The top two in North Division One met at York and it turned into a thriller.
City of York got off to a fast start winning two penalty corners and forcing Riley into early saves. But it was Alderley who opened the scoring with their very first attack, James Warburton sending Ben Gregory clear, who rounded the keeper to slot home.
Alderley were now on top and Sam Gregory saw two deflected efforts saved. The pressure told and Ben Gregory grabbed his second when good build up play opened up a back post finish.
City of York got back into the game on the stroke of half time when numbers in the D meant the ball fell to a York player who squeezed his shot in.
The second half was a lively affair with both teams attacking at pace and with numbers. Gregory gave Warburton the chance to extend Alderley’s lead, but he shot wide.
York grabbed the equaliser when a driven pass was deflected high into the net. York soon grabbed a third from a penalty corner and a fourth from a quick attack. First York were given a correct advantage following a foul, but then an offensive on Riley went unpunished and York were able to capitalise.
At 2-4 down Alderley showed great spirit and fought back carving the York backline wide open, first Wildig walked the ball over the line after being put clean through and then Warburton levelled things up when he was presented with an open goal.
With under a minute to go Alderley played the ball deep into the York half, but a direct attack lead to a ball into the D. Sawas’ diving interception unluckily fell to a York attacker and under pressure from the ‘keeper he calmly found an overlapping team mate who flicked high into the net from an acute angle. Alderley did not even have time for the restart before the final whistle blew.
Other results went Alderley’s way and City of York lead on 39 points from 17 games, Alderley have 37 from 17 and Timperley and Leeds have 37 from 18 games.
Alderley Edge seconds stepped up the pressure on their fellow promotion chasers by beating Bowdon 9-0 and followed it up by putting another 9 past Bolton. The weekend goal scorers were Alex Morgan (including a hat-trick), Sam Baker (including hat-trick), Andrew Jackson (including hat-trick), Danny Butterworth, Chris Hardy, Andy Taylor, Kieren Hall and Andrew Taylor.
The 3rd and 4th team both played sides from Bebington and the 4s kept up their hopes of promotion with a 3-2 win, while the 3s lost 1-0 away. The 5s drew 2-2 in very sporting fixture with Keswick.
