Match Reports - Season 2022/2023

Sat. 13th Aug. 2022	V	Shevington Reserves (h) 5 - 3 (ht.0-0) scorers : M. Mathias 3, L. Alcock, A. Crossthwaite
Sat. 20th Aug. 2022	V	Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs Reserves (h) 2 - 6 (ht.0-0) scorers : K. Cummins, J. Long
Sat. 27th Aug.2022	V	Aughton (h) 4 - 3 (ht.-) scorers : M. Mathias, J. Jemson, Z. Adeoye, D. Sanders
Tue. 30th Aug. 2022	V	Sir Tom Finney (h) Home - Win (ht.-)
Sat. 3rd Sep. 2022	V	Highgrove (a) 2 - 3 (ht.-) scorers : J. Jemson, A. Crossthwaite
Tue. 6th Sep 2022	V	Hoole United (a) 0 - 3 (ht.-) scorers : -
Sat. 24th Sep. 2022	V	Hoole United (h) 4 - 0 (ht.) scorers : J. King, A. Crossthweaite, D. Edwards, J. Jemson
Sat. 1st Oct 2022	V	Southport Trinity (h) 3 - 2 (ht.-) WITHDRAWN FROM LEAGUE - RECORD EXPUNGED scorers : A. Moore 2, J. Jemson
Sat. 8th Oct 2022	V	Aughton (a) 3 - 1 (ht.-) scorers : L. Bell 3
Sat. 22nd Oct. 2022	V	Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs Reserves (a) 3 - 2 (ht.-) scorers : J. Jemson 2, W. Strangeway
Sat. 5th Nov. 2022 Guildhall Cup Rd 1	V	Highgrove (a) 1 - 7 (ht.-) scorers : S. Britton GUILDHALL CUP Rd 1
Sat. 12th Nov. 2022	V	Sir Tom Finney (a) 5 - 1 (ht.2-1) scorers : L. Bell 3, A. Crossthwaite, D. Edwards My apologies to readers who were regulars, but a continuous run of very poor results over a couple of years ground down your correspondent to the point that motivation to report goings on evaporated to a point of no return. Except, that this new season has been a revelation - as a survey of recent results will show. Excluding a blip last week in a cup match, the success today was, I believe, the fifth W on the trot and the football was of a high standard throughout. Key to the success this season is without doubt due in a major way to Chris McCrudden. Having taken over both training and dual management the structure of the team now has a clear form and the enthusiasm has been infectious. Many of the names might be familiar, but the new ones have had a major input and impact. We started on the 4g using our usual formation with a deep midfield and Bell, Britton and Crosssthwaite combining well up front. Patient build up created space for Jemson and Hollinghurst to play probing passes and Bell in particular terrorised the opponents defence. We took the lead when Britton played a pass that bisected the defence and Bell outpaced all around to finish coolly. We continued to threaten, control the ball and create chances but Finney equalised. When McCrudden got caught on the ball (I knew I shouldn't heap on too much praise too early) the result foul and worldy dead ball kick meant were pegged back despite our efforts. The confidence stayed high though and the lead was correctly regained when Bell again broke clear. It could have been more as Jemson and Bell went close but we were equally grateful to old style defending from Ryan and Luca Hancock – along with the usual immaculate keeping from Vaughan - to keep our lead to half time. The second half was some of the best football we have played for many years. Bell completed his hat-trick and was rewarded with being moved to the wing. Crossthwaite scored a cracking goal from at least 50 yards (according to Andy) but either way was from distance and subs Dan Edwards and Tom Strangeway swapped passes and Dan continued with the demonstration of class finishing It could have been more. Dru Smith “scored” but had it ruled out by VAR. Britton went close, Ryan missed narrowly with a header and Jack long ended a 50 yard by rattling the post. Belly would normally be MOM for scoring a hat trick, but infact Jack Long was simply top notch though out. db
Sat. 28th Jan. 2023	V	Tarleton Corinthians (h) 2 - 2 (ht.-) scorers : A. Crossthwaite 2
Sat. 4th Feb. 2023	V	Appley Bridge (h) 3 - 1 (ht.3-0) scorers : J. King, J. Jemson, L. Bell Following last weeks very tight encounter with Tarleton we were hopeful that we would get back to winning ways. Team was pretty much full strength with the exception of the keeper on holiday in Birmingham. Tom Strangeway stepped up – or rather stepped back from his usual forward role - and put in a reassuringly competent performance. Appley Bridge started marginally the stronger - the second half nervousness from last week seemed to be carried over to this and a youngish Appley team had control of midfield but without posing any real threat on goal. We took the lead somewhat against the run of play, but in what has become our trademark way of scoring. The ball got played wide to Ben Fry and his initial cross shot was half saved by the keeper but followed up by Jaydn King. The goal seemed to shake us into life and all that had been misplaced and slow became sharp and accurate