10:37am Friday 3rd February 2006
By Dennis Aris
TOWN'S tenure at the top of the UniBond League First Division lasted just seven days as they plunged to a disappointing defeat by Ossett Albion.
Yet the loss of three points may not be as potentially devastating to Kendal's championship hopes as the loss of captain Lee Ashcroft, who could face a three-match ban after getting a straight red card for felling an opponent from behind in a clumsy tackle.
Town plan to launch an immediate appeal, however, as manager Tony Hesketh claims: "There was no offence, it was nothing worse than two players colliding with each other. The referee has already said his vision was impaired by the blinding sun." Hesketh went on to claim that an Ossett player was dismissed almost immediately afterwards: "for nothing more than a yellow card offence at the worst in an attempt to level things up on the pitch.
"I was disappointed by the sendings-off and also by our performance and although I ranted and raved at the players after the match I quickly came to my senses," he said.
"They are not superhuman and we have had a fantastic run and put in some great performances and we are in a well-elevated position through sheer determination and hard work.
"It is just unfortunate that our two most lacklustre home performances have been seen by the biggest crowds of the season."
There were 363 at Saturday's match and Hesketh appealed for them to stick with the side. "They were very vocal and they did create a great atmosphere," he said.
In a match more memorable for its off-the-ball incidents than quality football, Town failed to find a way past an Ossett defence whose copious use of the offside trap seemed aided at times by the willingness of the linesmen to raise the flag as an instant response to an arm raised in appeal by a defender.
Town's lack of width to their attacks and the inability to find a telling pass through to the front men frustrated them all afternoon and Ossett nearly drew first blood in the fifth minute when a low-struck 30 yard free-kick had Town keeper James Salisbury diving to push the ball round the post.
Ashcroft responded with a fierce strike on the turn which Ossett keeper Michael Clark did well to push away for a corner.
Russ McKenna, operating on the left wing in place of the still injured Ged Smith, fired a long-range shot just wide and on the half-hour. Ashcroft hit a ferocious drive from 15 yards out which Clark parried up and on to the top of the net.
Striker Chris Ward had the ball in the net in the 40th minute but it was ruled offside, a problem which was becoming increasingly frustrating.
An Ossett break down the left in the 44th minute brought disaster as Gary Duffy flicked on a header to unmarked Daniel Toronczak, who buried it inside the right hand post.
A minute later Ossett thought they had doubled the score with a carbon copy goal only to surround referee Mr D. Unsworth in fury after he blew for half-time as the ball was rocketing goalwards.
Frustration grew in the second half and Hesketh withdrew out-of-sorts Ward, putting Dene Whittal-Williams up front and bringing Nigel Taylor in at the back, but the change had scarcely been made when Ashcort was red-carded for a lunging challenge.
A minute later it was 10-men apiece the referee instantly brandishing the same colur card as Ossett's Jon Wordsworth charged into Paul Osborne with the ball nowhere in the vicinity.
Hesketh's answer was to pep up his attack by bringing in striker David Foster and right winger Peter Smith in place of left back Owen Roberts and winger John Osborne. It nearly worked as Smith immediately provided width, but even the speedy Foster could not defeat that well-worked offside trap and the last 15 minutes were memorable only for a flurry of yellow cards, Dene Whittal-Williams and Salisbury both joining an assortment of Ossett players in the referee's notebook.
HOW THEY RATED: Salisbury 8; Rigby 7, Sparrow 8, Whittal-Williams 5, Roberts 6 (Foster 6 from 67 minutes); J. Osborne 6 (P. Smith 7 from 67 minutes), P. Osborne 6, Kilford 7, McKenna 7; Ashcroft 6, Ward 5 (Taylor 7 from 62 minutes)
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