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Sat. 18th
Aug 2012 |
V |
Ribchester (a) 2 - 1 (ht.0-1)
scorers :
S. Rawsthorn, N. Balch |
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We headed to Ribchester to make our debut in the Mid-Lancashire League with a mixture of last year’s 3rd and 4th team and it quickly because evident that we haven’t played much together in pre-season. We did
start the game brightly, winning a number of corners but didn’t really put them under enough pressure whilst we had the chance. Ribchester got into the game and started to dominate. They had two good players in the middle and an intelligent forward who often found himself in space. Despite their pressure, we were unlucky not to go ahead after Czerczak was gifted a chance after a poor clearance but he couldn’t get his long range shot on target of the empty net. Ribchester did take the lead after one of their forwards turned smartly and shot into the bottom corner. We improved a little after this but the first half belonged to our hosts. The two positives we had at half-time were that it was only 1-0 and we could play much better. We did improve a lot after the break and quickly drew level with
Balch scoring from the spot after the referee spotted a foul from a corner. Harle was brought on to freshen things up and he almost made an instant impact when he hit the bar from outside the area. Shortly after, Harle had another shot but this time it was blocked and it fell to
Rawsthorn who coolly finished putting us ahead. Ribchester started to get back into the match and we started to sit back a bit. Because they had only managed a couple of shots throughout the match they thought their best bet of an equaliser would be to dive for a penalty and they had three or four attempts that were embarrassing for everyone involved in the match. In fact, they were lucky not to get a few yellow cards for their efforts. With 5 minutes to go we were let off after goalkeeper for the day, Catlow, saved well from a free-kick but their forward was the only player to re-act to the rebound and fired over from inside the 6-yard box. The last minute saw us mess-up a 3-on-1 chance before Ribchester won the penalty they’d been looking for. The referee claimed it would be the last kick of the match and there would be no rebounds. The Ribchester forward had one chance. Unfortunately for him, he was up against our man-of-the-match, Catlow, and the strike was well saved and earned us a good three points to the start the season.
- MB |
| Sat. 25th Aug 2012 |
V |
Greenlands (h) 0 - 3 (ht.0-2)
scorers :
- |
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The third team's management dream team were in tandem for the first time this season, after one half of it had been the Broughton caretaker for Legia Broughton the previous Saturday. A partnership destined to rival Robson & Mourihno, Mercer & Allinson, Clough & Taylor, Cannon & Ball - you choose. McBowerman managed to conjure a keeper from the ether for the afternoon and two subs at short notice, which meant that in spite of it being a Bank Holiday weekend we had 14 (well we did after about 20 minutes when two of the subs arrived). A novel approach has been adopted to deal with the drainage problems at the Broughton Arena, which involves bringing the touchline in 10 feet on one side of the pitch - not sure this would pass muster with the FA as they are too concerned at the moment with increasing the sales of tape by mandating that tape colour matches sock colour (didn't know you could get mangy off red tape). This lateral thinking ensured that the game went ahead, although the surface was slick and suited to teams that played football - which ruled us out. It was also the first game back for Duffy after his year in exile on the dark side (aka Horwich). The first 20 minutes were relatively even. McBowerman had the best effort making the goalie work with a 20 yard effort. Our back four looked in control and whilst we ceded a fair amount of possession to our opponents we looked relatively secure. We then had a poor 10 minutes. We could do very little about their first goal which came from a first time cross volleyed past our keeper. Their second which came very shortly after was down to us switching off at a set piece - we weren't so much caught sleeping as suffering from collective 'locked-in' syndrome - which allowed one of our opponents to pick up the ball from a throw in and stroll unchecked into the area before smashing a shot into the roof of the net. We eventually cleared our heads and tried to get back into the game before half time - we created some chances and squandered one golden opportunity which would have got us back into the game. We officially shuffled the formation at half time - although this had already happened in the first half - and resorted to 4-5-1. To quote McBowerman Snr 'the next goal was crucial' - unfortunately after about 15 minutes of the second half it came from our opponents. We stood off them and allowed one of their guys to shoot from over 25 yards out - admittedly it was a peach. There was no way back from here - although McBowerman Jnr could not convert when through one on one with their keeper and Jay scored only for it to be disallowed. I am not sure that our opponents were three goals better than us, but whether we deserved a draw is a moot point. Our back four played OK - including Lowcock who at least appeared to have started the season with his boots on the right feet. However in midfield we lacked shape - probably the result or having too many players prepared to attack but not necessarily defend. Only two games gone so plenty of time to improve and for Abbot and Costello (AKA the Management) to get better.
