Halifax Irish 0 Steeton 3

Steeton gained their fifth-successive win despite again being forced to ring the changes due to injuries and unavailability.

Andy King, Danny McNulty and Pete Hanson returned to the side but Andy Holden, Jack Ogalbe and Nicky McNally were missing.

Steeton, wearing an unfamiliar red strip, threatened early when Adam Spencer went close but his finish lacked power.

Andy King struck the post with the keeper well beaten and it was no surprise when the visitors took the lead in the 12th minute. Damien Whiteoak put a ball into the box and the keeper and defender got themselves tangled up, Spencer firing home.

Halifax went close with a long-range effort but keeper Phil Rishton was behind it all the way.

Hanson screwed a shot wide and Michael Rhodes curled a free-kick wide of the post following a foul on Lee Reilly.

Rishton was then in the right place as a free header from a corner was straight at him. From his resulting clearance, Spencer fed Reilly and he dragged his shot just wide from the edge of the box.

Two quick goals in the last five minutes before half-time effectively ended the contest.

McNulty fed the ball into the box from the left-hand side and the keeper fumbled it, inadvertently pushing it into his own net.

Then Reilly wriggled free on the edge of the box and fired hard and low into the bottom corner for the vital third goal right on the whistle for the break.

The second period saw the home side more positive. Rishton had to be out of his area quickly to avert the danger after a ball over the top almost caught Steeton out.

Reilly headed over from Rhodes’ cross as Steeton looked to wrap the game up. Irish should have scored when their striker found space in the box and headed wide. Reilly had a good case for a penalty turned down and, despite both teams having long-range efforts, neither keeper was really troubled in the later stages.

Steeton gave 17-year-old Aaron Dickson his debut in the closing stages as they continue their policy of blooding under-18s at senior level.

Boss Roy Mason said: “A great performance in the first half sealed the game.

“We could have maybe had one or two more, but we were professional in the second period and they never looked like scoring.”

Steeton entertain Denholme at Summerhill Lane this Saturday in the county cup (2pm).

Steeton: Rishton, Rhodes, McNulty, Kershaw, Rooke, Whiteoak, Foster, Hanson (Riding), Reilly, Spencer A King (Dickson).

l Steeton begin the defence of the Keighley Cup with a home tie against Oxenhope on October 19.

Steeton Res 1 Westbrook YMCA 2 A physical Westbrook team were always going to be a tough test for the young Steeton side.

The visitors started strongly, with Nyamunda shooting over the bar.

At the other end Steeton broke down the right through Joe Mason, whose cross was met by Huntley but he struck his shot against Mountain in goal.

Steeton’s confidence grew as they produced movement in midfield through Jenkins and Richmond.

And they took the lead after 17 minutes as Casey Dowthwaite took on Egan and knocked the ball into Josh Huntley, who struck with a cool finish.

The Chevrons opened up Westbrook again with good work from Jenkins, McGee and Huntley, whose shot went over the bar.

At the other end Terry was unlucky not to score after a great save from Paul Linyard.

Mason had a strike deflected by Egan for a corner but the visitors equalised deep into first-half stoppage time.

Terry got the goal for Westbrook but Steeton boss Clark O’Dwyer could not understand why six minutes of injury time had been played.

Steeton started the second half slowly and sloppy defending saw Terry almost put the visitors in front.

Nyamunda should have scored for Westbrook before Graham Holmes was introduced after 55 minutes, replacing Dowthwaite.

The Steeton striker was coming back after nine months out with injury.

YMCA’s winner came after 64 minutes when Whittle made no mistake with a free header. The goal knocked the stuffing out of Steeton as Westbrook’s strong defence held out.