Humberston geared up for Seas cup challenge

HUMBERSTON secretary Mick Woolford wants his side to embark on a cup run after their dramatic fight-back against defending Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday Football League champions Birds Eye Pelham.

Woolford's men were 4-1 down in the Division One clash when Pelham's Gaz Nimmo, on a hat-trick, stepped up to take a penalty.

But he fired the spot-kick wide and Humberston hit back to draw 4-4.

This Sunday, Humberston take on GTF Seas in the Senior Challenge Cup.

"We had a tough game last weekend and are expecting another on Sunday," said Woolford.

"We are desperate for a good cup run but so is my old friend and arch-rival Mick Rouse with his Seas team.

"Both camps will have key players missing but enough strength in depth to put decent sides out."

Humberston's clash against Pelham lived up to the pre-match hype in a game of the proverbial two halves.

Both teams were at full strength for the eagerly awaited contest and neither disappointed.

Birds Eye struck first against the run of play, through Nimmo, but a brave header by the fired-up Liam Davis saw Paul Smith poke home a quick-fire equaliser.

Back came Birds Eye, who regained the lead through Adam Cox as the game swung from end to end.

The champions looked the more clinical, even if the possession was being shared equally.

Lewis Penny netted the third, to make the score 3-1 to Pelham at half-time.

Birds Eye stunned Humberston again after the break when a speculative shot across goal – from Nimmo – fizzed into the bottom corner to make it 4-1 early in the second half.

And things got even worse for Humberston when half-time substitute Kirk Wheeler conceded a penalty.

Up-stepped Nimmo to make it five and complete his hat-trick – but his spot-kick was wide of the target.

That proved the turning point.

Wheeler made amends when he fired home from a tight angle, before Tom Summers netted to bring Humberston to within one goal.

A deserved equaliser came from the impressive Wheeler with 20 minutes left.

Louis Grant and Liam Davis missed one-on-one chances, and the latter then saw a header hit the net only to be ruled offside.

Tempers flared late on, with Birds Eye reduced to nine men.

But the defending champions held valiantly held on, and almost snatched a winner with the last kick of the game.

DMS leapfrogged Humberston at the top after a 6-1 victory over GTF Seas.

Drew McFadden opened the scoring for Seas, but this brought DMS to life.

Jonathan Oglesby and Stefan Melin both netted doubles, while Renzie Lobendhan and Carl Price were also on target.

Elsewhere, Lee Croft scored four goals as Empire United beat Grimsby Warriors 9-1. Dale Mason netted a hat-trick while Gaz Mason, Danny Durosomo were also on target for Empire.

SW Steelers secretary Les Brechin is pleased his team are turning good performances into points.

The Steelers climbed to fifth in division one after a 3-1 victory against struggling fellow top-flight new boys AFC Bradley.

Ahead of Sunday's match against Grimsby Warriors, Brechin said: "We played well early in the season without picking up a win but now we are doing that too. I doubt if we will be challenging at the top but we do hope to finish mid-table. But we will have to be wary of Grimsby Warriors as they can play a bit."

Josh Braid's free-kick, a Kyle Bensley penalty and a John Waugh strike earned Steelers the points last Sunday.

"We did well to win against a Bradley side who looked threatening at set pieces, especially corners," added Brechin.

"They could have drawn level early in the second half when a header hit the crossbar. They are better than their record suggests."