Beverley stretched their unbeaten league record to 10 matches with this drubbing of lowly Athersley and, after a few near misses this season, finally moved to the top of the table on goal difference from Wakefield, with Parkgate left kicking their heels in third place after yet another postponement. Going in at half-time just one goal to the good, the scale of victory at that stage looked unlikely, but a much-improved second-half display, allied to the visitors falling apart at the back, ensured the Beavers ascended to the summit in style.
Will Taylor and Lawrence Heward replaced Alex Knaggs and Luke Sellers in the only two changes to the side that drew at Wakefield in midweek, with Andy Norfolk among the substitutes and, such is the depth of the squad, the absence of the likes of Scott Phillips, Kai Larkin, Conner Harman and Sellers wasn’t overly felt. That said, the first half was poor. Scrappy and poor. While thankful that the pitch was playable, it certainly wasn’t conducive to playing attractive passing football and Beverley were guilty of overplaying and gifting possession far too often, meaning they seldom built up the momentum to pressurise their fragile opponents, and not enough of the game was played in the Athersley half. To the visitors’ credit, they were well organised in the first-half and, like any team, gave their all while the sniff of an upset was in their nostrils. Once Beverley got on top early in the second half, it was one-way traffic.
Ben Hinchliffe’s header straight at the keeper after 10 minutes was as close as Beverley came to scoring before they broke the deadlock six minutes later, and it was a suitably scrappy goal. Neat work down the right by Hinchliffe and Grant Tait created space in the area and, after a couple of stabs at it, Matt Plummer poked home for the second Saturday running to ease the Beavers’ nerves. The scoring spree, and it is fast becoming a spree, by the defenders has been a feature of recent matches and is very welcome, sharing the scoring around the team, with Plummer, Knaggs and James Piercy contributing seven goals between them in the last six fixtures. And that was pretty much it for the first half. Both sides gave possession away and Beverley failed to put the visitors under sustained pressure. Whether a rollicking came at half-time remains unknown, but the two halves were very much chalk and cheese.
The key to the second period was scoring early, and that’s exactly what Joe McFadyen did, calmly stroking home the rebound from Tait’s dangerous free kick, and from thereon in, Athersley’s heads dropped. Tait hit the bar 10 minutes later, and Plummer’s hot streak continued as he scored his second of the game from the resulting corner, which also marked Beverley’s 100th goal of the season. As well as the defenders contributing goals, there has also been a remarkable turnaround of late in Beverley’s potency from corners. Having scored just twice from corners all season, until recently, they’ve now scored six times from corners in the last five matches, and that threat is giving opposition defences plenty to think about.
Nath Ofori and Knaggs replaced Ollie Nicholson and Piercy, and Knaggs scored his fifth of the season just five minutes after coming on, poking home from a corner for a 4-0 lead, and Hinchliffe took advantage of a dismal clearance by the keeper two minutes later to score the fifth. With Nathan Hotte mopping up every time Athersley tried to break, with greater effectiveness than any Vileda invented, Athersley were forced to scramble around in defence, but Beverley were simply too good, pulling them all over the pitch and creating several more half chances.
Matty Stafford’s delightful flicked lob over the keeper after great work by Hinchliffe made it six, and Beverley’s clean sheet just about remained intact when the visitors’ lively substitute broke the offside trap, only to see his shot clip the outside of the post and behind for a goal kick. There was still time for Hinchliffe’s second, joining McFadyen on 19 goals for the season, after Norfolk played him into space and, as news of Wakefield and Shirebrook both dropping points on their travels filtered through, that completed a most satisfactory day at the office for the Beavers.