Walshaw Sports v
Ladybridge
It was a depleted and
changed squad of players that pitched up at Bury Grammar for our 2nd League
fixture of the year, against Walshaw Sports. Bayley was out of the squad after sustaining a
broken wrist in our previous game and Ollie has decided to leave us to play
football for a team closer to his home - good luck Ollie and all the best to
you at your new club. We have however
been boosted with a new signing, a midfielder called Harley who started on the
bench for Ladybridge this morning. It
was a damp, dark and misty morning that greeted both teams and the pitch was at
best just playable after some miserable recent weather. The early pressure came from the home team who
were playing with the prevailing wind at their backs and they forced at least 5
corners in the first 7 or 8mins that Ladybridge did well to defend and maintain
a clean sheet from. Ladybridge's first
offensive foray came after a slick run by Nathan down the right whose pass into
Jack was in turn moved on to Liam who skewed his shot wide of the right hand
post. Walshaw heaped further pressure
with more corners throughout the first half that Ladybridge managed to repel
the danger from. The No 16 for Walshaw would prove to be a constant
threat throughout the game and he had a tremendous opportunity to open the
scoring when he carved out a great chance for himself 25 yards out, only to see
his well struck shot sail over the crossbar. Ladybridge threatened to score with 10mins of
the half to go when Jack whistled an effort wide of the left hand post. The deadlock in the game was finally broken
with a couple of minutes of the half remaining when Nathan made a superb run
down the right flank before picking out Josh in the centre just outside the
Walshaw box and he in turn passed to Jack who swerved past a challenge before
planting a vicious strike towards goal that beat their keeper for pace to make
it 1-0 to Ladybridge.
HT Walshaw 0-1 Ladybridge
The 2nd period started
well for the away team and having the wind behind them meant that they were
able to force Walshaw back into their own half for long periods. We gained our first corner of the game in the
opening minutes of the half and from this first corner Walshaw conceded another
3 corners in quick succession and Callum was unlucky not to score from one of
these, when his header drifted over the bar from close range. Our next effort came courtesy of Dion who made
a darting run in field from the left hand side and his cross towards Jack was
hit first time on target but Jack was denied by a superb save by the Walshaw No
1. Ladybridge had a very direct effort
15mins into the half when Conor's long clearance was helped on by Caleb into
the path of Jack whose short run and shot went high and to left of the keeper. Walshaw mounted a decent attack down the right
hand flank 5mins later that saw their wingers shot find the side netting. Both sides would have good opportunities from
free kicks mid way through the half and Ladybridge was the first of these when
Caleb, from just over the half way line, floated a ball into the box that Josh just
put over the bar. Walshaw’s free kick was central and 35 yards out and
although Conor managed to parry the ball out and the Walshaw player found the
back of the net from the loose ball he was judged to have scored from an
offside position. Ladybridge's last goal of the game came after Jack received the
ball from a throw in on the left hand side and his pin point cross found Dion
in a central position and he flicked his shot past the keeper to make it 2-0 to
Ladybridge. Within a minute of the
restart Walshaw would score their only goal of the game when their No 6 made a
superb run down the left and his ball into the heart of the Ladybridge area was
swept home by the Walshaw striker to make it 2-1 with around 5mins of the game
remaining. It would be too little too
late however for the home team and the game finished with no further goals to
make it 2-1 to Ladybridge at full time.
Walshaw were unable to
take advantage of the prevailing wind and a good dozen or so corners in the
first period when the Ladybridge defence managed to stay firm. They worked really hard throughout the game in
less than ideal conditions and their No 16 was a constant threat throughout the
game with ball at his feet.
Overall I felt we
deserved the victory this morning and I'm sure it will prove to be a real
morale boost for all the team after a distinct lack of game time due to the
inclement weather over the past couple of months. A real work-man like performance from all
twelve squad members and a collective determination that saw them past a tough
opposition who always looked dangerous on the break. Well done lads on a fine performance.
Gordon
