Reay saves the day with last gasp winner for Worksop Town

Action from Monday's clash. Photo by Lewis Pickersgill.

The Tigers started on the front foot and had a chance to take the lead four minutes in as Leon Mettam played the ball to Niall Smith, who burst into the box, but his shot was blocked by a Frickley defender and the ball went out for a corner.

Eleven minutes into the game, Jack McMenemy curled an effort for Frickley but David Reay was equal to the shot and held the ball comfortably.

It was the turn of ex-Worksop striker Jake Currie to have the next effort on goal. Reay had to make a fingertip save to Currie’s attempted lob to keep the scores level.

McMenemy once again tried his luck on the Worksop goal, this time from close range, but once again Reay made the save and kept the former Bottesford striker at bay.

With five minutes remaining of the first half, Currie was slipped in by a Frickley teammate and slotted the ball into the net at the near post for a half-time lead.

A turning point in the match came in the 51st minute. After just coming on, Ben Bodle was sent off for Frickley for a challenge on Mettam when Bodle was the last man. The referee had no choice but to brandish the red card, and he initially gave a penalty as the foul looked like it was inside the area. After consulting with the assistant referee, a free-kick was awarded right on the edge. Andrew Gascoigne tried his luck but the effort was blocked by the wall.

With just under 25 minutes to go, Max Pemberton had a header for Worksop that crashed against the top of the crossbar and out to safety.

But Worksop got their equaliser in the 80th minute. The two substitutes, Kyle Jordan and Lynton Karkach, combined and allowed Karkach to drill the ball into the net past Jackson after a lay-off by Jordan.

Then Worksop scored what proved to be the winner just six minutes later as Matthew Reay got his second goal in as many games with a bullet header from a Woolley corner.

The referee blew his whistle not long after and the Worksop faithful and players celebrated together over the hard-fought win at Westfield Lane. In scorching hot conditions, the Tigers battled well and eventually got their reward.