and Ben Fry especially came into the game and went narrowly close with 2 good chances. Shortly after the battery pack in our esteemed player manager ground to a halt (having been severely tested the previous week) and our first sub required Rob Hollinghurst to join Jemson and Cummins in midfield. The second goal had a touch of fortune but was a just reward for a very impressive period of play by all involved. Jemson provided the shot, the keeper a less impressive demonstration of handling and we had a 2 goal lead. The new found dominance continued and after 40 minutes another cross from the right was superbly met by Bell to head into the top corner. Confidence was high after the restart, maybe too high, as we started somewhat complacently. Extra pointless touches were taken at the back and passes out of midfield began to go astray. One such set of circumstances opened up our midfield and the resulting through ball bisected our defence and a careless penalty was conceded - and scored. Appley bridge were on a roll and for 10 minutes we were on the rack and lucky not to concede again as keeper Strangeway, the post and bad finishing all played a part in avoiding another goal. Cue some frantic reorganisation by the now sidelined Manager McCrudden. Wide players tucked in, loins were girded and the defensive structure suddenly looked altogether more secure. The Broughton goal again started to look more calm and we even managed to mount a few attacks before the final whistle blew. db
Sat. 18th Feb. 2023	V	Tarleton Corinthians (a) 1 - 1 (ht.-) scorers : A. Crossthwaite After a very tight game just a couple of weeks ago, round 2 of the encounter followed a very similar pattern. The majority of the game was initially fought out in a very congested midfield. Both teams played hard and fair and the result was a no score draw for almost all the first half. Cummins, Jemson and McCrudden held their own in the duel but a number of good chances were created at both ends. Ryan and Bell went very close with headers and a Bell shot skimmed the post whilst at the other end we relied on stand in keeper Greg Lopko (rolling back the years) to make 2 good saves. The deadlock was broken by Andy Crossthwaite who for once found himself one v one with the defence. Fast feet sent the defender the wrong way and a delicate chip squeezed under the bar and over the keeper. The second half (as last time) saw Tarleton in the ascendency and as the control in midfield slowly slipped the pressure on the defence increased. For almost all the half the back four of Ryan, Moore Livesey and King were equal to the test. Lopko continued to display great handling and it seemed that famous victory was in sight but with a couple of minutes to go a great through ball split the defence and the finish left our keeper with no chance. Just about a fair result. db
Sat. 4th Mar. 2023	V	Appley Bridge (a) 1 - 2 (ht.-) scorers : L.Bell
1st Team Table Sat. 11th Mar. 2023 Latest Reports: 1st Team 2nd Team	V	Shevington Reserves (a) 3 - 0 (ht.-) scorers : L. Bell, B. Fry, J. King We needed to get back to winning ways after the disappointing under performance last week. We started with clear instructions to “get on the front foot” and with Jaydn King impressing with his new role at centre mid and JJ with a plan to push on to support the forwards we moved the ball quickly and effectively. Ben Fry in particular looked threatening down the left flank and Jack Long and Luca Hancock peppered the full back and gave him a half to forget. Fry opened the scoring after 15 minutes when he seized on a loose ball to score from close in. Football was fun at this point and continued to work hard and play the ball quickly – and (mostly) accurately and the second goal was one of our best of the season. Long played the ball forward to Bell. Bell locked in on Mathias making a run from the opposite flank and his perfect back heel fell directly in the path of Bell – and we were 2 up. We were equally dominant in the second half - though maybe not quite as fluid. Shevington did create some chances later on, but nothing that keeper Vaughan was over trouble by. Hancock and Ryan continued to control the defensive effort and King was here there and everywhere in a stand out performance. So was Kev Cummins – but we take his outstanding performances for granted and the 2 of them continued to control the middle . After the hour mark King got his just rewards being on hand to finish off a flowing move and frankly it could have been more. db
Sat. 25th Mar. 2023	V	Highgrove (h) 3 - 4 (ht.-) scorers : M. Mathias, M. Kirton, R. Walsh
1st TEAM FIXTURES TO BE ARRANGED :
Sat. ??th ??. LB Cup Rd ?	V	TBA (-) Kick off: ?pm (ht.-) scorers : - CUP Rd ?