- IW |
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Sat. 1st Sept 2012 |
V |
Walmer Bridge Res (h) 3 - 0 (ht.2-0)
scorers :
S. Rawsthorn, M. Bowerman, T. Lannigan |
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After lasts week’s defeat we wanted to get back to winning ways. Having lost Duffy to the 2nd team, Buxton came back into the side and we started with five in midfield to try and prevent us getting overrun in the middle like we were against Greenlands. We started the match brightly and passed the ball round well. We quickly took the lead after a delightful pass put through
Rawsthorn who scored with a fine finish. We continued to dominate the game and gave the visitors very little as we worked hard to get ball back on the few times we lost it. They resorted to some embarrassing diving from the start with the number 10 being the guiltiest. We doubled our lead mid-way through the first half after Lannigan met Rawsthorn’s corner and hit the post only for
M.Bowerman to react first and nod the rebound home from a yard out. Up until this point we really were playing very well. For some reason (probably fitness) we decided to stop doing everything good that we’d been doing and let Walmer Bridge back into the match. Centre-backs Bury and Mews did well to prevent any clear cut chances until the last few minutes of the half but Sparke, our third ‘keeper in as many games, pulled of an excellent save after their forward went through one-on-one. The second half started as the first ended, with the visitors on top. Sparke did well in nets until he missed a corner but luckily it fell to our mate, number 10, who hit the post when it was easier to score. Number 10 then missed a one-on-one before we started to get back into it again. Mid-way through the half, Rawsthorn broke down the right and pulled back for
Lannigan to score and put the game beyond doubt. Our new friend, number 10, had a few more attempts at winning a penalty with some hilarious dives. We brought on our subs and that gave us a boost and we saw the game out with relative ease. If we can replicate the performance of the first 30 minutes frequently this season then we’ll do well this season. If we play like the rest of the match for the rest of the season we’ll do nothing because we won’t come up against a
joke number 10 every week! - MB |
| Sat. 8th Sept 2012 |
V |
Lostock St. Gerrards (h) 1 - 5 (ht.1-1)
scorers :
T. Lannigan |
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The move into the Mid Lancs league was supposed to be the pre-cursor to a period of reduced travel and relative calm. The first part seems to have worked but not sure about the second part. With 14 at 9am, by 1.30pm this had fallen to 11 and by kick off we were back to 11 plus two elderly subs. The McBowerman’s were away supporting the rather futile process that is Scotland’s attempt to qualify for Brazil 2014, and with other players either unavailable or moved up to patch up holes in the other teams we had less than half the team which had won the previous week. As a result with only 4 games gone we are on track to match last season’s tally of 40+ players used. Our much changed line up combined with our opponents 45 minute warm up, which would have put Championship teams to shame, created a sense of foreboding. The referee, unusually, a South African with more than a passing resemblance to Eugene Terre Blanche (80’s Afrikanaar far right-wing firebrand), eventually turned up at 2.25pm so relieving the manager of the need to referee badly (that could be done by a proper referee). Surprisingly give the chaotic build up we started really brightly, our midfield trio of Lannigan, Crawford and Lannigan’s mate passing the ball around well and feeding Balch with a number of good passes into the channels or behind the back four. After about 15 minutes we took a deserved lead when Lannigan was given too much space in the box to slot home a rebound. As with previous weeks our period of relative comfort was then followed by a period where we started to defend deeper and give the ball away too much by looking for the “Gerrard/ Holywood” ball to Balch. St Gerrards equalised from a corner when poor closing down allowed them to fire in relatively unchallenged from the six yard box. Immediately before half time we came back into it. With a St Gerrards keeper who treated the ball like a bar of soap and Balch and Garner looking dangerous when given the opportunity to attack their back four we were hopeful of getting something out of the second half. However our second half, not helped by the heat, resembled last Saturdays as we continued to defend deeper, give the ball away too much and not succeed in squeezing space to avoid the game getting stretched. Last Saturday our goal had led a charmed life through a combination of luck and bad finishing – unfortunately our luck and reliance on poor finishing ran out this week. St Gerrards scored 4 unanswered goals in the second half and once they had got to 3-1 with 20 minutes to go our heads dropped. A disappointing result but there were bright moments to cling on to.
- IW |
Sat. 15th Sept 2012
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V |
New Longton Res (a) 2 - 1 (ht.1-0)
scorers :
S. Rawsthorn, N. Balch
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Away to New Longton looking to improve on last week's result. Due to
cancellations elsewhere we were able to keep several key players. We
also welcomed back a few players that had been missing recently. We
started with a solid 4-5-1 formation with Rawsthorn doing the lone
striker role supported by Balch and our two youg players Blackwell
and Garner. Whilst these four caused our opponents many problems
there were also a host of misplace passes that led to failed
attacks. Buxton and Lannigan worked hard in the middle and prevented
New Longton from causing us too many problems, although they did
look dangerous down our left side. Our best efforts in the first
half both came from Garner but both shots were just wide. As the ref
was about to blow for half-time Lannigan's pass found
Rawsthorn who volleyed home sweetly into the bottom corner.
Up to this point everyone was playing fairly well but we weren't
quite clicking as a team. We wanted to attack them early in the
second half to try and increase our lead and get their heads down.
It's not often the team listen to the half time instructions but
this time it seems they did as from the kick-off the pass back to
Lowcock allowed him to knock a long ball to Balch
who superbly lobbed the keeper to score our second. Hesketh and
Lannigan nearly added a third with long range efforts. With about 20
mins to go we started to bring on our subs but this disrupted our
game rather than add the energy we needed. New Longton were handed a
lifline when Lowcock fouled an opponent in the box but the resulting
penalty was launched over the bar and we retained our two goal
advantage. However with ten mins to go they did get a goal back.
After this we played terribly, sat back and allowed them to
attack us. We held on for the win but only just, even though we
deserved it we made it much harder than it should've been. - MB |
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Sat. 13th Oct 2012 |
V |
Farrington Villa (a) 1 - 4 (ht.0-2)
scorers :
N. Balch |
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After an early mid season break brought on by the biblical floods of recent weeks we were back in action for first time for 4 weeks. McBowerman Senior was restricted to a non playing role (a bit like his fellow countrymen the night before) due to his late return from international duty and the lake of lager quaffed in the Welsh capital. Bury, who started the game in his usual centre half berth, possibly should have taken a leaf out of McBowerman's book, but more of that later. A couple of Bury's mates were drafted in late Friday night to bolster the threadbare squad, one of whom was called Clint and chose to wear gloves for the first half - I'll avoid the obvious
clichés about feeling lucky.
A somewhat lacklustre pre match talk set the tone for a first half where we found ourselves playing up the only slope in Worden Park - if you exclude the slides. We held our own defensively for 30 minutes, although at times it was close and we did trouble their keeper a few times from long balls knocked into the channels for Bowerman and Balch to gamely chase. Our best effort was a free kick from Balch which their keeper did exceptionally well to keep out. However eventually their weight of possession told and they scored with a header. With a second coming just before half time from a catalogue of defensive errors the omens did not look good for the second half. Playing down hill we did however get ourselves back into the game when
Balch scored with a header from a corner. All we needed now was a period of calm, without any further goals being conceded - some hope.
They scored a third, which was even more comical in the way we defended than the first and then very shortly after scored a fourth with a cracking strike from 20 yards. The game was over and thankfully Farrington took this view too. We did subsequently create some chances and Braithwaite came on and provided a cameo of nutmegs, step-overs and pull backs the like of which we are unlikely to see again. In summary we did not play well, defended even worse and got exactly what we deserved. In our next match, which given the current weather will likely be around Shrove Tuesday we need to have some confidence in our ability to play the ball to a red shirt, or alternatively hope Bury isn't out on the lash the previous night.
