Junior Football: Asfordby FC sides impress

The Lions had a full-strength squad to choose from for the visit of the league leaders who were looking to extend their 100 per cent record to six matches.

The first half was spent trading blows as both sides looked to stamp their authority. The Asfordby defence of Herod, Cook, Wainman and Jolliffe kept Glenfield out with keeper Wade clearing his lines when required.

Digby and Addy worked well in midfield alongside McCafferty and Ladjimi, while Hewkin was tireless, and Hill constantly threatened Glenfield’s defence in a goalless first half.

The hosts went ahead after the break when Hill curled a corner directly into the net.

Glenfield pressed from the restart, and Wade was again called into action.

McCracken replaced Ladjimi, and Saffhill came on for the injured McCafferty, but Glenfield turned the game on its head with two quick goals after constant pressure.

The game started to get spicy with strong tackles flying in. Digby stepped up to take a resulting free-kick, but Glenfield cleared.

Wallis came on for his first game in five weeks following injury, and Ladjimi came back on and tackled well.

Hill and Digby teased the Glenfield defence, and with time running out Asfordby were awarded a free-kick 30 yards out.

Hill struck the ball and watched it float over the keeper’s head 2-2, and at the final whistle the team celebrated taking points off their visitors.

Asfordby are in League Cup action on Sunday away at Leicester Bharat Santana.

* Asfordby FC Under 12s overcame what could have been a banana skin of a fixture with a comfortable 3-1 win at Loughborough Golds on Sunday afternoon.

After spending some five minutes running off the effects of the half-term break, Asfordby opened the scoring when Scarborough followed up on his first attempt to score and ease the jitters after the keeper fumbled.

Asfordby looked to have scored again 15 minutes later, but the ball was adjudged not to have crossed the line completely.

But the decision didn’t matter as man-of-the-match Scarborough scored an almost identical second goal before half-time.

Loughborough came out fighting at the start of the second half and were rewarded with a goal after 10 minutes.

Thankfully Asfordby got the all-important next goal when Smith latched onto a through ball after confusion in the Loughborough defence and drilled the ball past the keeper.

Asfordby continued to press and almost extended their lead, with two attempts from Lee and Jones coming back off the woodwork.

A solid performance from Neece in goal and a tidy defensive line kept the hosts’ opportunities down to a minimum in the last 10 minutes as Asfordby extend their impressive away run.