Unicorn beat title rivals to open up gap at top

catterick1 — Catterick Garrison Football Centre in their new kit sponsored by Hugh James Solicitors.

Unicorn opened up a gap at the top of the table on Saturday with a hard-fought win over title rivals Catterick Garrison.

A patched up Catterick side battled for 90 minutes against the Richmond team, but Unicorn’s clinical finishing ensured they took home the three points.

Liam Reeves got his first goal just before the break when the ball was cut back to him, and he found the corner from ten yards.

He then scored his second just after the interval when he nonchalantly flicked in a cross from a free-kick at the near post.

Catterick pulled a goal back through their man of the match Connor Dagnall.

Craig Teasdale flighted a lovely ball into the channel that left David Mutch in the Unicorn goal caught in two minds whether to come or not.

Dagnall closed him down and collected the ball out wide, finishing well despite a tight angle and two defenders getting back on the line.

Catterick continued to push and would have been good value for at least a draw, but suffered a blow when Teasdale was sent to the sin bin for the final ten minutes of the game for dissent.

Unicorn’s experience then allowed them to see out to the rest of the game.

Elsewhere, Carperby ran out comfortable winners despite a battling performance from Askrigg.

Carperby took the lead when Michael Dent picked the ball up inside the area, skipped past an Askrigg defender before smashing home into the bottom corner.

The second was a fortuitous goal when Luke Dent’s cross headed for the top corner and Miles Middleton in the Askrigg goal failed to adjust himself quickly enough and ended up palming it into the goal.

The third came before half time, when the ball fell to Sam Lambert on the edge of the area, and he finished into the bottom corner.

Carperby looked in complete control when Matty Bradley’s cross come shot eluded Middleton.

Askrigg kept going though and got a goal back when George Cockerell converted a penalty after an adjudged foul at a corner.

Askrigg thought they might be back in it when Jack Fawcett ran through the defence before finishing well to make it 4-2.

However, Carperby settled back down and put the game beyond any doubt when Sam Lambert beat his man before crossing for James Kelly to head home superbly on his Carperby debut.

The sixth came in the final minute when Michael Dent’s magic feet skipped around a couple of defenders and the keeper before slotting home.

Hawes moved up to second with a comfortable 8-0 win at home to Leyburn, whose young side battled hard in the first half and felt they were unlucky to be 2-0 down at the break, but were ultimately over-powered by the upper Dales side.

Tom Calvert got a hat-trick, while Jordan Iveson got two. The other goals were scored by Ben Fawcett, Luke Wilkinson and an own goal.

In the final game of the day, Spennithorne came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Richmond Town Academy.

Two goals from Oliver Wright and one from Harry Davies gave Town a solid lead, but Spenni fought back through Kalem Stanger, Jake Gamble Schofield and Richard Jarvis, who netted in the last minute of the game to ensure a share of the spoils.