Unicorn hold champions Colburn as Wensleydale Creamery League resumes

The Wensleydale Creamery League is back underway with the same 11 teams which competed last year back again for the 2018/19 season.

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The first weekend of games saw Catterick Garrison wallop Carperby 8-0.

Catterick were full of intent after losing 3-1 to Colburn in the Champions Cup on Wednesday.

On nine minutes Tim Holland’s corner was met by Scott Turner, who found Jenks Wright.

The keeper made a great one-handed save, only for Boyle to bundle the ball home from three yards for a Catterick lead.

Catterick new man Turner then scored a stunner when with his back to goal he rolled his man and crashed in a beauty from 12 yards.

Soon afterwards Walker calmly dispatched achance and the lead was extended to three.

After the break a great team move ended with Jonny Holmes arriving at the back post five yards out. His cross/shot found Jenks in space and he lashed home from two yards.

Jez Mortimer and Danny Bailey entered the fray with half hour to go and Jez was straight into the action minutes later. A sweeping move eventually found Jez in the right channel.

He pierced the Carperby defence with a pinpoint ball to Holland, who gathered the ball, drove into the box and fired across the keeper for a Catterick fifth.

Goal of the game was scored by Holmes. The ball came to him 25 yards out. He curled the ball away from the keeper and into the top left corner.

Chance after chance went by the post for Catterick and Steven Files had to remain concentrated when a ball got through for a one on one chance. Files stood tall and beat the ball away to preserve his clean sheet.

There was to be two more goals in the game and the 7th was to challenge goal of the day due to the possession football that was finished when Boyle threaded Jez the ball from back to front cutting out several Carperby players in the process. Jez collected and finished smartly past the keeper for a well-deserved goal.

The game was wrapped up in the last minute when Turner was sent through. Carperby legs had gone and he had two targets to square to, choosing to roll the ball to Jenks to guide home from close range.

Catterick are likely to have a tougher match next week when Mavs come to play.

Colburn’s first game in defence of their league table, kicked off in bright sunshine, down at Brompton Sports Centre.

Unicorn started the stronger and had an early chance when stand-in keeper, Josh Crisp, came out and cleared straight to Simon McGuiness, whose lob drifted wide.

A few minutes later, from a free kick down the right, McGuiness headed wide

But then Colburn came to life. Shane Parkinson cut in from the right and forced David Mutch to save down to his left.

Ten minutes in, and Tom Sweeney was brought down, as he burst into the area, and Ashley McInerney dispatched the resulting penalty past Mutch.

There followed a period of sustained Colburn pressure.

A McInerney freekick flew well over, then a Ross Drury strike from distance went narrowly wide.

Next it was Sweeney, whose persistence made a chance, but he could only fire wide across the goal – and that was to be typical of Sweeney’s day.

After half an hour, came a really contentious decision which allowed Unicorn to equalise.

Unicorn played a no-more-than hopeful ball up. Crisp came out to collect, but had the ball kicked out of his hands by Mark Sims, who subsequently scored into an empty net.

The referee, who had a good game generally, saw the incident differently. In his view, Nige Cole had knocked the ball out of his keeper’s grasp, and so the goal stood, despite sustained protests from Colburn.

Colburn picked themselves up and put together a series of chances.

Drury surged forward from defence and laid it on a plate for Sweeney, but his effort went wide. Murray then headed over from a McInerney throw in.

A rare Unicorn attack was foiled by Rory Wallace’s diligent tracking back, and then came the missed opportunity of the game – after good approach work from Cole and Drury, Sweeney’s shot from the left was heading goalwards, when Woodall inexplicably headed it over from almost on the goal line.

Just to make matters much worse, a punt upfield from Unicorn seemed to be well covered by Crisp, but he contrived to let the ball squirm through him to give Unicorn a  lead at the interval.

Two minutes after the break and Colburn were level. Another fine McInerney corner was prodded home by Cole.

For the next 20 minutes it was all Colburn. Parkinson made a good run down the right, but his cross went behind the goal.

Then Woodall cut in from the left, and crossed the ball to Sweeney, who wanted too much time and failed to get a shot in.

Next another McInerney corner caused chaos in the Unicorn defence – the ball fell to Wallace, whose shot hit the post and bounced back to Sweeney, whose follow-up was blocked.

Then another Unicorn attack nearly reaped its reward, when they had a free header from a throw-in, but it went well wide.

Murray put over a cross that drifted wide, then Hutchinson won the ball back in midfield and fed Woodall, whose rushed shot was off target.

There followed a drinks break, necessitated by a very warm afternoon.

Hammy Hamilton seized the chance to make changes, sending Craig Teasdale and Callum Henney on for Parkinson and Hutchinson.

On the resumption, a ball was played out of defence by Colburn, and Murray headed it on, but Sweeney’s shot went wide.

Unicorn made changes, packing their defence in an effort to protect the draw.

There were a couple of cheap bookings for Colburn, first to McInerney, for a late tackle, and then for Cole, for kicking the ball away at a free kick.

Colburn were still striving to find a winner, but the heat had drained the energy out of both sides, and the game finished 2-2.

The scoreline flattered Buck as Reeth were worthy of a point on a hot summer’s day at Aldbrough.

Minutes before kick off two Buck lads were frantically making patterns on the playing surface that hadn’t been cut for weeks with a couple of lawn mowers, a bizarre scene even in amateur football.

However, there were’t too many pretty patterns in the Buck’s approach play as Reeth battled hard and were the better footballing side for long spells.

Buck resorted to long, hopeful balls over the top of the Reeth back line, which all to ofter failed to fing their target.

Reeth created openings but it was Buck that took the lead on the half hour when a Luke Pearson shot was well saved by the Reeth keeper and David Addison slotted home.

In the second half Reeth peppered the Buck goal and a series of goal line headed clearances and blocks from Pearson and former Reeth player Darren Smith, as well as an inspired performance from Buck keeper Liam Ryan kept Reeth from registering.

Player manager Pearson, who was playing his first full game for 2 years after serious injury put the game to bed on 75 minutes with a cool first touch and finish after being played in by Danny Allen.