On a cold, wet, miserable afternoon we welcomed
Manchester Lads to Tempest Road to contest this third round Manchester County
Cup match. Ladybridge had a full squad
of 13 available and Bayley and Liam started on the bench for the home team.
Ladybridge had the first effort on goal in the
first period when Jack fired in a corner from the left and Craig's header
towards goal was collected well by their keeper. The next ten minutes of the game were quite
scrappy with neither team dominating. Manchester Lads had a free kick on 15mins
about 35 yards out and the chipped effort into the area was headed well clear
by the Ladybridge defence. On 18mins
Ladybridge would be punished for some sloppy play at the back and our former
player Taylor needed no further invitation when he found himself free in the
box with the ball at his feet and he stroked home a low and powerful shot past
Conor into the right hand corner of the net to make it 1-0 to Manchester Lads.
Taylor was presented with another gilt edged
opportunity a couple of minutes later when he broke free in the box but his
effort this time was skied over the crossbar. Ladybridge had a couple of opportunities to
draw level before the break, the first of these saw Nathan beat the Manchester
left back and he squared a ball through to Jack who smashed his effort wide of
the left hand post. Our second effort 2mins
from half time came after the referee awarded an indirect free kick 5 yards out
which was blocked well by the 8 man wall.
Half Time: Ladybridge 0-1 Manchester Lads
To be fair to both teams the first 15mins of
the second period passed by with very little goal action to trouble either
keeper but the first opportunity to open the scoring in the 2nd half fell to
Manchester Lads when they were awarded a similar indirect free kick for a back-pass
that we had in the 1st half and this time Ladybridge managed to defend it as
well as Manchester did to deny a good goal scoring chance. On 20 mins, after increasing pressure from the
away team, Manchester would score the crucial 2nd goal that effectively killed
off this Cup tie. It came from a corner
taken on the right that was delivered perfectly into the box to find an
unmarked Manchester player who powerfully headed home to make it 2-0 to
Manchester Lads.
Ladybridge tried hard to find a way back into
the game but Manchester never looked like surrendering their lead and they
repelled any advances forward easily with their defence and keeper looking
solid when called upon. Jack had the
last chance to make the last 5mins interesting for the home team but the
Manchester Lads goalkeeper pulled off a fantastic save from his shot 10 yards
out to keep a clean sheet and see his side through to the next round of the
Cup.
Full Time: Ladybridge 0-2 Manchester
Lads
Manchester Lads deserved their victory today
and never looked like conceding in either halves. All their players looked a yard sharper than
their opposition this afternoon and we wish them all the best in the next round
of the Cup.
Gordon
