Louth Town 5 - 1 Athersley Recreation: Rec lose at Louth

Rec were punished for a penalty miss, looking to level the score before succumbing to a 5-1 defeat to Louth Town at The Welton Group Stadium.

Words By Ben Swain

Nathan Perks had a chance to make it three goals from three in the NCEL Division One and bring Rec level for a second time on Saturday evening with the scoreline at 2-1 but he was denied by Lait.

Carter Tingle had equalised earlier, benefitting from a deflected shot landing at his feet, recovering the deficit from Harry Jacklin’s opener.

Alfie Usher recovered the hosts’ lead. After Perks’ miss, Louth put a comeback beyond reach thanks to Adam Millson, Jack Barlow and Ethan Fretwell.

Four changes were made from the defeat suffered late on to Ilkley Town. Brad Green returned to the first-team as well as Jacob Morton’s suspension being completed. Luke Micklethwaite and James Woodhouse completed the alterations.

There was a thirty-minute delay to kick-off due to the bus, bringing Rec’s players, breaking down an hour before Louth.

The ball was travelling quickly from back to front from both teams, something which Rec, whilst looking isolated upfront in the early moments, looked comfortable dealing with defensively.

That was until both Nathan Perks and Luke Moorhouse misjudged the flight of the ball over them, requiring Levi Owen into a reaction save, one-on-one. Louth’s Bailey Wright ran beyond the defenders and laced the shot toward Owen which the ‘keeper got his right palm in the way of before smothering the ball to deny any follow-up.

The hosts’ lead came three minutes later and a deep free-kick aimed to the back post was diverted across the face of goal. With no interception, Harry Jacklin benefitted from a bouncing ball to smash in.

Rec’s equaliser ten minutes later followed a period of contained possession inside Louth’s half, a deflected shot running into Tingle’s path to finish from inside the box. A combination on Rec’s left opened up space for Morton to cut inside and shoot from the edge of the box, the ball deflecting off the defender attempting to block the shot, the ball spinning straight to Tingle running to goal and finishing from close in.

Rec failing to clear another cross led to Alfie Usher finishing at the back post to recover Louth’s lead. A drilled cross from left to right ran all the way across the face of Owen’s goal with Usher on the end to be able to pass into goal.

Tingle was given a huge opportunity of his own to again level after a mistake from Alex Lait in goal was followed by Tingle chasing a loose ball towards an open goal. The ball’s angle of approach took Tingle wide of the left-hand post and allowed a covering defender to tempt the forward to rather square the ball to Woodhouse, Lait now back in goal to save Woody’s first-time shot.

Kept at distance or on an angle, Louth hit the woodwork twice before the break. First, Owen got across his goal line and looked to have his net covered as the shot from outside of the box skimmed the post.

Then Jacklin, outside the left of Rec’s box, connected with the face of the bar, clean enough for the ball to stay in bounds, continuing wide right. The ball’s worked to the edge of the box for Adam Millson running to goal, possibly too quick to control his half-volley enough to keep it under the bar.

There’s better connection between Rec’s frontline after half-time, through pair Durkin and Tingle, the former flicking the ball on with Tingle the first to anticipate it. However, he’s heading away from goal when he entered Durkin’s space on the right so his shot is on the half-turn, on the half-volley and into the near side netting.

It’s the same strategy by Rec after the break but the change of position for Moorhouse, moving forward into midfield, compounded by substitute Mills’ intensity against the Louth defenders was awarding Rec a lot more second-balls higher up the pitch.

And it paid dividends, so it seemed, when Woodhouse was sent chasing a through ball into Lait’s box, Woody poking the ball to his right before being brought down by Lait for a penalty.

Nathan Perks would look for his third goal in three games but for Lait’s diving save to the ‘keeper’s right, pushing the ball away.

Louth would thereafter, in the final fifteen minutes, drag the result away from a Rec comeback with three further strikes.

Millson headed in following a corner on seventy-six minutes before Jack Barlow struck from distance.

Rec’s Bailey Wright’s injection again added energy. Faced by a hoard of bodies from the hosts defending their own box, Wright still looked for a route to goal and planned his road round. Venturing left, he passed two before seemingly having got as far as he could before a step-over to his left preceeded a change of direction toward goal. He could even cross onto the head of Jenkinson who could direct to goal but it lacked enough power to threaten.

The final effort from Louth came via Ethan Fretwell and a deflection which helped his volley into goal as the final monument of the match.

Rec return home on Tuesday night, 25th February with Maltby Main the visitors to Sheerien Park in the NCEL Division One.