A bright and breezy afternoon greeted both teams in this Challenge Cup Semi-Final at Blocksages. Ollie and James A started on the bench for Ladybridge. This afternoon's game was played on the most testing pitch that we've encountered this season and as a consequence much of the play today was pretty scrappy to say the least. Stalybridge started quite brightly and when they were awarded a free kick 25 yards out Conor had to be switched on to collect a decent shot from it. Ladybridge were struggling to create anything offensively during the whole of the first half and the only meaningful effort of note came from a corner taken by Dion, which Taylor flicked on to Tom whose shot just whistled past the left hand post. The No 31 for Stalybridge was the powerhouse in midfield and his long throws into the box tested us on more than one occasion but fortunately our defensive four managed to thwart this threat without conceding. The last five minutes of the half had Stalybridge pressing us back looking to open the scoring but we managed to hold firm at the back and at half time it was 0-0.
Ladybridge started the 2nd half a lot better and they were unfortunate not to take an early lead when Matty's free kick released Cole through on goal with just the goalie to beat, but he skewed his shot wide. A goal for either team could have been scored within the space of a minute when the Stalybridge No 31 put one of his special throw-ins into the box and a Stalybridge forward saw his snap shot hit the underside of the bar. The Ladybridge defence managed to clear the ball long into Cole up front and in space and again with just the keeper to beat after a strong run he just dragged his effort wide. The crucial first goal of the game came from an unlikely source in Caleb when the ball came out to him from a corner and from 35 yards out he smashed the ball through a host of players to make it 1-0 Ladybridge.
We scored again within 2 minutes of this goal when a corner was scrambled home well by Ben to make it 2-0.
Our last goal of the game came from a speculative long ball forward that Cole managed to bring down and control well and this time he made no mistake to slam his shot past the Stalybridge keeper to make it 3-0 Ladybridge.
Stalybridge got on to the scoresheet through an unfortunate mix up between Caleb and Conor with Caleb deflecting his clearance past Conor to make it 3-1 Ladybridge.
The last five minutes of the half, like the first, were Stalybridge's with the home team piling forward to try and get themselves back into the game. They didn't manage to break down our resolute defensive unit and the game ended 3-1 to Ladybridge.
The heart and soul of the Stalybridge team this afternoon was their No 31 who did not deserve to be on the losing team today. This player drove his teammates on relentlessly throughout the 70mins and his leadership and sheer force of will on the pitch is the most impressive I've ever witnessed at this level. Stalybridge as a team, work very hard for each other and for long periods of the match they caused us quite a few problems.
Ladybridge, we mustn't forget, were competing in their fourth game in 7 days in this league with certain members of the team having played a fifth on Saturday for other teams - I'm not too surprised that one or two of them seemed to be
feeling it this afternoon. Stalybridge proved to be a tough nut to crack but once again our team's efforts were rightly rewarded with another win and an important opportunity to add some more silverware later this month in the Challenge Cup Final against Walshaw Sports.
Well done lads your Coaches and Support salute you!
Gordon