		-
TBA	V	TBA (h-a) Kick off: ?pm (ht.-) scorers : -
		Match Report.

Wed. 17th Aug. 2022	V	Astley Reserves (h) 3 - 4 (ht.-) scorers : C. Caraghin (2), I. Vohra
Sat. 20th Aug. 2022	V	Burscough Dynamo (a) 1 - 2 (ht.-) scorers : I. Vohra
Tue. 23rd Aug. 2022	V	AFC Lytham 'A' (h) 4 - 4 (ht.-) scorers : A. Best 3, Z. Adeoye
Wed. 31st Aug. 2022	V	New Longton Rovers Reserves (a) 0 - 9 (ht.-) scorers :
Sat. 3rd Sep. 2022	V	Middleton & Overton (a) Home - Win (ht.-) scorers : -
Sat. 17th Sep. 2022	V	Gables (a) 1 - 2 (ht.-) scorers : L. Walsh
Sat. 24th Sep. 2022	V	Cube (a) 2 - 6 (ht.1-3) scorers : I. Vohra 2
Sat. 8th Oct. 2022	V	Gables (h) 3 - 8 (ht.-) scorers : A. Best 3
Sat. 22nd Oct 2022	V	Middleton & Overton (h) 2 - 5 (ht.-) scorers : A. Best, R. Pomfret
Sat. 29th Oct 2022	V	Bolton Young Boys (h) 2 - 6 (ht.-) scorers : A. Best, M. Easom
Sat. 5th Nov. 2022	V	New Longton Rovers Reserves (h) 4 - 11 (ht.-) scorers : A. Best 3, B. Ryan
Sat. 12th Nov. 2022	V	Cube (h) 2 - 1 (ht.-) scorers : W. Strangeway, A.Best
Sat. 19th Nov. 2022	V	AFC Lytham 'A' (a) 3 - 3: (ht.-) scorers : A. Best 2, A. Cartwright
Sat. 3rd Dec.2022	V	Astley Reserves (a) 3 - 5 (ht.-) scorers : Y. Ali 2, A. Best
Sat. 28th Jan. 2023	V	Bolton Young Boys (a) 5 - 3 (ht.-) scorers : A. Best 2, W. Strangeway, R. Walsh, R. Jackson
Sat. 11th Feb. 2023 LB Cup	V	Shevington Reserves (h) 1 - 2 (ht.1-0) LANCASTRIAN BRIGADE CUP Rd 1 scorers : P. Howson
2nd Team Table Sat. 18th Feb. 2023 Reports for: 1st Team 2nd Team	V	Burscough Dynamo (h) 1 - 7 (ht.-) scorers : M. Kirton
Sat. 15th Apr. 2023 FCM Cup	V	Bickerstaffe Reserves (h) 1 - 5 (ht.-) FRANK CURRY MEMORIAL CUP scorers : J. Jemson

Sat. 29th Apr. 2023 FCM Cup	V	Ribchester Rovers Reserves (h) 1 - 3 (ht.-) FRANK CURRY MEMORIAL CUP scorers : A. Best

2nd TEAM FIXTURES TO BE ARRANGED :
TBA 2023	V	Newman College (WITHDRAWN FROM LEAGUE)
Sat. TBA Cup QF	V	TBD (-) Kick off: ?pm (ht.-) scorers : -
		CUP Round ?
TBA	V	TBA (h-a) Kick off: ?pm (ht.-) scorers : -
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PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY DATE TBA		Broughton v ?? (-) - scorers: -
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY DATE TBA		Broughton v ?? (-) - scorers: - Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. Match Report. MMatch Report. Match Report.
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY DATE TBA		Broughton v ?? (-) - scorers: - 31.12.22 - 0136802 hits