- IW |
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Sat. 20th Oct 2012 |
V |
Hoole Utd Res (a) 1 - 0 (ht.0-0)
scorers :
N. Balch |
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A second consecutive Saturday on which we were playing football (or at least participating in a game of association football) and miraculously it appeared that Bury had turned up sober – must be middle of the month and too far away from payday. McBowerman was back from Brussels having watched the “golden generation” of Belgium dispatch the Scottish “golden shower”. The recuperative effects of Belgium's cloudy beer couldn’t quite get him back to full fitness so he was restricted to the subs berth – but beware the cautionary tale of Gascoine who also went in for similar re-fuelling only he started with an abundance of skill. A number of changes were forced by injury, unavailability and Lowcock, somewhat optimistically taking his kit car for a track day (a triumph of hope over experience). The manager, inspired by McBowerman’s European odyssey decided to go for a 3-4-3 formation which was actually more inspired by the expediency of only having 3 defenders in the whole squad. The first half was definitely our opponents, even with 7 players in midfield and forward positions we still found it very difficult to pass it to someone in a red shirt and instead chose a white shirt. It was therefore left to our back three of reformed alcoholic Bury, Cheesy (beaten to the title of oldest player on the pitch by the 48 year old defender playing for our opponents, who had clearly had the easier paper round) and “Crazy Legs” Braithwaite (who was probably our man of the match even without any nutmegs, stepovers or other general japery) and our goalkeeper Sprake (who I have only just realised shares more than a name with 70’s Leeds goalkeeping legend Gary Sprake) to keep Hoole scoreless at half time. We created only one real clear cut chance in the first half when Mike”Delap” Buxton launched one of his throw ins half the length of the pitch and from six inches Simon “I have never missed a penalty” Rawsthorn headed wide from a free header, when that outcome represented the most unlikely and difficult to achieve – now that takes a special skill. Second half we were far better and when Balch, Rawsthorn and Rafa started moving a little bit to make it more difficult for our opponents to mark them we started to create chances. Our goal came when McBowerman jnr knocked in a cross for
Balch to strike in at the far post. Rafa and Balch had other chances to score but unfortunately we were unable to take them which meant we had a difficult last 15 minutes. However a switch to a more usual 4-5-1, with Pomfret slotting in at full back and also wasting some valuable time by doing his now customary dying swan act, steadied the team and we held out for a satisfying 1 nil victory. So next week in tribute to Scotland 6-4-0.
- IW |
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Sat. 27th Oct 2012 |
V |
New Longton Rovers Res (h) 3 - 0 (ht.1-0)
scorers :
N. Balch 2, M. Bowerman |
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A rarity, a home game at Broughton at the end of October. Normally at this time of year the pitch is under 6 inches of water and we have commenced our mid season break (some may argue some players have already started this). However a combination of the recent good weather, the council’s attempts to sort the drains and making one of the touchlines inside the penalty area had the desired effect of making sure the game was on. With only Pomfret missing from last week Lowcock was drafted in to the three at the back and Bury, against assistant manager’s McBowerman advice, was pushed into the holding, sitting role in midfield – a task to which his physique was amply suited (or should that be ample physique was suited?). We persisted with the Mancini inspired 3-4-3 formation, with a similar level of preparedness. For the first five minutes we were sloppy, Crazy Legs Braithwaite setting the tone when mis-controlling a ball back to him from the kick off. However once we got going there was only really one team in it. We were one nil up at half time but six or seven would not have flattered us. The fact we weren’t was done to some rank bad finishing, three or four stunning saves from their keeper and the fact that with three up top we still managed to have no-one in the six yard box when balls were sent in. It was somewhat ironic that our goal came straight from a corner taken by
Balch. It was hoped that at half time we would not regret our wastefulness in front of goal. In the second half we were not as incisive in our passing and our three amigos up top seemed to spend more time running into each others’ space rather than their own. We still wasted a number of further chances, with Rawsthorn (yet again) demonstrating that heading is not on his list of skills (it’s a short list) when he missed a free header from inside the six yard box. We were spared a nervous final 15 minutes when
Balch eventually got a second. There was still time for McBowerman Snr to come off the bench and add a third with a scuffed shot. Overall a reasonable performance against rather limited opposition and a clean sheet for the rarely troubled back three and Sprake. They must have been limited because there was a point in the second half where Lowcock deviated from type and played some football (the now obligatory put down!).
- IW |
Sat. 5th Jan 2013
Cup
Rd 1 |
V |
Ecclestone & Heskin Res (h) 5 - 2 (ht.2-0)
scorers :
N. Balch, F. Farrington, T. Lannigan 3
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL TROPHY RD 1
Unbelievably, a pitch inspection on Friday revealed that the Broughton pitch was playable, all be it that the lines were a little faint. McBowerman Snr was away, apparently walking up a mountain / hill in Wales in the style of the Hugh Grant film of the nineties (look it up on Google), so the management dream team (the latter day equivalent of Clough and Taylor - one for McBowerman Snr Snr) was down to one member. Farrington returned to the team from his tax exile creating offshore corporate vehicles to eliminate UK corporation tax. Man about town (or C&A) Rawsthorn was absent, as was the skippers armband so Lowcock was promoted to Skipper for the day minus said band. Finally to finish the team news the seasons award for the most honest assessment of their own shortcomings goes to McBowerman Jnr who was told he was playing right side of midfield. The look on his face was one of pure surprise, and when questioned whether this was because he was carrying an injury the response given was "No just carrying all this excess weight (pointing to his midriff)". Anyway enough of this and to the game. This was a cup match and were playing a team in the division above - no problem given our giant killing cup acts of previous seasons. Our opponents played into our hands by playing the Jolly Green Giant as their centre forward, which meant our two pacey centre halves - Bury and Cheesey - were never going to be embarrassed in a foot race. We started the game well our back four looking organised and the midfield three of Lannigan, Farrington and Buxton working well to stop our opponents getting a foothold in the game. We took the lead after 20 minutes when a shot from
Lannigan was deflected in - the dubious goals panel has awarded him the goal as it was easier than putting 'OG' on the match card. We extended our lead soon after when
Balch calmly slotted in. There was still time for Balch to have one disallowed before Eccleston finally came into the game for the last 10 minutes of the first half. We turned around at half time 2 nil to the good and we soon extended our lead through a
Lannigan flicked header. Further goals came from
