AN Aiden Savory brace either side of a strange own goal kept Tadcaster Albion in the play-off places in the Evo-Stik League East Division after a 3-0 win at Stocksbridge Park Steels.

On a chilly afternoon in Yorkshire, Luke Porritt certainly heated things up a little showcasing his blistering pace on a couple of occasions seeing him soar past the full-back.

Brody Litchfield looked equally as exciting for the hosts as the striker was first to pull the trigger after quarter of an hour, although this wasn’t troubling Michael Ingham at all.

After bedding into the contest, a couple of half chances both fell the way of Casey Stewart. Paddy Miller’s free-kick was misjudged by Steels stopper Adam Kelsey which caught Stewart by surprise as he couldn’t convert or turn back across goal. The number seven was back on the ball seconds later, though, brilliantly skipping past his man on the right-hand side before seeing his flashed effort deflect wide.

Conditions certainly weren’t helping the encounter as the piercing wind and bobbly surface made it a pretty bitty affair. Luke Mangham tried his luck from range but Ingham saw it over his goal.

Stocksbridge started to increase their intensity slightly which led to the home side having a sustained spell of pressure. The first big moment in the match arose on 28 minutes as Brody Litchfield was sent racing clean through on goal and looked to have lift the ball over Ingham, only for the former Northern Ireland International to claw out the shot.

Albion came out of this period unscathed and started a promising spell of their own. Savory’s strike from outside the box was well held by Kelsey and Harry Coates dragged a shot wide after cheating down a free-kick.

Brewers who struck first blood two minutes from the interval. Joe Lumsden dangerously drove down the left-hand side and up into the box before delicately playing Savory in behind who slid underneath Adam Kelsey for his seventh goal of the campaign.

The scoreline should have looked even healthier for Simon Collins’ side at the break as Stewart squandered a glorious chance. Pete Davidson played the youngster through on goal but his close range effort was thwarted by an onrushing Kelsey.

Albion carried on where they left off at the beginning of the second-half as they were bewildered when referee Ian Johnston didn’t point to the penalty spot. Coates looked to have a simple header to make it 2-0 at the back post but appeared to be pushed off balance by Jordan Lemon, but the man in the middle wasn’t interested.

Taddy looked to be in control of another away match as 25 minutes passed without the home side really threatening.

The second goal was huge and it only looked like going one way. Savory had the ball in the net again on the hour mark heading brilliantly back across goal from a precise Barkworth cross but the offside flag went up.

Joe Lumsden was back on his old stomping ground but it wasn’t to be his day as he cast a frustrated figure up top for Taddy.

The striker missed a glorious chance on 74 minutes when Kelsey smashed a clearance straight into his own defender which dropped perfectly for Lumsden on the penalty spot but the goalkeeper made amends saving the shot.

Chances for Stocksbridge were few and far between but Luke Mangham felt he should have done better when a loose ball dropped to him inside the box but he dragged wide of the mark.

Lumsden continued to look desperate to get one past his old side after playing a lovely one-two with Stewart making his way into the box but once more the shot ran wide of the mark.

It didn’t prove to be costly as Albion’s lead was doubled on 79 minutes. Kelsey stormed off his line to meet a Miller free-kick but he couldn’t claim and he fortuitously bounced off Reece Fielding seeing the ball trickle into the back of the net.

Miller went close to bagging another free-kick this season as his strike crashed off the crossbar.

With the points all but sealed, Stocksbridge had their best chance of the afternoon as former Brewer Danny Frost prodded goalwards from a corner but Chris Howarth was in the right place at the right time to miraculously hook off the line.

Taddy added a bit of gloss on the result deep into injury-time by netting a third. After some marvellous work from Stewart, Savory cleverly let the ball run across his body before seeing his left-footed curler deflect past the hapless Kelsey.