Farsley C 1 Histon 3

26 December 2007

Manager John Deacey gave debut to new signing Mark Hotte in the centre of defence and Craig Bentham in the centre of midfield. He also reverted to a 4-4-2 formation which saw Damian Reeves start up front with Simeon Bambrook. Farsley set off well with most of the possession and when Amjad Iqbal was tripped in the box Stephen Downes fired the Celts ahead. They had chances to increase the lead but Reeves was unable to convert. After 23 minutes Farsley's defence gave Knight Percival a free header from a corner which he gleefully accepted. A minute later Hotte was turned inside out by Wright whose cross was tapped in by Anthony Murray. Farsley had several chances to equalise but Reeves and Iqbal were wasteful. Iqbal was cautioned on 35 minutes for a tackle where he clearly won the ball.

In the second half Reeves continued to have chances but could still not convert. Lee Tuck was introduced to add some pace up front. After 70 minutes Iqbal saw yellow for a second time and was sent off. Deacey tried to get an equaliser by throwing on striker Steve Torpey for defender Ryan Serrant, but with 10 minutes remaining the Farsley defence froze claiming offside. The linesman waved play on and Murray scored his second of the afternoon. It should have been 4-1 minutes later when Histon were clean through on the Farsley goal but keeper Tom Morgan won the one on one. Farsley must be very disappointed coming away from a game with nothing when they should have had one or three points based on possession and chances.

Farsley C : Morgan, Downes, Hotte, McNiven, Serrant, Knowles, Bentham, Iqbal, Stamer, Bambrook, Reeves.

Subs : Grant, Allanson, Tuck, Krief, Torpey.