On a miserable wet evening in Chorlton the lads turned out on a very
difficult, sticky surface to take on Hough End Griffins. Tom, Matty and James Y were on the bench. Right from kick off it was clear that Hough
End were very much up for it this evening and a combination of weak defence and
very pacy attack would put Ladybridge under immense pressure throughout the
first quarter of the game when we found ourselves down by two goals before the
lads could get a foothold in the game. Both
goals were very similar in build up when quick balls forward split our defence
wide open to see the Hough End pacy front men burst through and convert on both
occasions. 2-0 Hough End.
Our first opportunity to get one back was after some good work from Cole
down the flank and his pass found James who in turn skipped past a couple of
defenders only to see his shot go agonisingly wide. Dion also had an effort when our first corner
was cleared out to him on the edge of the box but his shot went high over the
bar. The Hough End No 9 was making a
real nuisance of himself and he could and maybe should have had a couple of
goals before half time but each of these efforts just missed the mark. Caleb almost pulled a goal back on the stroke
of half time when a long range effort from him was dealt with very well by the
Hough End keeper.
HT 2-0 Hough End
The 2nd half would be far more even and Ladybridge certainly showed a
lot more spirit and drive than they did in the first half. Unfortunately we would concede another two
goals before we could finally get on the scoresheet ourselves. The first goal came from a free kick 25 yards
out that the Hough End No 10 lifted high above Conor to dip under his bar. 3-0
Hough End.
Their fourth goal came from a corner when the Ladybridge defence failed
to clear the ball and the Hough End No 14 reacted quickest to fire home. 4-0
Hough End.
Ladybridge finally got the goal that their effort in the 2nd half
deserved when Ben battled well for the ball in the Hough End area and he
squared the ball to James who smashed home to make it 4-1 Hough End.
Towards the end of the game we had two good opportunities to make it a
tense finish but alas it wasn't to be when the Hough End keeper saved a piledriver
from James Y, who then made a lung bursting run down the right and his cross
from found James free in the box but the keeper again denied us with a cracking
stop.
Full Time Hough End Griffins 4-1
Hough End deserved the three points this evening and eye-catching
performances by their No 9 up front and the No 16 at the back and good solid commitment
by their whole squad, saw them beat us fair and square. Well done to all at
Hough End Griffins.
Well we were outplayed in the first half but I, along with all our
support and coaches, will have witnessed the real Ladybridge turn up in the
2nd. Their keeper and defensive unit had
a lot of work to keep us out in that half and I thought the effort and the
never say die attitude was there for us all to see, which bodes well for the
Cup Final on Sunday. Defeat is always
tough to take but so long as we all stick together as a squad and learn lessons
from it I'm sure we can turn a negative into a positive come Sunday and more
importantly for the rest of a season that could produce a lot more silverware
Gordon
