| A fine display of attacking football gave Gadeside Rangers a deserved win over fellow title contenders Headstone Athletic; ending their opponents 100% league record and at the same time opening up a 3 point advantage at the top of the table. |
| The game started at a frantic pace with two fired up sides desperate to make a good start. Tom Mitchell and Tariq Khan both had early half chances but Mitchell was on hand to open the scoring on 8 minutes when he volleyed home Justyn Walcott's long throw from 6 yards. The lead was short lived however as Headstone drew level after Jay Evans was adjudged to have fouled Irons in the area, despite clearly winning the ball. Referee Harradine had other ideas and Brian Jones cooly dispatched the penalty. Gadeside were soon back on the attack and regained the lead 5 minutes later. Daniel Brooks found Russ Popplewell on the left hand side and the wingman cut inside beating two men and smashed home a rasping drive from the edge of the box that left the keeper with no chance. |
| The crazy early stages were far from over though as Headstone hit back immediately with another penalty after Appiah was brought down by the arms of Tom Oliver. Jones again confidently scored from the spot to leave the scores level again. Back came Gadeside again and took the lead for the third time on 21 minutes when a forceful run by Popplewell stretched the Headstone defence and he found the unmarked Dan Campbell who took one touch before hitting a fierce drive across the keeper. Russ Popplewell was having a storming game and it was who came closest to extending the lead when a long range volley crashed off the underside of the bar to where Tariq Khan was unable to score from the rebound. Gadeside continued where they left off in the second half and won the game in a classy 10 minute period on the hour. |
| Tariq Khan made it 4-2 when his cross took a slight deflection off Jimmy Devine and wrongfooted the Headstone keeper - Khan's 5th goal in three game. By now Gadeside were totally dominant and added a fifth goal when superb link up play between strikers Mitchell and Campbell saw the latter played in on goal to finish low past the keeper to make it 5-2. At the other end Tom Oliver reacted smartly to save at the feet of Jones but the final goal of the game on 72 minutes when Tom Mitchell's clever free kick played in Popplewell who squared for the onrushing Tom Shurville to score from close range. |
| This was another excellent display by Gadeside who have really found their top gears of late. Manager Adam Hills commented: "That was a very mature display. We knew we had to ensure we kept playing football and didn't get drawn into anything with Headstone. We did that and you see the results! All we can do now is keep winning and doing the right things. |
| Tom Oliver, Danny Everritt (Ian Freeman), Justyn Walcott, Jay Evans, Matt Evans, Tom Shurville, Tariq Khan, Daniel Brooks (John Wilkins), Tom Mitchell, Dan Campbell, Russ Popplewell (Ivanz Mani) |