Farrington and Lannigan with the goal of the match a back heeled flick the equal of Messi. Our opponents managed two consolation goals (one when the score was three nil and one at 5 1) which were primarily down to us being in cruise mode. A good performance and worth a mention that Lowcock put in his least brainless performance in a red shirt. Clearly the added responsibility of captaincy - he just needs to buy an armband now, which given his parsimony with money is unlikely
- IW |
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Sat. 12th Jan 2013 |
V |
Greenlands (a) 1 - 7 (ht.1-3)
scorers :
T. Bowerman |
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This was a rare week when we were, supposedly, at full strength and had a full complement of subs. Lowcock had invested in a captains armband, but not a watch and as a result cut it fine arriving on the pitch with only a few minutes to spare until we kicked off. It was nice to be playing on the flat, even surface of Cottam well suited to our expansive game! Within 10 minutes we had taken the lead - a back heel flick from Cheesy from a corner fell to McBowerman Jnr to finish from close range. However within a further 15 minutes we were 3-1 down. Greenlands equaliser was a fluke, a clearance from Sprake hitting the backside of their in rushing forward and looping into the goal. Their second also came when a ricochet dropped to their forward only 6 yards out, and the third when a save from Sprake fell to the feet of their centre forward. There was still time for Sprake to save a penalty before half time - who says the Premiership has a monopoly on entertaining matches. Our purple patch in the first half was limited to 10 minutes in the middle of the half when we passed reasonably well without ever creating that many clear cut chances. Catlow clearly knew was coming and suffered a hamstring pull during the first half which led to his replacement by Crazy Legs Braithwaite. In the second half we held our own for the first 20 minutes or so and had a reasonable share of the ball. However once our opponents scored their fourth it was always going to be a case of damage limitation - something we didn't succeed at as we ran out of steam for the last 20 minutes. In summary Greenlands deserved their victory as they were the better team. Our defeat wasn't through lack of effort and its worth mentioning Balch who chased lost causes all afternoon and Garner, who may be the smallest and youngest member of the team, but shows good promise. Nothing sarcastic, ironic, patronising or libellous to add this week.- IW. |
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Sat. 2nd Feb 2013 |
V |
Ribble Wanderers (h) 2 - 5 (ht.1-2)
scorers :
o.g. Garner |
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Another week and another permutation of players and formations. With both Catlow, injured, and Lowcock, unavailable, we had no orthodox full backs on the basis that you will never find a sentence containing the words; Crazy Legs Braithwaite and orthodox full back. Therefore with Ryan returning on a free transfer from Baxters, news which seemed to have missed the BBC's transfer window update and that ponce Savage, we reverted to a back three. For the first 10 minutes it appeared that collectively we had no idea how to play 5-3-2 and so we reverted back to the no nonsense 4-4-2, clearly proving that you can keep your continental mumbo jumbo. Immediately we looked more secure. We created a number of chances from distance for Rawsthorn and Balch scared the life out of their back four, so much so that we took the lead when they headed through their
own goal. However we were playing a decent side who had a few players capable of playing at a higher level. We were riding our luck a little, no more so when Ryan demonstrated he had lost none of his lack of pace to concede a penalty, which our opponents failed to convert due to Sprakes heroics in goal. It was a shame we couldn't have kept our lead until half time but two soft goals conceded meant we went in at half time 2-1 down. Shortly after half time and a couple of changes not withstanding we found ourselves 4-1 down. Our opponents were now rampant finding space, time on the ball and willing runners - a cricket score looked on the cards. However we stuck at it through a combination of luck, last ditch defending and a great performance from Sprake. We narrowed the deficit when a shot from Balch was parried and
Garner, the shortest player on the pitch was there to head in. And for a little while our opponents almost became worried and we started to play a little bit of football. With five minutes left Ribble scored a fifth to complete their scoring. So in our last two games we have conceded 12 goals and our next opponents are Ribble in the cup - time to buy a bus I think.
- IW
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Sat. 9th Feb 2013
Cup
Rd 2 |
V |
Ribble Wanderers (a) 3 - 1 (ht.1-0)
scorers :
R. Czerczak 3
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL TROPHY ROUND 2.
Another week, same opponents and a chance for the Thirds to demonstrate their cup pedigree. This being the Shakespeare Cup I was tempted to quote a verse from the bard (as Eddy Brown was so want to do), not having paid much attention in English however I resorted to playing Falstaff in the holding midfield role. A late pitch inspection passed the pitch fit to play on, unlike a few of our players. With some returning faces we were able to field a strong team, Rawsthorne and Lowcock not withstanding, and lined up 4-5-1 with the metaphorical No 33 bus parked in front of goal. Lowcock reclaimed the skippers armband from the absent McBowerman. The first 5 minutes of the game continued the theme from last week with our opponents running rings around us. However once we had got settled and worked out we were playing in green and not red we began to organise well and look dangerous on the break through Balch, Rafa and Rawsthorn. The best chance of the first twenty minutes fell to Cheesy, who with a free header from 5 yards somehow contrived to head over. During this first period Lowcock also managed to win the award for most blatant dive/fall/dying-swan act - it wasn't even close. We eventually took the lead when
Rafa, having frightened the life out if their back two seized on an error by them and scored from a narrow angle. The rest of the half was played out predominantly in our half but we defended well, with the back four, featuring a returning Mews at centre half, coping admirably and the midfield three of Lannigan, Buxton and Bury closing down space. Bury was particularly adept at this, possibly helped by his physical attributes. The second half continued in the same vein as the first half. However as we tired they began to find more space, hitting the bar and finally from a corner getting the equaliser. With twenty minutes to go it looked like our opponents would finish the stronger side. However with a couple of positional changes we took the lead again through Rafa. This teed the game up for a final, frantic 10 minutes, which involved a goal line clearance/save from Sprake and a last ditch block from Crazy Legs Braithwaite. With only minutes left we earned a free kick just outside the area. Rather than put it in the corner, Balch struck a sweet free kick which the goalie did well to parry but
Rafa was there to score his and the teams third. There was still even time for Ryan to drop his shoulder, like a latter day Hansen, with a mazy run into Ribble's half. A well earned win secured by a team effort.
- IW |
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Sat. 16th Feb 2013 |
V |
Hoole United Res (h) 2 - 5 (ht.2-2)
scorers :
N. Balch, o.g. |
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If you can't say something positive say nothing at all! This was an
awful performance.
