Football – Life at the top was short-lived for Kendal (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Football – Life at the top was short-lived for Kendal

10:42pm Saturday 28th January 2006 in Sport By Dennis Aris

Kendal Town 0, Ossett Albion 1.

Kendal Town's tenure at the top of the UniBond League First Division was short-lived as a shock defeat by strugglers Ossett Albion sent them back to second place after just a week in the limelight.

In a lacklustre performance Town were unable to beat the visitors' well-worked offside trap and were hit on the break in the 44th minute when Gary Duffy flicked on a cross from the left for Daniel Toronczak to stab the ball home.

It could have been worse a minute later Ossett repeated the move exactly then angrily surrounded the referee who blew for half-time as the ball was on its way into the net.

In a thoroughly bad afternoon Town were dealt another blow in their bid for the title when captain and play-maker Lee Ashcroft was given a straight red card in the 65th minute for charging straight into the back of Dominic Riordan an offence which almost certain to earn him a three-match suspension.

A minute later Ossett's Jon Wordsworth was dismissed for a similar offence on Paul Osborne.

In an afternoon more memorable for off the ball incidents than footballing skills both sides earned a clutch of yellow cards and Town's Dene Whittal-Williams was lucky to stay on the field for a challenge from behind which looked every bit as bad as those from Ashcroft and Wordsworth.