Ladybridge were away in Lancaster this afternoon against Bare Rangers in the Quarter Final of the LFA Cup. The match was played on a 3G pitch instead of turf due to heavy local rain during the week. Ladybridge managed to practice on this surface on Thursday evening, which certainly helped in our preparations for today’s game. Ladybridge started the game with almost a full squad with only Josh missing through a family commitment. Patrick and Nat started on the bench for Ladybridge. The early exchanges in the first half were pretty even with the first clear chance falling for Ladybridge after 5mins through Ollie's quick burst down the left wing past the BR defender but his dangerous cross was gathered in well by the BR keeper to thwart an advancing Taylor. BR are certainly a strong and physical unit and their two front men the 9 and 15 were going to require close marshalling by the Ladybridge defensive unit. The next opportunity for Ladybridge was again through a cross from the left by Ollie who this time found Cole lurking in the area and his shot was parried well by their Goalkeeper and out for the first corner of the game which was cleared well by the BR defence. BR from this clearance were able to break well and the No 9 made a strong run forward before shooting just wide of Conor's R/H post. Ladybridge continued to press for the next 10mins but the BR defence held firm with their No 6 in particular leading his defensive line extremely well. Conor was called upon to make a sharp stop from their No 15 who found space on the right to force the save after about 25mins. The 10mins leading into half time however were the most productive of the half for Ladybridge and pressure was being brought to bear on the BR defence during this period. The breakthrough for the first goal was started through a smart back track tackle by James who threaded the ball through to Dion on the right who squeezed a pass to Taylor who turned quickly and shot low and hard past the GK into the right hand corner 1-0 Ladybridge. The score-line was not added to before half time and on balance Ladybridge deserved to go into the break a goal up.
Callum and Ollie made way for Patrick and Nat at the start of the 2nd half. Unfortunately for Patrick his game was brought to a premature end due to a very robust challenge by the BR No 9 within a couple of minutes of the re-start. Patrick had to make an unscheduled visit to the local A&E department to get his leg injury checked. Lisa (Patricks mum) has informed me via text that Patrick is nursing a very badly bruised and swollen lower leg this evening. Callum came on to replace Patrick. BR forced an early chance to equalize through their dangerous No 15 who shot wide of Conor's L/H post after 5mins. The next 10mins represented BR's best period of the game so far and Sam and Matt in particular were called upon to soak up a lot of pressure, which they managed to do well, preserving the narrow Ladybridge goal advantage. I felt that the next goal would be pivotal to the game and the team scoring it would really gain momentum and fortunately this goal was to be scored by Ladybridge. A Ladybridge throw in on 20mins was collected well in the BK's final third by Ben who flicked the ball onto Taylor with just the GK to beat which he managed to do with a nicely placed drive past their keeper into the right hand corner of the net. 2-0 Ladybridge. This goal seemed to galvanise the Ladybridge team and although BR came close to getting a goal back a few minutes later when their player shot just wide, two further goals in the next 10mins for the away team put the tie beyond the home teams reach. The first of these goals came through a good run by Dion who found Taylor in space who made no mistake to complete a well-deserved hatrick. 3-0 Ladybridge. The 4th goal was a real team effort with Taylor, Ollie and Dion all involved in a lovely build up that found our Captain Ben in space about 20 yards out and he unleashed a fantastic strike that left their keeper with no chance. 4-0 Ladybridge. Ollie replaced Dion for the last 5mins of the game and with a couple of minutes remaining the home team denied Conor a clean sheet with a goalmouth scrambled effort dispatched eventually by their No 10. 4-1 Ladybridge. There was no further score and the game ended 4-1 to Ladybridge.
We all knew that BR would offer us a real test as they squeezed by the Bamber Bridge Whites, a team we respect greatly, in the previous round on penalties. BR have some very good players with their No 6 a particular stand out player at the centre of their defence. Their two front men are the biggest lads our defence have faced this season and if they'd taken half their chances in front of goal the game would have been much closer.
Ladybridge fully deserved the result this afternoon and can now look forward to a home semi final against Westhoughton or Hindley in the New Year.
The lads today put on a real gutsy display against a physically challenging team that never gave up. Coaches and Parents are very proud this evening and the drive home down the M6 was not as long as it would have been if we'd been on the wrong end of the result!
Finally special mention to our injured player Patrick who we all hope makes a very speedy recovery before our next league game.
Gordon
