BEDALE TOWN..........0

BURLEY TROJANS....3

After a shaky start Trojans ran out comfortable winners to complete an impressive league double over mid-table Bedale. The result lifts Trojans into second place and, with Kirkby Malzeard crashing to a shock defeat at lowly Spa Athletic, they are now beginning to emerge as the main challengers to the long-time leaders.

Bedale's league position belies the quality of football that they play and, if they could create more in the final third then they would be a real threat.

As it was they opened brightly and, for the first ten minutes, hardly gave the visitors a kick. Keeper Chris Hargreaves reacted quickly to save at the feet of Philip Morgan and then Chris Monkhouse cleverly set up Adam Coombes but the midfielder, with only Hargreaves to beat, blazed over.

Once Trojans found their rhythm they began to cause all sorts of problems for the Bedale rearguard. The lively Phil Constantine found himself well placed on a couple of occasions but could not find the final ball to do any real damage. The winger did come close when his powerful left foot drive was turned away by Dan Baldwin following excellent approach work by Nick Quaife and Jonny Lofthouse.

Midfielder Andy Vowles almost caught Baldwin out with an audacious 30 yard lob.

At the other end a last ditch tackle from left-back Jonny Clarkson denied John Marshall as he was poised to pull the trigger but the Trojans' defence, uncertain in the early stages, regained their composure to show why they have kept five clean sheets in the last eight outings.

Trojans went in front on the half hour with a goal following a well worked move. Dave McKain linked up with Quaife to release Clarkson and, when Baldwin spilled his flighted cross under challenge from centre-forward Martin Robinson, Lofthouse was first to react, bundling the ball in.

The early stages of the second period were evenly contested but it was the visitors who continued to create most of the goalscoring opportunities.

McKain, becoming increasingly dangerous as the game progressed, latched on to a weak clearance and chased his own chip forward but was just denied by the last defender and Constantine drilled a right foot shot into the side netting when centre-half Chris Lockwood picked him out with a defence splitting pass.

Constantine saw a goal ruled out for off-side and the Quaife fired over as Trojans began to dominate.

Marshall missed a golden opportunity to level when unmarked ten yards out but he put Tetterington's cross into adjoining farmland.

It was to prove a costly miss as, within two minutes, Trojans had doubled their lead. The influential Quaife picked out Constantine on the left and his early cross found Vowles in acres of space to steer the ball past Baldwin for his first goal of the season.

Both Trojans' substitutes, Matt Hawnt and Matt Steer looked lively, and Steer's telling pass set up Constantine but Baldwin turned his close range effort away for a corner.

With five minutes remaining Man- of-the-Match Constantine finally got the goal his performance richly deserved Hargreaves' long clearance carried on the wind and Constantine held off Myers before nonchalantly flicking the ball over the 'keeper.

l On Saturday Trojans are away at struggling Wetherby Athletic Reserves, with a 12.30pm kick-off due to the England v Finland World Cup qualifier.

Semi-final woe for Reserves

TROJANS RESERVES......0

WELLINGTON.................3

Trojans Reserves' hopes of defending the Spa Cup were dashed at the semi-final stage by an accomplished Wellington side who ran out comfortable winners.

The match had been switched to The Rec due to foot and mouth restrictions at Wellington's Darley ground but home advantage seemed to count for little as Trojans were outplayed in all departments.

Wellington set out their game plan early on to stifle their opponents' attacking options and Trojans lacked the guile or invention to break them down.

Greg Anderson gave the visitors a 25th minute lead, converting a well

taken corner with the home defence missing in action.

Player manager Gary Shankland tried to inspire his troops, leading by example but to no avail. Shankland had Trojans best chance when he was put through with just Dave Smith to beat but the veteran keeper forced him wide, allowing the defence to get back and clear the danger. Smith also denied Man-of-the-Match Shankland again, tipping his long range effort over the bar during a rare period of Trojan' pressure.

The normally prolific Gareth Goodison had a quiet afternoon and only one real goalscoring opportunity came his way as the Trojans' frontline were forced to feed off starvation rations.

The crucial second goal arrived ten minutes into the second-half as Steve Nelson failed to cut out a through ball and Paul Thompson ran clear to send a crisp finish past 'keeper Michael Sant. Thompson sealed Wellington's place in the final with a third when Kieren Hanogue lost possession on half-way and the visitors took full advantage.

In truth Trojans have ridden their luck in recent weeks and this result should give them the wake up call they need ahead of Saturday's top-of-the-table clash with Harold Styans' Reserves. Whilst the match will not decide the destiny of the Third Division title, the winners will give themselves a crucial advantage with only a handful of games remaining.

Shankland has called the squad in for extra training during the week and asked all his players to show the commitment and consistency that will be a pre-requisite next season if Trojans gain promotion to Division Two.

Saturday's home match against Harold Styans Reserves, kicks-off at 2.30pm on The Rec.