Eccleshall Vs Castleton Gabriels

After a convincing first win of the season over Norton, Castleton were hoping to carry on their form into the next game against Eccleshall. And the 44 strong crowd would be treated to a thrilling game, one that would finish 3-3.

Eccleshall were quick to start and even hit the post early on when the ball flew past keeper Mark Canning, fortunately the ball was cleared. But things were to get much worse for the Gabs when Eccleshall took the lead after 15 minutes. Neil Edwards received a short corner and somehow from an acute angle thundered the ball into the top corner. 1-0. Gabs were on the back foot from the start and thing’s got worse after 23 minutes. Eccleshall spotted a gap through the midfield and a ball was played to Adam Challinor who from the right shot low into the back of the net. 2-0.

Castleton needed some luck and more importantly a leader…and Steve McCann took up this responsibility. Around the 39th minute Castleton were awarded a corner and with a remarkable resemblance to Alan Shearer, McCann headed home for Gab’s first goal of the game to a more respectable 1-2. Things were to get a lot better for the Gabs when former Man city reject Carl Winstanley picked up possession from the kick off and in true “Arne Rissesque” style he rifled a shot from 26.6 yards past the Eccleshall keeper into the top corner. 2-2. At half time Gabs had pulled it back from 2-0 down to level it 2-2 and they would hope to continue where they left off in the second half.

For the beginning of the second half, neither side could generate much in terms of attacking, but on the 63rd minute, after some neat passing from the Gabs, Brad Barrington was on hand to slot home and give gabs a deserved lead. 2-3.

This prompted a response from Eccleshall who began created chances after a subdued hour. And there pressing would pay off. Around the 77th minute Russell Dametteo latched onto some neat passing from Eccleshall and fired home. 3-3. Whether fitness was an issue for the Gabs or lack of concentration…but on to many occasions Castleton have conceded late on.

Both teams for the final 10 minutes created chances and pressed for the winner but neither could prevail and honours were eventually shared. An excellent game which could have gone either way, but a positive to take from the game is that Castleton have the ability to create and score goal, but need to prevent the same amount being conceded…and were onto a winner!