Beverley were at home for the fourth week in a row for this Humber Premier League encounter, this has put tremendous pressure on the Norwood park pitch, but after extensive work by staff and players, it was in as good as condition as it has been for a few weeks.
The visitors were the free scoring North Cave that are having a very good season and currently occupied third place two points behind Town, although having played two games more than them.
The home team made three changes from the line-up which played the previous week. Tyler Collishaw came in up front; Manager Dave Ricardo picked himself in midfield, while Captain Jon Ricardo moved into midfield, replacing the injured Nathan White, with Dane Mortimer coming in at centre back.
Town started brightly and were on the front foot from the start pushing Cave back to the edge of their own box. They were particularly getting some joy down their right-hand side with full back Mike Dixon causing problems offensively.
On the other side, Collishaw was also causing problems. One run brought a possible penalty appeal, although the player seemed to go down a little theatrically.
For all the home teams’ dominance, they once again were struggling to create any real clear cut opportunities. North Cave were defending resolutely, after good work by Rob Northen the ball dropped to Ricardo (J), but his snap shot was well blocked by Cave captain and ex Town player Matt Hillary.
As half chances came and went it was the away team on the break who nearly opened the scoring, when a through ball from Jason Crisp, was latched onto by Craig Gorman, who currently leads the league scoring charts with 23 goals. Fortunately, for Beverley he shot straight into the arms of Adam Nicholson.
Town came out brightly in the second half with Mike O’Connell started to have more influence from an advanced position.
They had a fantastic opportunity to take the lead, when a long throw from Dixon was flicked on by Jonny Ricardo, straight to top scorer Northen but from five yards, he planted his header wide of the post.
Full back James Whittingham got to the by line to pull a cross back but once again, Hillary was there to clear.
The home team eventually took the lead when Northen who had led the line superbly all afternoon with his speed and movement, latched onto a through ball and chipped it over the goalkeeper.
As the ball headed for the net the Cave defender did well to recover and head the ball away for a corner, but in the meantime the away team goalkeeper Matthew Johnson had wiped out Rob Northen, a very good bit of refereeing was made as play was brought back and a penalty was awarded with the goalkeeper a little fortunate not to receive a caution. Northen coolly dusted himself down and stepped up to dispatch his fourteenth goal of the season with 21 mins left to play.
The game was on a knife edge now and although Beverley had dominated the majority of it, North Cave came back and nearly equalised when a ball into the box was dubiously cleared by Dixon, which could have easily been a penalty. This was a let off for Town and made them aware of North Caves goal threat.
With five minutes to go Nicholson had to be smartly off his line to tackle Gorman outside the box, with Town managing to scramble the ball away.
So Beverley managed to hang on to the three points. This was a big achievement for Town to keep a clean sheet against a prolific strike force. They have now played North Cave three times this season taking six points of them, and knocking them out the cup, without conceding a goal from open play.
The win also puts a dent in Cave’s push to close the gap on Town, although with a third of the season still to go, there is still an abundance of points to play for.
Beverley Town now move onto a vital Whiteheads Fish & Chips League Cup game against second place Sculcoates Amateurs. Although this is a respite from the league, Beverley will like to make a statement by completing a treble against their Hull based opponents, who they have already beaten twice in the league this season.
Final Score : Beverley Town 1 North Cave 0 | Reported by Steve Mulligan
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