Coulson penalty sinks Bridge
A last-gasp Michael Coulson penalty wrapped up a fine 3-2 victory for Scarborough Athletic on the road at Stalybridge Celtic on Tuesday night.
A last-gasp penalty wrapped up a 3-2 victory for Scarborough Athletic on the road at Stalybridge Celtic on Tuesday night.
Despite suffering from a bout of nerves before taking the spotkick, Coulson did the job and sealed a superb win.
He said: “I was definitely feeling it, that was probably the most nervous I’ve ever felt in football.
“It was 2-2 and in the last minute with a lot riding on it, so it was a massive relief to see it creep over the line.
“The keeper did me a bit of a favour, but they all count.
“I’ve been unlucky recently, with balls hitting the post and all that kind of thing, so it is nice to finally get one.
“We should have had it sewn up by then, but we nicked it and that is all that matters.”
One change was made from the winning side from Saturday, as Leon Scott came in for James Cadman, and Boro looked to continue their positivity with a bright start.
All they managed from their early control was a Coulson shot, which was palmed into the air by keeper James Aspinall.
James Walshaw and Nathan Valentine both went for the rebound and after it bounced off the post and to safety they were left in a crumpled heap following a clash of heads.
Stalybridge began to creep more and more into things, with much of their livelier play going through full-back Scott Wilson.
It was Wilson who grabbed the opening goal in fortunate fashion on 25 minutes when Bailey Gooda cleared the ball straight at his midriff. Wilson lobbed into the path of Matty Wolfenden and then took the return ball to slot home.
With Boro looking to hit straight back, W al shaw sneaked into some space in the home area,but his lobs truck the bar and bounced to safety.
It was that man Walshaw who levelled things up just before the break after a huge flap from keeper As pin all. He put the ball straight on the head Boro’s top-score rand W al shaw looped home brilliantly.
Stalybridge set out smartly in the second half, causing Boro a couple of concerning seconds, but after soaking up this pressure, Boro struck for a second time.
Delightful link-up between Walsh aw and Coul son fed Valentinein the box and he controlled his volley superbly to steer it into the bottom corner.
Boro keeper Tommy Taylor produced a fine stop from Ross Dent as Stalybridge tried to restore parity, then Bailey Gooda had to clear off his line when Li am Tongue hooked an acrobatic effort on goal.
In the end it was a string of errors that allowed Stalybridge in for the levelling goal. Scott gave the ball away and Merris failed to deal with the resulting ball out wide. From there Scott Bakkor whipped in a cross that Wolfenden poked home.
With Stalybridge looking to nick the winner in the dying embers, it was B or ow ho charged clear and grabbed the controversial winner.
Wayne Brooks by darted into the box and looked to have handled before he was felled by Niall Flint.
After deliberation among the officials, Coulson was invited forward to slot home the winner.