Positive points: Balch scored
a decent goal from a free-kick albeit helped a little by their
keeper. Less Bale more Bell. Sprake now rivals Paul
Cooper, famous 70's ipswich town keeper and Sly stallone stand-in
for Escape to Victory, for his ability to keep out penalties. No
bookings - this falls in the category of clutching at straws. Cheesy
locked up so allowing Broughton's answer to Graham Westley to make a
quick exit. In the 5 games since start of year a total of 33 goals
have been scored - that'll bring the crowds back !! - IW |
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Sat. 23rd Feb 2013 |
V |
Walmer Bridge Res (a) 5 - 2 (ht.2-1)
scorers :
N. Balch, T. Bowerman, R. Czerczak 3 |
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If you were a betting man (or women to be PC) and the betting companies were vaguely interested in Division Three of the Mid Lancashire Football League then I would put my £5 each week for the rest of the season on a scoreline of 5
- 2 for the thirds. This was the fourth time in the last 6 games we had been involved in such a scoreline. It was a shame that Latham, the perpetual sub and bench warmer, pulled out at the last minute as the set up at Walmer Bridge was a good one with two proper, professional, perspex dug outs to keep him warm and seated. We welcomed back two left feet Lowcock and McBowerman senior from first team duty and also juggled at the back with Crazy Legs Braithwaite and Chris 'The Fridge' Bury slotting in at full back and centre half respectively. Frankly by the time it gets to Sunday afternoon I have neither the inclination nor memory to provide a completely accurate report of he game, hence why this report usually resorts to insults or obscure 70s and 80s footballing references. This week will be no different. In spite of early possession and looking secure at the back we still managed to go one down when a mistimed clearance fell to their number 9 to score after 20 minutes. We equalised when
Rafa converted one of the numerous chances created for him during the afternoon and took the lead shortly after when McBowerman junior rifled in a left footed shot off a post. Second half continued in similar vein with further goals from
Balch and two from Rafa - we could have had more. We beat what was a fairly average team and at times the second half appeared to be more about how many times Braithwaite could nutmeg his winger or Lowcock could amble into the opponents half. The final ten minutes of the game saw our opponents get a further consolation goal and the introduction of McBowerman minor - the third of the clan to play and providing Broughton's answer to those other famous Scottish footballing brothers the Wallaces.
- IW |
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Sat. 2nd Mar2013 |
V |
Fulwood Garrison (a) 1 - 2 (ht.0-1)
scorers :
N. Balch |
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Another week and another chance to rearrange the deck chairs on what passes for the Titanic - Broughton Thirds. Rafa having been in prolific form was promoted to seconds so leaving us with only Balch as a recognised striker. Bury, who can always be relied upon to see the positive in any situation, was convinced that the game simply presented an opportunity for some former disgruntled Sunday players of his to nail him, given his pace he wouldn't be difficult to catch. In light of the resources at the disposal of the manager a park the bus, 4-5-1 formation was adopted. This proved to be the first of a number of errors for the afternoon. A combination of formation, lethargy and a collective vow of silence meant that we spent most of the first half on the back foot. Balch bucked the trend by deciding that he would take Garrison on all by himself and gave their centre halves a torrid match. In spite of the oppositions possession they only rarely threatened, primarily when they attacked us down our flanks with pace. It was from a ball from the right that Garrison took the lead when their forward was allowed to rise unchallenged and head in. A half time request to wake up initially seemed to go unheeded, and we went two nil down when a penalty was given against 'Swiss Tony' Lowcock for handball which Sprake could not perform his usual act of saving. By all accounts the referee made an error in awarding the penalty, however in the case of Lowcock this was clearly karma. Rawsthorn was then introduced to the game with half an hour to go, and if I were being generous I would suggest he changed the game, if I were being less generous (and it is Simon we are talking about) I would suggest it was reverting to two up front which changed things.
Balch continued his one man attack/MoM performance by claiming a goal back and could and should have had more. As the minutes ticked away our opponents ceded space and we created a number of positions from corners and Buxton's 'Delap like' throw ins which we should have exploited but didn't. Bowerman Snr, being the big Celtic fan that he is, even tried to recreate the corners from the recent Juve game in true Baddiel & Skinner Phoenix from the Flames style - probably being too effective as he didn't score. It was all to no avail and we never managed to get the equaliser.
- IW |
Sat. 9th Mar 2013
Cup
Rd 3 |
V |
Greenlands (a) 2 - 1 (ht.0-1)
scorers :
N. Balch, o.g. |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL TROPHY Rd 3
Quarter final of the cup and
a game against a team who in the league we had an aggregate score of
1:10 against. At least the one was an away goal which counts double! So
a forgone conclusion then, and yet football is a funny old game as Greavsie once used to say. We had the usual problems with player availability due to work, sickness, promotion and in the case of McBowerman Senior bungee jumping. McBowerman Jnr was promoted to first team sub at the ground - although never quite made it to Myerscough, and McBowerman Elder's brooding presence was missing from the touch line. This meant for the first time in a while no McBowerman involvement. The team was set up 4-4-2 and told to be compact without the ball - a task requiring Bury to defy the laws of physics. Make no bones about it Greenlands are not a bad side and have a number of decent players so we were in for a long, hard afternoon. Five minutes in it appeared it was going to be a lifetime. From a corner their big lump of a number nine out leapt our relatively diminutive back line to take the lead. However we held our nerve and slowly got a foothold in the game. Farrington, performing a Lazarus like recovery to rise from his deathbed, together with the rest of our midfield began to gain possession and look dangerous with some penetrative passing. Rawsthorn and Balch kept their back four busy but with the exception of some shots from range we lacked a cutting edge. One nil down at half time represented good progress but didn't alter the fact we were getting beat. We continued to play well from the start of the second half - both Bone and Catlow our two wide midfielders defending well in addition to looking dangerous going forward. Our opponents began to get more fractious with themselves clearly believing that they should have simply had to turn up to win. We eventually equalised when Balch slotted in from close range and this just made the mood of our opponents even worse. Their carrot topped centre half being the pick of the pain in the backsides. Shortly after we took the lead when a cross from Bone was turned into their own goal by
one of their defenders. This set up a nervy final 15 minutes, however our back four of Hesketh, Bury, Ryan and Buxton held firm to steer us to victory. The cup adventure rolls on to the semi final.
