UPPERTHONG Under 13s were greeted by a wall of fog when they arrived at Farnley Tyas for their Third Division meeting with Lepton – but they still saw themselves to a 3-1 victory.
For the first 20 minutes, the visitors looked lost as Lepton’s total domination left Upperthong chasing around in circles, but they then gathered their composure.
Lepton’s Alex Wilson was first to make his mark on the game with a shot across goal which flashed inches wide of the far upright and, moments later, teammate Rueben Kirkman was unlucky when his shot followed Wilson’s wide of the target.
Thankfully, for Upperthong, defender Harry Heald was in terrific form with some very timely interceptions, and it was from his pass that Upperthong produced one of their few breakaways – but Cameron Sharp’s shot was well saved.
Lepton finally got the goal their dominance deserved when Daniel Paxman fired a 20-yard free-kick into the top corner.
A single-goal advantage for all their efforts was scant reward for the home side, who were soon made to pay for not making more of their chances when Sharp’s speculative 25-yard shot found the bottom corner to level the scores at 1-1.
And Lepton found themselves chasing the game five minutes before the break when Jack Westoby forced a corner from which Dominic Waldrom fired Upperthong into a half-time lead.
As the second half got under way, defenders Sam Tyas, Cailean Lang, Jack Westoby and Heald were looking more comfortable in the Upperthong defence and, although Lepton’s hard-working Alex Harrower forced a fine save from keeper Adam Woolhead, the home side’s threat was beginning to fade.
Sharp wasted a fine opportunity to extend Upperthong’s lead minutes after the re-start and, at the other end, Wilson remained a constant danger.
As Lepton began to press for an equaliser, so the spaces began to open up and, although Matteo Lopiano made a terrific save at the feet of Waldrom, the Lepton keeper was unable to re-produce the trick when faced with the same player a few minutes later – Waldrom finishing to make Upperthong’s advantage 3-1.
The defeat is only Lepton’s second of the season and they will feel they might have done better to add to their promotion push.
Meanwhile, having resisted the home side’s best efforts, Upperthong will feel the three points were well earned.
