Litchfield, Howarth and South were on target to continue Hallam’s unbeaten start to the season on a very warm bank holiday Monday fixture.
Craig Denton made one change from his side’s one-all draw against Bradford (Park Avenue) with Jamie Sharman replacing Paulo Aguas, meaning captain Danny South lead the line to begin the game.
And after a quarter of an hour on the clock, Hallam opened the scoring, Brodie Litchfield once again scoring at Sandygate. Benni Ndlovu raced through on goal and squared it to Litchfield, who, on the slide, opened his league account to take the Countrymen ahead.
But less than three minutes later, Blyth Town equalised through a tidy finish from Marcus Giles, on the turn from a deep free kick.
A few minutes after, Hallam were nearly gifted an opportunity to go ahead when Town’s goalkeeper Neil de Jesus’s miskick fell straight to South, who unfortunately could not bring it under control. With the next half an hour offering little-to-no goalmouth action, the first half ended level at one-apiece.
And the start of the second half started as the last one ended, with both sides struggling to create anything clear-cut. Blyth Town had a chance to break, but the attack was thwarted through the middle, and substitute Aguas shot over from close range after finding a pocket of space in the box.
After 70 minutes, the Countrymen had their greatest chance to go ahead again in the game when Litchfield’s effort from range was saved but poorly parried straight into the path of midfielder Charlie Staniland. His first-time effort, however, was well saved by de Jesus, making up for his previous error.
But with ten to go, Hallam finally retook the lead! After captain Joseph Gibson was adjudged to have handled in the box, Leon Howarth, off the bench, stepped up and slotted it home to make it 2-1 late into the game.
And Hallam capped the afternoon off with a third with just a few minutes to go of normal time. Jack Brownell’s perfect corner was met in the middle by South, who’s towering header looped over the goalkeeper to double the advantage.
Blyth Town had a chance to halve the deficit when their forward luckily got through an outrushing Hugo Warhurst, but man of the match Keenan Ferguson was there to sweep up and stop the attack, meaning the game ended 3-1 to Hallam, their first win of the season!
Denton and his men now focus on Sunday’s game against Ashton United in the FA Cup, hoping to make it another win in the competition at Sandygate!
| MATCH STATS | ||||||
| No. | Name | Goals | Assists | Yellows | Reds | Sub |
| 1 | Hugo Warhurst | |||||
| 2 | Jack Brownell | 86’ | ||||
| 3 | Stephen Brogan | |||||
| 4 | Keenan Ferguson | |||||
| 5 | Danny South (C) | 86’ | ||||
| 6 | Brandon Bradbury | 61’ | ||||
| 7 | Mason Warren | |||||
| 8 | Charlie Staniland | |||||
| 11 | Benni Ndlovu | 15’ | 46’ | |||
| 17 | Jamie Sharman | 62’ | ||||
| 19 | Brodie Litchfield | 15’ | 86’ | |||
| SUBSTITUTES | ||||||
| 14 | Paulo Aguas | 46’ | ||||
| 15 | Calum Ward | |||||
| 16 | Leon Howarth | 79’(p) | 62’ | |||
| 18 | Harrison Poulter | 86’ | ||||
| 20 | Janni Lipka | 61’ | ||||
| STARTING FORMATION (4231) | |||||
| 1. Warhurst | |||||
| 2. Brownell | 4. Ferguson | 17. Sharman | 3. Brogan | ||
| 8. Staniland | 7. Warren | ||||
| 11. Ndlovu | 6. Bradbury | 19. Litchfield | |||
| 5. South (C) | |||||
MOTM – Keenan Ferguson
Attendance – 826
Referee – Dominic Jackson
Watch the highlights here!
Photo Credits – Ian Manewell (@ianthemaneman on X)
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