Swiss beat weather and Quaddy

With Christmas and the New Year celebrations now a memory, most Amateur League teams were eagerly looking to resume their league campaigns.

However, a series of hard frosts, and the snow led to the cancellation of the majority of the scheduled matches.

Work behind the scenes resulted in Swiss Cottage RBL's game taking place at Bilton while a little further towards the River Humber, the condition of the pitch at Paull was unbelievably good, with no frost or snow evident.

The condition of Dane Park playing fields was a little debatable, but nothing was going to halt the Orchard derby!

Four hours work to remove snow and reveal the pitch markings ensured Swiss Cottage were able to start their Premier Division game against second placed Quaddy Rangers in what was always going to be a difficult challenge, but Swiss played with a new found confidence and really took the game to Quaddy.

The visitors played some neat football in the opening 10 minutes and were rewarded when a well-flighted cross from Jamie Marshall was deflected by defender Mark Northage into his own net.

This setback inspired Swiss to mount pressure on Quaddy, and for the next 15 minutes Swiss looked more like the side in second place in the table, and finally equalised through Richard Sullivan on 25 minutes.

Both teams strove hard to take the lead, and the breakthrough fell to Quaddy after a tremendous shot was only parried by Swiss keeper John Scott, and the ball fell nicely for Mike Nagi, who side-footed the rebound into the net.

Swiss were not to be deterred, and with 10 minutes of the half remaining a long ball split the Quaddy defence and left Richard Sullivan clear on goal and he neatly pushed the ball past the advancing Quaddy keeper Mark Foster to equalise.

With two minutes to go in the half, a free kick from Mark Wood found Shaun Scotthorne in the box and he rifled the ball home to give Swiss a 3-2 lead interval lead.

The second half mirrored the action of the first, with both sides playing some neat football and saves coming from both keepers to maintain the score unchanged until, after 55 minutes, a free kick was awarded just outside the Swiss area and the ball crossed in found the head of the Quaddy's Dave Bisland who directed the ball into the net.

With the pitch getting progressively harder, the wisdom of playing the game began to be questioned, but Swiss once again pressurised the Quaddy defence, and capitalised on two defensive mistakes, regaining the lead with 15 minutes remaining when substitute Jac Longden latched on to a lob from Shaun Scotthorne to hammer the ball home.

Five minutes later and with Swiss down to 10 men following an injury to defender Mark Wood, Quaddy were caught on the break and a cross from Ricky Russell found Shaun Scotthorne who beat keeper Foster with a brilliant volley and made the points safe.

The remarkably unaffected pitch at Paull Foreshore enabled Paull Wanderers to resume their Division One fixtures – and hit 2010 running, compared to the dismal run of five consecutive league and cup defeats which marked the passing of 2009!

Although failing to win games, Paull's form had not been bad, and the early signs against AFC Piper, even after the enforced Xmas break, was that there was an encouraging togetherness in the team, despite the fact that, on this occasion, the form was not so good, but the side battled for each other throughout, so much so that keeper Liam Smith was little more than an interested spectator – not that Piper did not mount attacks, but their finishing was off target.

Paull's back four was well marshalled by James Sexton, and in midfield Ronnie Phipps let nothing past him throughout the match, but the game was decided by a single first half own goal which resulted from a Karl Smith free kick into the six yard area.

Paull did come close to extending the lead shortly after the goal, when Karl Smith sent his shot sailing past Piper keeper Jamie Walker, only to see the ball strike both posts before being put out of play.

Later in the half, Paull again tested the keeper, but Mark Sexton's left foot shot brought a great save from Walker at full stretch, turning the ball for what proved an unproductive corner.

The second half was all about keeping hold of the ball and protecting their narrow lead, which Paull did admirably, and the feeling at the final whistle, was that they had gone some way to getting their season back on track.

With the referee giving the go-ahead at Dane Park, the Division Two Orchard Park estate derby swung into action, with new side Orchard Park United determined to give a better performance against AFC Orchard than in the first meeting between the sides way back in September.

The passing months have seen a gradual improvement in Orchard Park United and they approached the game with real grit and determination but were met by a strong and organised AFC Orchard defence, even allowing for the early loss through a knee injury of Danny Bull, for whom Jamie Lamplough proved to be an admirable substitute.

Orchard Park United were at times caught short at the back by opposition strikers Chris Jopling and Graham Hoff, who were well supplied with ammunition by midfielder Ray Edmondson, but the goals which should have flowed were denied by an outstanding display by United keeper Alan Hoggard.

AFC Orchard did open the scoring through Graham Hoff, but United's gutsy response brought an equaliser for Gary Graham, and after 45 minutes play the game was all square.

At the break, AFC Orchard regrouped, and an early push after the resumption brought two goals from set pieces from Chris Jopling, providing a comfortable cushion.

United were not going to go down easily, and with 15 minutes left Gary Graham scored his second goal, and suddenly all was to play for, but United were unable to find the equaliser.

Both teams, however, should be proud of their efforts, good spirit and hard work on a deteriorating pitch.