Horsforth St Margarets 1-2 Churwell Lions This game, between teams two divisions apart in the leagues, took part on a cold overcast day on a pitch which was in good condition for the time of year and compared to recent away games for Churwell was reasonably flat! The match started fairly slowly with both teams battling hard in midfield to move the ball forward and any forays into the opposing teams' halves was dealt with efficiently by both defences. It was overall quite an uninspiring first half with the exception of an attempted header by James D from a well placed Josh corner which was neatly saved by the Horsforth keeper. The second half saw a more open and attacking game with the width of the pitch being used more with some quite effective crosses causing problems for the Horsforth defence, these crosses saw Alistair go close with a shot from the edge of the box which narrowly missed the left hand post. Half way through the second half Horsforth were awarded a free kick on the wide left of the pitch. The resulting free kick was very well placed and evaded the heads of the Churwell defence, and Joe the Churwell keeper, to hit the back of the net. The goal which had come against the overall run of play didn't dampen the spirits of the Churwell lads as might have happened in seasons past and after a couple OF positional changes Churwell found themselves on the attack again after starting to dominate the midfield with some good heading, tackling and passing. With 10 minutes to go some good work on the left wing by Danny C put Alistair in on the left hand edge of the box. Alistair, aware the keeper was slightly off his line, chipped a ball majestically over the unfortunate Horsforth keeper, who up to this point had looked very assured, to net in the top right hand corner for what was a very well taken goal. This equaliser seemed to demoralise the Horsforth team and Churwell found themselves well on top now with Alistair and James G both going close with shots. With extra time looming Ronan was put through on goal after a fine placed pass from midfield and although presurrised by a Horsforth defender as he made his way into the penalty area struck the ball goalwards only to be well saved by the Horsforth keeper who could only parry the ball back out into the oncoming Ronan who did well to finish at the second attempt. The final piece of action in the penalty area resulted in James G pulling off a remarkable "header" as the ball struck him full on in the face from a Horsforth clearance, which James bravely shrugged off. The game was played in a very good spirit with good support from parents from both teams. Credit is due to Horsforth for the way they contained Churwell and for an excellent battling performance Churwell have now drawn Ossett Town Juniors in the quarter final of the Cup in a home game to be played on Sunday 12 February | 