- IW |
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Sat. 23rd Mar 2013 |
V |
Tarelton Corinthians (a) 2 - 1 (ht.2-0)
scorers :
R. Czerczak, S. Rawsthorn |
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With each advancing year the memory glows cloudier but if we have played football on a a colder, windier day than this I would be surprised. The mercury suggested that the air temperature was barely above freezing and with the effects of the wind chill it felt at least like -5. Therefore "Hardest Man" of the day award goes to Adamson, who having agreed to sub braved 80 minutes of the game with the minimum of gear over his playing kit before coming on for a final 10 minutes just to avoid hypothermia. It was a shame that the wind was so strong and blowing straight down the middle of what was a very good playing surface. McBowerman Senior, skipper for the day to try and take his mind off the previous nights feeble Scotland display and as reward for being the only fool driving down the M74 on the worst day of the year, made his most telling contribution by winning the toss and choosing to play with the full force of the elements in our favour for the first half. This was truly going to be a game of two halves. Not unsurprisingly we resorted to Wimbledon tactics (those of the Crazy Gang era not SW19) which involved long punts down field on the wind which their centre halves ended up defending on the edge of their own six yard box. It also helped that the wind was clearly playing havoc with their goalkeepers mojo as he had no idea what the ball would do. Without ever looking particularly comfortable we created a number of chances from this tactic and
Rafa and Rawsthorn both ended up on the score sheet at half time, but should have had more. So the only question at half time was would 2 nil be enough in the face of playing into the gale in the second half. After about 10 minutes the answer appeared no when their centre forward connected with a corner to bring them back into the game. Apparently there were strong suggestions that he may have scored more in the fashion of Maradonna and his hand of good, which was good going if he still had feeling in his hands at this point. As expected we came under more pressure as any attempt to launch the ball forward simply resulted in the ball been blown back, although as in the first half the team playing into the wind actually played the better football - they say necessity is the mother of invention. We were indebted to Sprake in our goal for ensuring that we ultimately secured the win, when he pulled off a couple of excellent saves. At the end there was a general sense of relief when the ref blew his whistle and we could get out of the wind and into the warmth with a win secured. |
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Sat. 30th Mar 2013 |
V |
Fulwood Garrison (h) 1 - 4 (ht.1-2)
scorers :
T. Lannigan |
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This will be a match report short on detail of a poor performance and long on the usual mickey taking of the great and bloody awful who make up the third team. Not unsurprisingly given it was Easter Saturday there were large scale, forced changes and more aliases than a John Le Carre novel. The McBowerman clan were missing - a wedding or something and the opportunity to wear a skirt being the excuse, and not necessarily in that order. Balch who has probably been one of our best players was unavailable, having gone to Leeds and is probably still looking for it. We were even missing Buxton and his long throw weapon. Ever grateful for small mercies Bury remained very much available. Chris Fillingham made a welcome return from long term injury - and given that he last played around the same time as McHugh's last game I thought he to had retired to avoid playing golf with Monks. King George playing fields were in pristine condition, probably down to the absence of football over the last 5 months - not something which we were about to change. First 15 minutes we started OK. Lannigan and Rawsthorn doing alright up front and Fillingham stamping his mark on midfield. Then it all started to go South with defending that would have had Alan Hansen slashing his wrists. The first goal resulted simply from a long throw which nobody in our 6 yard box chose to deal with. It got worse when not long after Ryan got in a tangle and presented them with a second. Somehow, and I am not quite sure how, we managed to get a toehold in the game when Lannigan scored with a long range effort. Half time arrived with us losing 2:1. We started the second half on the offensive but in spite of a number of corners and free kicks never really looked like scoring. Their third came from the penalty spot when Ryan was adjudged to have upended their forward. At this point we appeared to collectively give up and accept that we were getting nothing out of the game. They got a fourth and the game seemed to be drifting to a conclusion when Rawsthorn was late on their centre half and in retaliation the centre half threw Rawsthorn to the ground. The referee showed some common sense for once in simply booking both - he clearly appreciated it was Simon! A thoroughly miserable afternoon not helped by the witless banter from the opposition.
- IW |
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Sat. 6th Apr 2013 |
V |
Farrington Villa (h) 0 - 1 (ht.0-0)
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Despite having a cup semi-final next week, and places to play for, we had a number of players missing this week for a wide variety of reasons including horse racing, injury, visiting relatives and marathons in Prague. In addition, two players didn't show up on the day so we started the match with 10 men, with an eleventh on his way but caught up in a traffic jam on the M6. We started with a 4-4-1 formation with the one being a 40-odd year old striker trying to do the work of two players. An early injury to M.Bowerman meant that we were even more handicapped after less than 10 minutes despite the midfielder staying on the pitch and trying to hobble about. Farrington had a lot of the ball but didn't really threaten our goal and big Andy was untroubled for most of the half because of the hard work that the team put in on a warm day. Ryan and Cheesy were particularly solid in the centre of defence. With five minutes left of the first half our last man joined us and the tide turned instantly; suddenly we had more of the ball and we causing them the problems. We came closest when Ryan headed down a corner and T.Bowerman volleyed inches over the top corner of the net. We started the 2nd half with a 4-4-2 formation and attempted to keep up the same work ethic with had worked so well in the first half. The game started evenly but the visitors did go ahead; Sprake saved well after their forward was put through one-on-one but the loose ball was crossed back in and their forward somehow headed the ball under our 'keeper. They had the chance to kill the game minutes after that but shot wide after being one-on-one again. After that all the good attacking play cam from Broughton. The impressive Humphries headed against the bar from one of a series of corners we had in a row. T.Bowerman show narrowly wide after running with the ball from the half-way line. Balch beat the off-side trap, turned a shot first time when we had more time than he realised and in the last few seconds, Ryan found himself one-on-one with their 'keeper but couldn't quite get the ball under control to get a shot away. We did work hard but didn't quite get that little bit of luck we needed to get something from the game. The most disappointing thing was the two players that didn't show up and we had to play so much of the match with 10 men. - MB |
Sat. 13th Apr 2013
Cup
Semi |
V |
Southport & Ainsdale Ams Res 1 - 1 (FT & AET:
WON 4-3 ON PENS)
scorers :
N. Balch (Pens: A. Garner, C. Bury, R. Catlow, I. Hesketh) |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL TROPHY
SEMI-FINAL - PLAYED AT TARLETON CORINTHIANS FC.
