Booth ventures up field to open Bingley Bees tally (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Stephen Booth ventures up field to open Bingley Bees tally

5:00pm Wednesday 13th March 2013 in Sport By Sports Desk

Stephen Booth scored a rare goal to set Bingley Bees on course for a comfortable Yorkshire League victory at home to City of York Sevenths.

It was actually the first time this season the Bees had played in the rain but that proved no deterrent as they ran out 4-1 winners to stay third in Division Six North.

Bingley made their usual quick start and took the lead after just ten minutes as Booth unexpectedly popped up in the D to calmly tuck the ball into the goal.

The Bees continued to dominate and it was very much against the run of play when the fifth-placed visitors snatched a fortunate equaliser.

The second half again saw Bingley pile on the pressure and they were rewarded when Ben Clough scored from a short corner four minutes after the restart.

York barely touched the ball again before Robbie Manning increased the lead when he patiently drew the keeper and slotted the ball past him.

And nine minutes later a number of shots were blocked or deflected before the ball fell kindly to Dennis Valentiner-Branth, who deflected it into the goal from close range to complete the tally.

Bingley Ladies’ final Premier Division away game of the season saw them have to settle for a 0-0 draw at second-bottom York University.

The mid-table Bees were slow to settle and York had most of the early possession but, despite some accurate passing, they could not manage to create a goal.

The second half saw Bingley improve but even a couple of short corners went to waste and it needed the relentless efforts of Kirsty Matthews to preserve their clean sheet.

Bingley Seconds had more joy as they won 2-1 against bottom side Leeds Adel Carnegie Fourths in Division Four.

It completed a double for the Bees, although the first encounter had been subject to a league enquiry after a late cancellation and Bingley were only awarded the win 3-0 this week.

The return meeting was expected to be awkward but actually proved to be a friendly game after Adel had started with a number of players missing due to traffic problems en route to the game.

The Bees were unable to break down a packed defence during the early exchanges and Adel were only able to go on the attack once they were back up to 11 players.

Bingley took the lead via a penalty stroke from defender Lesley Brian, awarded after a deliberate error in the goalmouth. Brian went on to be named player of the match.

The visitors took advantage of the Bees going into their shell after this as they equalised ten minutes from time.

But there was to be a dramatic conclusion as Jane Sharkey received the ball from midfielder Claire Watkins and powered through the Adel defence to net the winning goal.