Maine Road 1 Silsden 2

Buoyed by a comprehensive victory the previous week against Squires Gate, the Cobbydalers proved to be Maine Road’s bogey side once again.

At the start of play the hosts stood 23 points above Silsden but, despite losing the corresponding fixture earlier in the season, the Yorkshire side boast an unbelievable record against Road.

In eight previous visits to Brantingham Road, the Cobbydalers have won six, drawn one and lost only one, despite always finishing below the Mancunians in the table.

Last season Road missed out on the title by a single point, the Cobbydalers having done the double over them.

The hosts were soon on the attack, with Rory Breslin shooting wide and Tom Bentham volleying over after a neat turn.

A minute later Silsden skipper Danny Gleave saw his pass intercepted and Rick Williams broke through but a magnificent sliding tackle by Danny Fagan prevented Road from taking the lead.

He was a rock at the heart of the defence throughout.

If Fagan was the mean defender, Chris Wademan was the “artful dodger”, constantly running at the home defence with pace and tight control.

Chasing a through ball from Josh McNulty, Wade-man brought a desperate save from Greg Hall.

Following some slick passing and intelligent running, Road then wasted two good chances when Wil-iams shot over and then Neil Chappell fired wide.

Henderson forced a great save from Ed Hall, who also gathered a deflected cross from the same player.

Silsden’s new signing, James Denman, was largely starved of possession but showed enough to suggest he will be a valuable asset.

The Sky-Blues continued to dominate. Gleave denied Bentham a clear shot before a cross from Henderson landed on the bar.

At the other end, Wademan just failed to make contact with another Will Storrie cross and then Ben Crabtree volleyed on to the Maine Road bar.

Road thought they had broken the deadlock when they scrambled the ball into the Silsden goal but the assistant’s flag was raised.

Shots from Breslin and Chappell were blocked be-fore Bentham headed over.

The pace hardly eased in the second half. Road took the lead on 52 minutes when Hall just failed to hold onto Rothell’s curling shot and Bentham slid the ball to Chappell to hammer in from a yard out.

The home supporters were soon quietened when Gleave nodded in Andy Hill’s curling free-kick to level the scores within four minutes.

Silsden grew in confidence as McNulty shot narrowly wide. Crabtree then fired in a long effort before another goalmouth scramble at the other end saw two shots blocked before Chappell headed over. Williams missed the best chance when he was unmarked in the box.

Silsden’s attacking options were limited but they took the lead with 15 minutes left when a swift passing move saw substitute Dale Feather break clear. He ran 40 yards before driving the ball between Greg Hall’s legs for the winner.

Wademan should have increased the lead but shot straight at the keeper from close range.

Fagan denied the Manc-unians another chance in the final minute before Wademan was denied by the keeper again in a chase down field.