It was the weekend of semi-finals for that famous cup competition, talked about the world over. No not the FA Cup being contested by a collection of egg chasers, Danny Dyer acolytes and the nouveau rich, but the Shakespeare Memorial Cup competition. We returned to the neutral ground of Tarleton, where we had played 3 weeks ago in Siberian temperatures and a raging gale, whilst the temperature had risen the wind was still blowing. We had the usual selection headaches, Rafa had returned to Poland for the weekend to be Polish (Andy 'Gary' Sprake apparently takes credit for that nugget), Ali Mews was injured, Crazy Legs Braithwaite had gone AWOL and 'Swiss Tony' Lowcock was incommunicado. Balch was only 75% fit, which was 50% fitter than McBowerman Snr who chose this game to wear the gayest boots since Halse wore pink boots a couple of years ago. The match was preceded by a minutes silence, which initially worried Socialist Worker Party member Cheesy when he thought, wrongly, that it was to mark Lady T's passing. We played the first half down hill, with the wind behind us, and as a result our attacking strategy was simple - in the style of mid/late Eighties Crazy Gang - Sprake simply took every opportunity to hoof the ball long for Balch and Rawsthorn to chase. It worked, their back four were unnerved by the ball dropping from the heavens and began defending on their six yard box. We had a decent shout for a penalty turned down when their keeper appeared to impede Balch to retrieve one ball. Our reward came from a set piece. Buxton launched one of his long throws from around Morecambe, Ryan flicked on and
Balch scored - one nil to us. Southport throughout the first half continued to play the football but we defended well and made ourselves very difficult to break down. We knew the second half would be difficult playing into the wind and up the hill, and so it proved. The back four, with Bury in particular proving literally an immovable object, and the midfield four, covering space and players, did well to restrict Southport to mainly long range efforts. Sprake pulled off one excellent save from a free kick to protect our lead. With only a few minutes left to play it looked like we had done enough, only for the Southport Number 7 to smash one in from 25 yards - a goal that would have done justice to that other more minor cup competition. So it was to extra time - could some of our players last another 30 minutes? Well Lannigan, whose appearance belies his youth (clearly a tough paper round), had to be rolled off in the first period of extra time when he finally run out of fuel - clearly doing the pre-match warm up with a cig is not the diet of champions. We had a couple of scares when their number 7 tried to repeat his goal and came close and when Bone and Ryan briefly got in each others way allowing one of the Southport players to break on goal. One-one after extra time meant the lottery of penalties. We had to be confident with Andy 'Gary Paul Cooper'
Sprake the penalty saver extraordinaire in goal, meaning that the manager resisted the temptation to do something off the wall like replace the keeper with an outfield player
[Ed: no manager would EVER do that - would they ?]. Balch, probably our MoM, stepped up for the first penalty and missed. Although both
Garner and Bury converted their penalties we were still 3:2 down and Sprake had not got near a penalty when their fourth penalty taker stepped up. However a midget could have saved their fourth which was hit straight in the middle of the goal at about two feet high.
Catlow got us level at 3:3 with a penalty smashed into the roof of the net. Sprake then saved the next penalty and all was set for the oldest player on the pitch,
Cheesy, to covert the wining penalty - which he duly did. So a third cup final in three years, or fourth in five years. A fantastic effort by all 14 players.
- IW |
| Sat. 20th Apr 2013 |
V |
Tarleton Corinthians (h) 2 - 1 (ht.2-1)
scorers :
N. Balch 2 |
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It's become noticeable over the last few weeks that these match reports have been getting longer and longer. So to minimise space on the website and save the creative juices for Wednesday's cup final this will be kept short. It was never going to be a problem getting players for this game with a cup final coming up and so it proved. McBowerman Jnr, Garner and Adamson were all given starts to reward them for their role as subs over the last few weeks.
Balch got the first when a long Buxton throw found him unmarked inside the penalty area, and his finish just about snuck over the line. Tarleton equalised when former Broughton player Bynoe was given to much space on the edge of the area and he struck one from 20 yards.
Balch got he second from the penalty spot, so making amends for his miss the previous week. 2:1 at half time proved to be the full time score too. The second half was not without incident only in the interests of brevity there will be no details here. Everyone came though unscathed ready for Wednesday's cup final. IW |
Wed. 24th Apr 2013
Cup Final |
V |
Newman College (n) 2 - 2 (FT & AET) LOST
5 - 4 ON PENALTIES
scorers :
R. Czerczak, O.G. (Pens: N. Balch,
C. Bury, R. Czerczak, I. Hesketh) |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL TROPHY
FINAL - PLAYED AT QED GROUND, BAMBER BRIDGE FC
So a third cup final in three years and were the Thirds destined to become the brides for once rather than the bridesmaids?
A 7.30pm kick off at the QED Stadium (Quod erat demonstrandum, Latin translation “which had to be demonstrated” possibly a reference to Bury’s defending) and £4 on the gate to get in to watch – it was almost like being semi-pro, almost!
The Manager stuck with the starting line-up from the semi which meant we lined up as follows:
Andy Sprake, Mike Buxton, Matt Ryan, Chris “The Fridge” Bury, Cheesy Hesketh, Nick ‘Jonah’ Bone, Mick McBowerman, Tom Lannigan, Rob Catlow, Simon Rawsthorn, Nathan Balch.
We were also in the unheard of position for Broughton of having 5 subs, which placed a strain on the kit, of Ali Mews, Rafa, Adam Garner, Tim McBowerman and Eddie “Crazy Legs” Braithwaite.
Not, unsurprisingly, all players were psyched up for the game. In the case of McBowerman Snr, this was clearly assisted by the copious amounts of lucozade he had consumed during the day and he was like a toddler who had just consumed a gallon of Sunny D, only without being orange. At this stage in the season we had eventually worked out what our best tactics should be, ones suited to our silky skills, movement off the ball and higher footballing intelligence. So we went with two banks of four to make ourselves difficult to break down and rely on a long punt for Balch and Rawsthorn to chase. With these effective tactics and a referee, who was a former Broughton player how could we fail?
Given that what followed was 120 minutes of football plus penalties apologies to those whose recollections of the events and their sequence is a bit more clear than mine. For the first 20 minutes our game plan worked in part – we got about them and got well organised. However every time we got possession of the ball we decided it was not something we wanted and quickly tried to get rid of it, so ceding possession to Newman. They had the ball in the net at one point when their lanky left winger decided to emulate the feats of many cheating premiership players and slap one in from 6 yards – spotted by the referee and linesman and duly booked. As the half progressed we began to gain some more control on the ball and Rawsthorn and Balch, in particular, started to worry their defence. However in truth neither side really created many clear cut chances and you had to feel sorry for a reasonable crowd who had paid to watch this – even if they were friends and families.
