Hutton Cranswick United 0

Church Warsop Miners Welfare 2

Life continues to be a real struggle for Hutton Cranswick United as they slithered to another home defeat at the hands of Church Warsop Miners Welfare in the Central Midlands Premier League.

Gifting the visitor’s a goal in the first minute – the defence failing to clear a corner allowing Warsop skipper Steve McGurk in at the near post – they enjoyed the majority share of possession in a rain-sodden first half and missed a couple of half chances to boot.

A howler by keeper Leon Sewell in the 51st minute – advancing too far off his line at a free kick – allowed McGurk to grab a brace and lift his side to third spot in the table as the home side fought to close the gap.

With Luke D Taylor and Seth Owusu injured, Paul Taylor returned to the defence and new signings Joe Kidd and Danny Ransom featured with Kidd starting alongside skipper Darren Parker in midfield.

The opening hiccup apart the home side gained themselves a good share of possession as the rain tippled down putting a burly Warsop side under a deal of discomfort in the middle of the park, but they were unable to convert it into anything substantial in the last third.

The robust nature of the visitors’ style was shown on 20 minutes as Gavin Dobb was booked to an unruly foul on Paul Taylor but inconsistent referee Scott Mason ignored a late tackle on Kidd and only opted to book Welfare’s Jordan Johnson for striking Andy Martin in an off-the-ball incident.

The visitors started the second half the brighter in the sunshine as speedy striker Simon Johnson made a number of runs into the United box, and after he clipped the far post with a first time effort, McGurk sewed things up on 51 minutes with the free kick that outsmarted Sewell.

Despite the result there were a number of plusses for United – they tried hard to stick to their game plan and kept pushing forward and a Paul Taylor header from a corner fizzed over the bar with Mark Frampton delivering one or two decent crosses into the box. Kidd certainly impressed with his industry and purpose and Dan Taylor also put in a huge effort in defence

Late on Cranswick striker Rich Gibson was floored by a poor tackle, again not seen by the referee, which left his team mates with the feeling that the big decisions in the game had certainly not been evenly handled.

For United now it’s a question of ‘pick yourself up dust your self down’ and prepare for Saturday’s visit of top-of-the-table Parkhouse FC to Rotsea Lane with a 2pm kickoff.

United squad: Leon Sewell, Dean Walton, Andy Etherington (Danny Ransom 54), Dan Taylor, Paul Taylor, Joe Kidd, Tim Taylor, Darren Parker (c), Andy Martin (Tom Chippendale 73), Mark Frampton, Richard Gibson (Robbie Upson 88).

Church Warsop MW squad: Craig Payne, Grant Portman, Adam Johnson, Jordan Johnson, Gavin Dobb, Steven McGurk (c), Yoandry Depass, Daniel Ashley, Simon Johnson, D McLane, Dane Walker.