Match Report: Cleethorpes Town 1-1 Redcar Athletic

Another draw for your Steelmen saw us concede a late equaliser against Cleethorpes, in what was a solid defensive showing from us

A long drive to Humberside saw us take on the league leaders, and it was a Cleethorpes side who, apart from a defeat to Curzon Ashton and a draw to Warrington Rylands, had won every league fixture this season.

They started the match as the stronger side, as an early bit of pressure saw a heavy back pass to Mazfari pounced on, but our keeper was able to slide in and clear the ball at the last second.

The Owls would continue to have great chances, though they couldn’t make any count, and after a flurry of throw-ins, things would start to dull down.

A free kick for the hosts would be dealt with by Bartliff, who would boot a long ball forward that very nearly allowed Louis Johnson to run through on goal.

Frustratingly though, a Cleethorpes defender would get afoot in at the last second and halt he chance before it began.

However, in the 25th minute, we would be the side to take the lead, as Louis would get the ball on the left and he would slip a pass forwards to an attacking Danni Lay, who would play a ball into the box that would be met by Owen Burns.

Owen would take a touch, turn, and lift a strike into the roof of the net in a brilliant bit of skill from the midfielder.

We would pick up form after that goal, and Oscar Fletcher would very nearly double our lead as he smacked a fierce strike off the crossbar.

Four minutes were added on at the end of the half, but outside of a wide free kick that was dealt with by the hosts, the only other thing to note would be a superb bit of skill from our goalscorer, as trapped in the corner he would squeeze himself away from two defenders, keeping the ball in the process

That would be the last thing to happen, though, and we would enter the break level

The second half started with a stream of chances from the hosts, though they couldn’t score any, and for the first 20 minutes of the half it was entirely Cleethorpes-based chances.

Their fiercest would see a free kick in a decent spot pushed behind by Mazfari, with our keeper being relatively untroubled before then in this half of the match.

We slowly found our feet as the half progressed, with a distant strike from Oscar going wide of the goal, which came just after bedlam in our box as Cleethorpes players, fans, and coaches were all adamant there was handball from one of our players.

Nothing was given, though, and we continued with the match

We would make three changes at once, with Curtis, Luke and Andrei all coming on for Oscar, Connor and Louis, and they would all help us provide more of an attacking threat

However, it would be the hosts who scored next, as chaos in our own area meant they could eventually lift a strike into the net as we were unable to clear the ball, and the scores were ultimately levelled again

We would nearly reply with a beauty though, as a JJ Bartliff strike would cannon off the crossbar, before moments later Luke Spalding would nearly bag his first as he got down the right wing, weaved away from a defender and curled a ball towards goal that just evaded the far corner

One final change would see Lewis Hawkins come on for Adam Boyes, and the last real chance would see a Cleethorpes attacker evade multiple challenges before putting his strike wide, with the full-time whistle following soon after

A 1-1 draw, another point on the board, and overall you cannot complain about that result, especially against a side like Cleethorpes

Up next is an FA Trophy match against Guisborough Town before we return to Green Lane on the 3rd of October as we host Alfreton Town

Lineups:

Redcar Athletic: Mazfari, Guru, Banks, Bartliff, Rowe, Lay (C), Smith [Spalding, 75′], Burns, Boyes [Hawkins, 85′], Fletcher [Round, 75′], Johnson [Ardelean, 75′]

Unused subs: Fewster

Cleethorpes FC: Battersby, Gallimore, Newall, Ravenhill [Ackroyd, 69′], Blunden, Foster, Fewster [Wilson, 66′], Conway (C) [Bramwell, 75′], Walker, Hey, Ainley [Hughes, 59′]

Unused subs: Braithwaite