So 0:0 at half time and relatively even. Newman started the second half much the stronger and to be fair for 20 minutes dominated possession and began to create some proper chances. As they pushed their full backs on they were being particularly effective down their right, and this was where the first goal came from. Their full back decided to have a speculative shot from 25 yards and managed to deceive Sprake with the swerve on the ball. At this point we were clinging on with Sprake pulling off one save which kept us in the game. At the other end the best we could do was a long range effort from McBowerman which just dropped onto the roof of the goal. A re-organisation was due, McBowerman Snr was withdrawn for Mews. This resolved the conflict that was clearly playing out in McBowerman Snr’s head given that he was playing against a team wearing the beloved green and white stripes of his team. Mews added a little bit of steel as he can always be relied upon to kick people. Rawsthorn was also withdrawn for Rafa. These changes seemed to work, so proving the manager’s tactical nous or ability to flick a coin to make a decision. Shortly after
Rafa latched onto a through pass and got us back level. We now appeared to be the team in the ascendancy and Mike “Rory Delap” Buxton’s long throws were proving effective and a further contribution to our attempts to play the “beautiful game”. With about 15 minutes remaining we took the lead when some confusion in their area led to an
own goal. At 84 minutes Newman made a substitution which meant we had 6 minutes plus injury time to hold out. It wasn’t to be, and queue controversy. From a pass/free-kick (I couldn’t see from my side of the pitch looking into the lights – a bit of a Wenger moment) Sprake came out to clear but was clearly distracted by the player bearing down on him (who was in an offside position and flagged by the linesman) and the ball found its way into the net without any touch from the aforementioned player. After consultation with the linesman the referee gave the goal as he deemed the player not to be ‘active’ – he was on the pitch and had a pulse, how could he not be active? So much for the referee being an ex Broughton player. Catlow, who by the last few minutes was not only blowing out of his backside but had stretched every muscle he had, and some he didn’t know about, came off to be replaced by McBowerman Jnr.
Full time and 2:2 so to extra time. Lannigan was looking very fresh, the benefits of a pre match warm up that did not involve fags clearly having an effect. Bury was struggling having moved sufficiently during the evening to exercise his calves – a new sensation for him. Two tired sides therefore faced each other for extra time. The highlights for us were a legitimate penalty shout not given, some fortunate defending and the chance for Lannigan, up like a salmon with a wheeze, to meet a cross with the last touch of playing time. Glory beckoned but sadly passed as he headed into the keepers hands.
Ryan spent most of the second period of extra time playing in midfield, whether that was tactical or fatigue only he can tell you. Bury, miraculously, kept going so continuing to prove the fable of the hare and the tortoise. Hesketh, just about got to the end of extra time, but I am sure thoughts of retirement were prominent in his mind for the last 10 minutes. Bone and Buxton kept running and McBowerman Jnr put in a great extra time shift doing the running for most of the midfield. Balch, justifiably the League’s man of the match, never gave Newman’s back four a minute to settle for 120 minutes and chased more lost causes than Saint Jude the patron saint of lost causes.
Penalties – could we do it again? Sadly no. Three highlights from penalties. Newman’s fifth penalty taker who could win it by converting his penalty puts it in Sainsbury’s car park which is ½ mile behind him. Newman keeper saves the sixth penalty, however their number nine thinks they have won it at that point not realising they still need to convert their sixth penalty and runs, on his own, from the halfway line to give their keeper some man love (muppet). Chris Bury’s long walk to freedom to take his penalty, which given the state of his calves, took a week but he converted in style.
A fantastic effort by everyone who played and those players who were not involved on the night but got us to the final – Swiss Tony Lowcock, Farrington, Jay and others (better leave it at that) - but ultimately no cigar. Bloody hell rogered by the best man again.
- IW
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Sat. 27th Apr 2013 |
V |
Ribble Wanderers (a) 0 - 2 (ht.0-1)
scorers :
- |
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After the last match report, which rivalled a cross between War and Peace and a Stuart Hall match report in its length and lack of relevance to the subject matter, this will be short and to the point. Against a team who are top of the league we created enough opportunities to score in the first half but lacked a killer touch. With the exception of the first 15 minutes in both halves we defended reasonably well but at times ceded to much space in the middle of the park which allowed them time and space to pick a pass. Their first goal came from an error from Ryan and the second simply from not closing down a cross. Our opponents also hit the bar and dominated possession but struggled to break us down. The only other point of note was a lovers tiff between our centre halves mid way though the second half, but they soon kissed and made up. Apparently next week we will be playing football Barca style - tippy tappy the Broughton way.
IW |
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Wed. 1st May 2013 |
V |
Lostock St. Gerards (a) 0 - 3 (ht.0-1)
scorers :
- |
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Away to the team that needed a victory to keep themselves in pole position to win the league is difficult at the best of times but it's event worse when you only have 8 of the 16 that were available in the cup final one week earlier, 2 players pull out late on and another doesn't turn up. We did manage to get 12 players but 2 of them only arrived as we kicked off so we started with 10 men. Lostock were on top but we were making things difficult for them without ever really threatening them. They eventually went ahead when their big
centre-forward got his head on the end of a cross. We improved a bit after the goal and came close to an equaliser when an overhead-kick from Bowerman went just over the bar. After the break we started brightly and had a couple of chances to get back on level terms; Lannigan got on the end of a good cross from Garner, and Ryan missed from close range after a corner. Lostock improved again and doubled their lead mid-way through the half. Some good goalkeeping from Catlow kept the score respectable before they scored a penalty after Lowcock, making his first appearance since gaining meaningful employement, was punished for hand-ball inside the box. It was clear which team had something to play for and which team didn't but there were good performances from Buxton, Garner, Chris 'Bell' and MotM Catlow. Sadly we'll finish the season without taking a single point off the top 5 this season but a win on Saturday will see us finish 6th.
MB |
| Sat. 4th May 2013 |
V |
Ribchester (h) 1 - 3 (ht.1-1)
scorers :
M. Ryan |
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Last game of what seems like a very long season, and not much to play for other than who would finish in the middle of the table. Incredibly for a bank holiday we had 15 stripped so, after a minor sulk by The Fridge, McBowerman Snr made the ultimate sacrifice and took up the linesman flag for the afternoon. This allowed yours truly to make their first start in almost 2 years, and for the first time this season allowed Cheesy not to have the mantle of the oldest player on the pitch. Two reasonably well matched teams produced a game short on any real skill on a bone hard pitch. One each at half time was a fair score. Ribchester having taken the lead from a breakaway and us having equalised from our usual source of a set piece -
Ryan after months of trying having toe poked one in. The second half set off in much the same way as the first with little between the two teams. McBowerman Snr turned the game with his first substitution when he took off yours truly to be replaced by Rawsthorn. Two goals to the visitors soon followed when they took advantage of our stand in keeper, Mews, diminutive stature. From there the game was played out with little further real action.
So verdict on the season - it's had it's moments good, bad and ugly. The good has to be the semi win over Southport which was done without any ringers and came about through organisation, hard work, no little luck and a real team effort. The bad a 7-1 stuffing by Greenlands in early January when we were lucky to keep it to 7. And the ugly well that clearly has to refer to any back line that contains Cheesy, Bury, Sprake and Lowcock. Roll on next season.
IW |
