We arrived at Salford City Sports Centre on a slighty overcast but dry evening. James Y and Ollie started on the bench for Ladybridge. The first ten minutes of the game was very even with both teams enjoying good periods of possession and territory. The first real chance of the game saw Tom battle through the middle of the field, only to see his shot saved well by the Prestwich keeper. Cole was then found well down the left wing and his strong cross into the box was just too far in front of Taylor who had made a good run into the box to try and intercept it. Prestwich's first effort on goal drew a good save out of Conor when the No 17 turned and shot well from the edge of the box. The first goal of the game came from a Dion corner that Prestwich failed to clear and Sam dispatched his shot high and wide of the keeper to make it 1-0 Ladybridge.
Prestwich nearly equalized when a long ball forward caught Conor out of position and in no mans land but the Prestwich forward was thwarted as he was about to pull the trigger by a fantastic last ditch tackle made by Sam. Ladybridge could have snatched another couple of goals before half-time when James was unlucky to see his overhead effort just clear the bar and Taylor was denied by an excellent stop from the very impressive Prestwich keeper.
Half Time Prestwich 0-1 Ladybridge.
Ladybridge were unlucky not to score from a goalmouth scramble after a corner within a couple of minutes of the restart but the keeper managed to gather the ball well to deny us our 2nd goal. Prestwich were awarded a free kick from 25 yards out on ten minutes and the cross into the box found the Prestwich No 11 in space but he pulled his shot just wide. The Prestwich keeper was again called into action when he had to make good stops from good efforts on goal from both Taylor and Ollie. Prestwich had an excellent chance to draw level when their No 4, on the edge of the box, tested Conor but he managed to parry his effort well. Ladybridge's next goal came courtesy of a Cole cross that James connected well with and his shot was deflected in against a Prestwich player to make it Ladybridge 2-0.
Our third goal was created by a battling Ben in the middle of midfield who found Taylor in a central position going forward and he side stepped the keeper well after a quick dart forward to make it 3-0 Ladybridge.
The final goal of the game was an outstanding effort from Ollie who collected the ball about 30 yards out from the Prestwich goal and he launched a vicious looping drive over the Prestwich keeper to make it 4-0 Ladybridge.
Full Time – Prestwich 0-4 Ladybridge
Prestwich gave us an excellent game this evening and held us to a single goal lead for a good 55mins or so. I was very impressed with how they battled for each other and never gave up throughout the full 70 minutes. Their keeper was easily the best player on the pitch for me and was only beaten by efforts that he couldn't do anything about.
Ladybridge had to be patient tonight to break down a good team and excellent goalkeeper. Three games in five days is a very tough ask for any team but 3 wins with 14 goals scored with a couple of clean sheets thrown in for good measure is a great return from a tough sequence of games. Our next fixture is a Challenge Cup Semi-Final away on Sunday against Stalybridge Celtic Blues.
Gordon
