Henry play Cooke into space in behind the Scarborough defence do well, crossing deep to the far post and into the path of the incoming Cirino, who was brought down by a tackle on him from young right-back Waldron before the ex-Gillingham man could get his shot away. Referee Mr Claussen took a look at the incident and awarded the Pitmen a penalty kick, a decision that incensed the travelling fans behind the goal who had felt that Cirino had gone down a little too easily. Nevertheless, Sterling-James stepped up and produced a cool and calm spot-kick to send Whitley the wrong way from twelve yards out to equalise

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Despite this, it was still Scarborough that were doing most of the running, with Fadera making a wonderful run down the right on thirty-seven minutes as he left Mottley-Henry in his wake before bundling his shot past Hornby from an angle, only to be denied by a goal-line clearance from the covering Liam Kinsella

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With half-time approaching, Colville went close for the Seadogs once again as they worked the ball well into the penalty area from the right, with the former Bradford City winger firing inches over Hornby's crossbar with a rising shot under pressure from Hayden

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In the fourth minute of added time, Sterling-James picked up a yellow card from Mr Claussen for a perceived high boot on Brown as the pair challenged for a bouncing ball in midfield

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The hosts will have been a little relieved to be going in at the break on level terms, having been a solid second best for most of the first period against another sharp, fit and energetic side that will probably have been a little miffed at not being ahead going into the second half with a host of good chances throughout the first period

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However, Davis's half-time words seemed to inspire his side as they came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half and took the lead for the first time this season just a couple of minutes in; Lewis Maloney brought Cirino down in midfield and picked up the game's first yellow card for doing so; Dale Gorman resultant freekick into the box was headed on by the hard-working Jarvis to Cooke, who nodded past Whitley and into the net via a touch off the base of the right-hand post

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​This finally seemed to spark something within the Pitmen's ranks, as they enjoyed a fine period of possession and pressure that forced Scarborough onto the back foot for the first time in the afternoon. On fifty-four minutes, Cooke did brilliantly to take the ball down the right flank after a ball to him from Mottley-Henry, crossing to the far post to Jarvis who saw his header at goal blocked by Maloney

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Scarborough made their first changes of the afternoon shortly before the hour mark as giant defender Jake Hull came on in place of the booked Maloney and Rio Allan replaced Waldron 

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Three minutes later, the Pitmen responded with an attacking change of their own as Jay Fitzmartin came on in place of Mottley-Henry, who in truth had once again flattered to deceive on the right flank

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Fitzmartin made an immediate impact down the right within sixty seconds of coming on, taking the ball past Keran Weledji and playing Jarvis through with a slide-rule pass. However, Jarvis delayed his initial shot and allowed Alex Purver-Hannan to make the interception on the edge of the box

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Referee Mr Claussen further incensed the away fans by awarding the Pitmen a second penalty of the afternoon on sixty-seven minutes; Fitzmartin jinked his way into the box and past Brown, who dangled out a leg and sent the substitute tumbling to the deck. Mr Claussen took a long, hard look at the incident but pointed the spot once more, despite the protests of the men in red. Sterling-James once again came up trumps with another one of his smooth and well-placed penalty kicks, sending Whitley the wrong way to make it 3-1

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Two minutes later, a corner for Scarborough on the right was whipped in by Colville and met by the head of Weledji at the far post, but Hornby was equal to it as the header lacked any real power or direction

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The visitors reduced the deficit on seventy-three minutes as a free-kick into the box from the left by Lewis Hall struck the hand of Langston as he looked to clear his lines, with Mr Claussen pointing straight to the penalty spot without hesitation. Substitute Allan stepped up and clipped his penalty straight down the centre, sending Hornby to his left in the process and into the unguarded net

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Before the hosts could restart play, Davis elected to start taking off his star performers one by one - first off was Cooke, who was replaced by recent signing Will Merry

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Hull picked up the game's third yellow card of the afternoon with fifteen minutes of play remaining as he was booked for a clumsy and late challenge on Cirino just to the left of the Scarborough penalty area

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With eleven minutes remaining and the Pitmen seemingly sinking further and further into their own third of the pitch, Davis made the highly questionable decision to take off the experienced duo Jarvis and Sterling-James at the same time, bringing on the inexperienced pair of David Abimbola and Jai Curran-Nicholls in their places

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Scarborough made their third change of the afternoon with ten minutes of play left as former Guiseley midfielder Dom Tear replaced Wiles in the centre of the park

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The momentum had very much now swung Scarborough's way, with the Pitmen struggling to cope with the movement down each flank from the Seadogs. On eighty-three minutes, Fadera's pace was once again too hot for Harper-Bailey on the Seadogs' right, with the striker's ball across goal a little too meaty for the incoming Weledji to convert at the far post

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The Pitmen's defensive shortcomings were exposed once more, however, as Scarborough deservedly drew level once more on eighty-seven minutes; another deep corner from Colville was met by the 6ft 7" figure of Hull at the near post, with the substitute looping his effort beyond Hornby and the bedraggled Hednesford defenders as they looked to keep the ball out of the net

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The game took another rapid turn as we headed into added time as Scarborough were reduced to ten men; Obimbola's powerful run down the left saw him hold off the attentions of Hull, who resorted to the desperation tactic of hauling the teenager down to the left of the Reds' penalty area. Mr Claussen had little choice but to show the substitute another yellow card, sending him off for a second bookable offence

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Gorman's resultant free-kick into the box was knocked down by Hayden to Obimbola, whose toe-poke ended up in the back of the net, only for the youngster's celebrations to be cut short as Mr Claussen pulled play back after allowing Michael Duckworth to come on in place of Hall before Gorman could take the kick

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Gorman tried his luck with a free-kick from a yard or so outside the Scarborough penalty area in the fourth minute of added time, curling his effort over the wall but narrowly over Whitely's crossbar in the process

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With the game deep, deep into added time and Scarborough pressing, Gorman blotted his copybook with a ridiculous moment of ill-discipline as, rather than jockeying Fadrea into space, he chose to dive in on the striker and foul him as he took the ball to the byeline, giving Mr Claussen his fourth penalty decision of the afternoon as he pointed to the spot once more. Allan stepped up again and hit his effort at a comfortable height for Hornby, who made a superb save down to his right. However, the former Walsall stopper could not get enough on the ball to divert it away from the incoming Allan, who turned the rebound home at the second attempt with the winner

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A sicking late blow for the hosts and their supporters, having led comfortably going into the final fifteen minutes before spectacularly capitulating defensively and allowing Scarough a route back into the game. Two games in, and there are many questioning Davis's insistence on playing with a three-man defence and two attack-minded wing-backs, which appear to be exposing too much space behind them for teams to run freely into and create chances. This is exacerbated by some extremely poor individual displays from some of the defenders, who at present are looking uncertain, jittery and lacking in communication across the back line. Davis will not have much in the way of time to address these issues before Southpost come to town on Tuesday night, in what will be the first meeting between the two sides in over a quarter of a century

Hednesford Town: Hornby, Langston, Hayden, Cooke (Merry 73), Gorman ©, Jarvis (Abimbola 79), Sterling-James ▆ (Curran-Nicholls 79), Mottley-Henry (Fitzmartin 62), Kinsella, Cirino, Maher (Harper-Bailey 19)     Subs unused: Parke, Sharples

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Scarborough Athletic: Whitley, Weledji, Maloney ▆ (Hull 59 ▆▆ (90)), Thornton, Purver-Hannan, Hall (Duckworth 90), Colville, Wiles (Tear 80), Fadera, Brown, Waldron (Allan 59)      Subs unused: Stuttard

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