It was a clear and bright morning as Ladybridge travelled to Heyside for their first league fixture in nearly a month. The pitch was extremely challenging for both teams, as it resembled a bog in patches. Ladybridge had 13 players available with Caleb missing through injury. It was a scrappy opening 10mins with both teams struggling to put together any meaningful offensive moves. Heyside forced two corners that were dealt with and cleared well by the Ladybridge defence. The first goal came about after some lively work by Josh in midfield who released Cole down the left and his cross across the box was met smartly by Dion advancing into the box and he slid a low drive past the Heyside keeper to make it 1-0 to Ladybridge.
Slowly but surely Ladybridge enjoyed long periods of offensive pressure with Cole and Dion looking dangerous down the flanks. The next meaningful effort on goal came from Cole driving a shot in from 25 yards out on the left that was saved well by the Heyside keeper. Josh was also unlucky not to get on the score-sheet when he made a jinking 30 yard run on goal only to see his shot saved well. Heyside had a late effort to draw level when one of their forwards tested Conor with a low drive across him that he just managed to get a hand on which was cleared to safety by a Ladybridge defender.
HT Heyside 0-1 Ladybridge.
Ladybridge started the 2nd half with real purpose and it was noticable that the players’ communication, passing and movement were much improved from their 1st half display. Ollie started the move for Ladybridge’s 2nd goal when he made a good run down the left and on the edge of the box he turned a Heyside defender and crossed to find Taylor in the box and he tapped his shot home to make it 2-0 to Ladybridge.
Shortly after this goal, Ollie provided a lovely weighted pass into Taylor who advanced into the area only to be stopped by a superb last gasp challenge from a Heyside defender. Ollie produced a fine cross from the left for Ladybridge's third goal when he found James Y in space by the left hand post and he made no mistake from close range to make it 3-0 to Ladybridge.
Midway through the half the Heyside keeper pulled off a couple of brilliant stops from great crosses by both Dion and Ollie. Heyside were restricted to one meaningful effort in the 2nd half when their No 7 and No 9 combined well to threaten the Ladybridge goal but the No 9 pushed the eventual shot wide of Conor. The last 10 minutes of the game would prove to be the most productive period of the game for Ladybridge as they added the last three goals of the game. The first of these goals came after Cole advanced forward down the left and was tackled well by a Heyside defender only for the loose ball to find Tom unleash one of his 25 yard specials past the keeper. 4-0 Ladybridge.
The fifth goal was scored by Taylor who latched on to a long clearance forward from the Ladybridge defence and he chipped the keeper to find the back of the net. 5-0 Ladybridge.
The last goal of the game came as Taylor completed his hat-trick when Ollie's pin point cross from the left was helped in by Taylor to make the final score 6-0 Ladybridge.
Heyside competed and battled well in the first half and I thought that their coaches would have been happy only to be a goal down at the break. The Heyside keeper's performance in the 2nd half was as good as any I have witnessed this season and although Ladybridge may have scored five in the 2nd half I feel it could have been double that figure without his excellent work throughout the 2nd period.
This was a game of two contrasting halves for Ladybridge. The first half was difficult as I felt we struggled to adapt to the tough playing conditions. The 2nd half however was a complete transformation with all the players passing and moving well for one another. The other major plus point for me was how effective the boys communication with one another was, which helped us dominate our opposition pretty much for the whole of the 2nd half.
Our next 6 League fixtures are going to be a real test of our League ambitions as all of them are against top 6 opposition. The first of these fixtures next Sunday is against the only team to beat us in the League this season - Chadderton Reds. I'm sure they'll be very keen to try and complete the "double" over us.
Gordon
