Great Yarmouth Town v Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers.
Wednesday 4th October 2023. Report by Martin Baxter.
On a mild autumn evening the Bloaters hosted Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers in another very tough looking match, the latest in a recent run of very challenging fixtures.
The reverse game in late August between these 2 sides ended in a 2-1 victory to Yarmouth, however they were made to fight every inch of the way for the 3 points on the night.
The home side made only 1 change from Saturday’s narrow defeat at Harwich with Ling replacing the injured Lane between the sticks.
This match started slowly and it was not until the 9th minute that any notable action really happened, when Fenn had a strike at goal from 15 yards out that went wide and 5 minutes later the same player had another shot from a similar position which was dealt with comfortably by the Rovers keeper Pauling.
Yarmouth were at this point looking the better side and were bossing the midfield areas without being able to create any real clear cut chances and Rovers who had started slowly were now beginning to get a foothold into the game and their number 7 Fisher was causing real problems with his very long throw-ins and also his set pieces from corners and free kicks which he aimed into the Yarmouth box.
It was following one of these long throw-ins that Rovers took the lead on 38 minutes when Wells smashed an unstoppable volley into the net from 8 yards out to make it 1-0, however the Bloaters responded well to this setback and 2 minutes later Sanders hit the post following a counter attack with a strike from 10 yards out, however in the resulting scramble to clear the rebounding ball the referee spotted a foul in the box and awarded the home side a penalty, which the ever reliable Couzens converted to make it 1-1.
This match was now end to end with both sides fully committed and Rovers almost re-took the lead in the 40th minute when a superb volley from Bourner from 20 yards out came back off the post before somehow rebounding back into the relived arms of Yarmouth keeper Ling and just before half-time it was the Bloaters turn to hit the woodwork again, this time with an Adams header that grazed against the crossbar following a corner.
Half-time: Great Yarmouth Town 1 Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers 1.
The 2nd period began and the first opportunity fell to the away side when goal scorer Wells attempted to double his tally with a long range effort that went wide and then 2 minutes later following an altercation between Fenn and a Rovers player the young Bloater who was already on a yellow card was taken off and replaced by Ford, and this was a very sensible move by the Yarmouth management as the last thing they needed was to go down to 10 men with the game so finely poised at 1-1.
The match then entered a scrappy period with neither side being able to get on top and on the hour mark that man Wells again almost scored his 2nd goal of the night, but his shot from long range just missed the target and Fisher was still causing problems with his throw-ins into the Yarmouth box and keeper Ling then made 2 very good saves from ex bloater Hagan in the space of 2 minutes to deny him the opportunity to come back and haunt his old club.
Yarmouth then made changes for the final 15 minutes with Cantwell, Cork and Perry all coming on to bring some much needed fresh legs onto the pitch and in the 80th minute Sanders had a header from close range that went straight into the arms of Rovers keeper Pauling, however in the 84th minute and ironically from a long throw-in from Ford into the Rovers box Adams sent the ball into the back of the net with a very clever and perfectly executed glancing header with the back of his head to make it 2-1.
Rovers then pushed for an equaliser, however Yarmouth held firm and came away with the 3 points that sent them up into the top 4.
Full Time: Great Yarmouth Town 2 Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers 1.
GYTFC: Ling, Halliday, Duffield, Wilson-Towns, Philpott, Adams, Barber, Couzens, Sanders, Belmar, Fenn. Subs: Ford, Cantwell, French, Cork, Perry.
Joint Man of the match: Brandon Ling & Charlie Barber.
