An afternoon kick off certainly helped to beat the frosty elements today as we played on our old pitch at Ladybridge Lane and welcomed our opposition Woodbank JFC. Ollie, Tom and Patrick started as our subs. Ladybridge made a quick start from the kick off and could have been in front after a minute when a quick through ball by Dion found Cole free with just the keeper to beat, unfortunately he lifted the ball over the bar. Shortly after this a long clearance from Conor's hands found Taylor advancing on goal but his effort went wide of the right hand post. Josh was battling well in a new defensive position for him and was holding his own against an improving Woodbank midfield led well by their No 15. Woodbanks first effort on goal came from a lovely passing move that ended with a low powerful shot that Conor managed to parry and collect to deny the goal bound effort. Ben our Captain was working tirelessly and a sharp ball from him found James Y whose effort was saved well by the Woodbank keeper. Indeed Woodbank managed to keep us at bay for 28 mins before James skillfuly dodged a couple of challenges before finding Dion on the wing who managed to find Taylor free in the box and he turned and shot wide of the diving keeper to make it 1-0 Ladybridge. Woodbank's best move and effort came immediately after our goal when their No 7 and No 10 combined well down the left to see a shot just go wide. Cole made way for Ollie to come on with about 5 mins of the half to go. There were no further efforts from either team before half time so Ladybridge went into the break 1-0 up.
Neil brought Tom on for Taylor at half time and he made a tactical change to our line up playing 4-5-1 with James Y heading up the attack. This certainly seemed to suit us better and we looked more balanced going forward and down both flanks. Tom made an immediate impression on 5 mins when he made a strong run from 40 yards out through 3 or 4 Woodbank players before running out of steam to see his shot saved well by their keeper. Ben was playing well in the middle of our midfield and a ball from him found Tom running through on goal and this time he made no mistake by slotting home to make it 2-0 Ladybridge. Josh came off to make way for Patrick. The next 20 mins of football played by Ladybridge was a joy to watch as our passing game came together for the first time and the Woodbank defence and keeper kept several good efforts out to deny us adding to the score. Unfortunately for Woodbank Tom unleashed a "goal of the season" contender when he shot from 25 yards to find the top right hand corner of the net to make it 3-0. Neil brought on Taylor to replace James Y and Cole to replace Dion. Sam very rarely ventures forward from defence but he made an excellent run from half way through a succession of Woodbank challenges and was unlucky not to score. Woodbanks best spell of the game was the last ten minutes when they managed to push us back constantly during this period and indeed their No 10 broke free down the right and was unfortunate not to find the back of the net when he beat Conor from the angle to see it just go wide of the left hand post. The last significant move for Ladybridge was in the last minute when James made an excellent run from inside his half and beat a number of Woodbank players before he found Josh in the middle but his shot was saved well by the impressive Woodbank keeper.Full time Ladybridge 3 Woodbank 0.Our visitors battled very well this afternoon and are a credit to their coaching staff and support. They never gave up and probably felt that they should have got at least a consolation goal in the last ten minutes of the game. Their No 15 was very impressive in the centre midfield going forward and they also have a great goalkeeper who made some smart saves this afternoon that helped to restrict the winning margin to three. However, Ladybridge certainly deserved their victory and it was particularly pleasing to keep a clean sheet for the first time this season in the league. This afternoons game provided an excellent warm up for our LFA Cup Semi-Final against Westhoughton Rangers next week who I'm sure will prove to be formidable opponents as their unbeaten league form certainly suggests.
Gordon
