On a cold, cloudy but dry
afternoon we welcomed the League leaders Hough End to Tempest Road. Ladybridge
had a full squad to pick from and Dion, Harley and Callum started on the bench.
The first five minutes of the game was
pretty even with both teams testing each other out and enjoying equal periods
of possession and territory. Hough End
would have the first notable shot on 7mins when the No 9 found the No 7 on the
edge of the box and he skied his effort over the bar. The first corner of the game for Hough End
would bring their first goal as the No 10 found himself with plenty of space
and he headed his effort past Conor to make it 1-0 to Hough End on 10mins.
Its fair to say that
Hough End took charge after the opening goal with further efforts from the
dangerous No 9 and No 11 just going wide in the next 10mins of the game. Ladybridge
on one of their rare excursions forward gained a free kick on the edge of the
box after Nathan was fouled when advancing towards goal. Unfortunately Jack's well-hit shot from the
free kick just went over the crossbar. Ladybridge gained another free kick when
Nathan was fouled again on the right hand side of the box. Jack stepped up but put his low drive wide of
the left hand post. The No 11 for Hough
End had the best effort to increase his sides lead before half time when he
struck a great shot from 5 yards out that Conor just managed to push past his
post and out for a corner.
Half Time Ladybridge 0-1
Hough End
Ladybridge were caught
napping from the kick off as Hough End launched the ball forward into the
Ladybridge box and only a goal-line clearance from Craig kept the ball out. Hough End increased their lead directly from a
goal kick on 40mins that was powerfully hit forward by their No 16 and this
found their No 11 running powerfully towards goal and he brushed aside our
defender easily before slotting home past Conor to make it 2-0 to Hough End.
Ladybridge nearly hit
straight back from their first corner of the 2nd half, which was taken by Jack
and headed goal-wards by Liam but his effort was cleared off the line well by
the Hough End defender. Hough End would
again dominate us for long periods of the 2nd half and had numerous attempts to
increase their lead that either went wide or were cleared well by a busy
Ladybridge defence. Hough Ends 3rd goal
was scored with about 6mins of the game remaining and came courtesy of a
defensive mix up that was snaffled up by the No 9 who scored his 2nd from close
range to make 3-0 to Hough End.
The No 9 would complete
his hat-trick with a few minutes remaining when he was fed by a lovely through
ball by the No 17 and he planted the ball past Conor to make the final score
4-0 to Hough End.
Hough End completed the
league double against us this afternoon and to be fair they could have won by a
bigger margin if they'd been a bit more clinical in front of goal and from set
pieces. The No 9 and 11 going forward
were a real handful throughout the game and the No 16 at the back was immense
in dealing with and nullifying any offensive threat that Ladybridge could
muster. A smashing team performance and a well deserved win by the better team
- well done.
Ladybridge were put to
the sword this afternoon and were outplayed for most of the game by a well
drilled and efficient Hough End team that has a real physical edge to their
game that was too much for us to handle this afternoon. Hopefully we can get back to winning ways from
back to back defeats in our next game, a Manchester County Cup 1st round tie at
against Glossop next Sunday.
