Hunsworth 1 Steeton 6

STEETON saw in the new year with their best performance of the season at Hunsworth. Despite not playing for nearly a month, the players have continued to train throughout and that hard work paid off as they saw of their Bradford hosts who had made a solid start to the campaign.

The visitors made light work of the heavy pitch and got their passing game going early on as Joe Park and Mark McGee combined well on the left to cause the home side trouble. McGee and Tim Hird went close before Steeton took the lead when a smart move saw Park feed Lee Reilly, who spun and smashed home.

The lead was quickly doubled as a great overlapping run from right back Michael Rhodes ended with him thumping in the second.

The home side then struck a post and had a header over from a corner as they looked to get back in the game.

Andy Holden was unlucky on two occasions, striking wide after a mazy run from McGee and forcing a great save after good work from Graham Holmes.

Holmes was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty as he appeared to be bundled to the ground in the box. It became a recurring theme for Steeton’s number ten, who had a couple more appeals in the second half turned down as well.

Hunsworth came out with a more positive attitude after the break. Arley Barnes and Sam Rooke had to be alert, while Josh Brooksbank dealt with a long-range shot quite comfortably.

With both Damien Whiteoak and Hird dominating the midfield, Steeton got on top. Reilly was just wide with a header and Holmes had a shot well blocked.

The Chevrons effectively wrapped the game up when Reilly again showed his composure in the box to fire home a third before McGee continued his impressive scoring record with a drilled shot for the fourth.

Steeton switched off to allow Hunsworth to pull one back at the far post before Holden produced the goal of the game after a great solo run from deep. Holden capped things off with a well-struck shot for number six.

Steeton boss Roy Mason said: "It was good to get back to action and I felt, despite the break, we looked fit and played the game at a high tempo in heavy conditions.

"The six goals we scored were as good as you will see anywhere this season and this was one of our most pleasing performances."

The two teams meet again this Saturday at Summerhill Lane.

Steeton: Brooksbank, Rhodes, Park (McNulty), Barnes, Rooke, Whiteoak (Cox), Holden, Hird, Reilly, Holmes, McGee.