This is what Saturdays are all about. A nip in the air. Sunshine trying to break through the grey Northern clouds. But let’s talk about ‘Northern’ as today’s visitors to Radclife Road were none other than Carnforth Rangers – a mid-table West Lancs Divison 1 side making the 50 or so mile trip down the M6 down this 2nd round clash. So throw into the mix a County side that were rising on the bak of lat weekend’s first league victory of the season and this promised to be a cracker this afternoon…
Woth Tommo away, Houghie and Damo were at the helm and as they set about limbering up their troops, they already knew what they were going with for this one. Sticking to the 4-3-3 shape, we once again had Kain between the sticks with a back four comprising of Robbie Pollitt and Ben as full-backs with Tom Aspen and Jack making the rock of a brick wall we all know they can. The midfield trio tasked with providing ammo was to be Smalley, Shorty and Chris Hough and across the top we had Ax with Carl and Matty Leatham either side of him. The bench was made up of Robbie Smith, Shaun and Charlie and as kick-off approached, a good-sized County following had started to gather. The strange part here was to see no assistant referees adorning the touchlines – as they are not used until further into the competition – so that left a lot of good stories you’re about to read here. Both teams came out to a warm round of applause and with the plesantries over, the man in the middle blew his whistle and we were off…
Both sides struggled to find their rythmn in the opening exchanges and with passes going astray and the ball spending most of i’t time in the air, it wasn’t making for good viewing. But with 10 minutes on the clock, it was County who had firstreal sight of goal when a hopeful ball went under the foot of the Carnforth centre-half and Houghie was onto it in a flash. He was a little off-balance when he connected in his defence – and his shot could only sail over their keeper but also their crossbar. At least we were seeing more of the ball in better areas now though…
With Charlie given the task of being the ‘assistant referee’ he raised his flag to signal offside on 17 minutes – and did it with the panache of a prime Pierluigi Colina to the amusement of the County fans gathered beside the home dug-out. On went the match though and shortly after, MAtty was played through but again, he could only slam his shot well over the bar. There weren’t many opportunities coming for either side in truth but what there were, it was us that were seeing them…
A commentator’s curse though – because seconds later the visitors could have very nearly taken the lead. A great ball between the lines saw their winger get the wrong side of Ben and as he smashed his shot in, our No.1 was aware enough not only to make a great save but also push it into an area where he knew there were no Carnforth attackers. The ball was cleared – and everybody about from the travelling contingent breathed a sigh of relief…
And then it came. With 25 minutes on the clock, a great passage of play saw us feed the ball out wide to Carl and he set off on one of his mazy runs and cut inside his marker before slamming his shot towards goal. Their keeper made a great save but as the ball bounced up, there was Ax about the slot it home – before the away defender’s leg came out and took our Tom down. The referee had no hesitation in pointing directly to the spot – and up stepped Tommo to take the responsibility. He took a few steps back, the referee ensured that all the players were outside of the box and BANG! He side-footed it to the left of their keeper and although he guessed the right way, he was never stopping that. 1-0 and we had something to look after now…
Straight from the restart the visitors attacked and it took a great tackle from Ben to stop them getting through – however he then gave his pass straight back to them and their midfielder struck a great shot that rose past Kain out-stretched hand and thankfully just over the bar as well. A message that these were not here to simply make up the numbers…
It took another good tackle from Ben to just about stop them playing the ball through the gap and with the away side doing most of the pressing now, it was turning into an intriguing game of football. But on 35 minutes we gave ourselves a buffer – and at that stage it was more than needed. When we play our football we can cut teams to ribbons – and we did just that when we passed it quickly and found Ax with one man to beat on our right. He did as expected – and as he drilled the ball across the six-yard box, there was Houghie charged in like a bull to finish it with aplomb at the back post. 2-0 and surely that would help us relax a little now…
Back came Carnforth though and they saw another good chance go just over the bar when they worked it into their No.9 and he let rip from the edge of the box. In glimpses they were showing that they were more than capable – and we didn’t need to give them any encouragement. Tom Aspen made a slight mistake that saw them onto it in a flash but as their No.10 lined up his shot, he could only put it straight into the grateful Kain’s arms and the danger was gone. All the chance were coming the way of the visitors now though…
Another move saw them play the ball into the box and as we cleared it, the ball dropped out of the sky to Matty – who could only shin it straight back to their No.7 who was about 5 yards offside. Seeing as it come off our player, the referee rightly played on and their man cut inside to slam his shot home – only to see Tom Aspen make up for the earlier mistake to make a superb challenge by throwing himself in front of it and the danger was gone. That’s the Tom we all know and love…
These last few minutes of the first half saw loads of chances for both sides – most notably their No. 10 see a good volley fly about two yards over the bar and some good work from our Matty saw him sprint past their keeper to give it to Robbie Pollitt. He in turn dribbled round his man and fed Carl who smashed his shot goal-bound only to see it hit their keeper’s knees and go out of play for a throw. There was enough about both sides to show that the second half was going to be a goodun’…
Half-time: BOLTON COUNTY 2-0 Carnforth Rangers
The break saw the bosses just calm the lads down and remind them to do the basic things right. We had this game in the palm of our hand now and only we could throw it away. Keep playing our football. Make sure the passes were on point. And keep competing. That should be enough here as we had shown we can cause them trouble going forward. Defend well and we’re through to the next round. Drinks were drunk, lungs were re-filled – and before we knew it they were back out there ready to go again…
And right from the re-start, the away side showed that they meant business when their No.7 done Ben all-hands down – but could only see Kain make a great save to stop his shot from creeping into the far corner. Then it was us – with some great football between Matty and Carl seeing the latter with sight of goal – but his shot was tame and their keeper gobbled it up nicely. We started to get the ball down now and some good football saw us pulling them from left to right and back again. Tiring for any team that and the chances started to present themselves more often. On 51 minutes we won a free-kick right on the edge of their box and with every man and his dog in the wall, up stepped Houghie to try and beat them. He couldn’t. We’ll leave it at that…
Then we thought we were about to see the third goal – but their first – when they played some lovely football down their left to see the No.11 put clean through. Pulling his leg back and about to plant it into the roof of our net, from nowhere we saw Hodgy throw himself full-length in front of the ball to block it from going in. A stunning tackle and great defending from the young man. The next goal was going to be crucial – and we didn’t want them getting it…
Next it was Tom Aspen’s turn to show what class defending is all about as they had fed it through to their No.10 with only Kain to beat. He hit his shot towards the far post and like a gazelle, from nowhere appeared our Asp to block it from going in. The corner saw a tame header put wide at the back post and again, our back-line were keeping us in this. We needed to start seeing the ball in their final third for a bit now…
And we did. Some great triangles through the middle saw Smalley and Carl link up well and the ball was pinged into Ax about 14 yards from goal – but his control was a little loose and the ball bounced away from him. At least we were in their box now. The first change came when Charlie replaced Robbie Pollitt – and within seconds, he very nearly put us 3-0 up. A corner was due to be taken as the change was made – and we played the ball to the on-coming Charlie who curled a great shot in from about 20 yards out that we all thought was in – until it whistled inches above the post on the far side. What an introduction that would have been! It didn’t stop there as moment later, he was taken out by a rash challenge – and then played a glorious ball across the box that nobody read but would have been a tap-in if they had. The sub was heavily involved in the opening few minutes that’s for sure…
The tide had swung back in our favour in terms of chances now and Ax was only stopped by great last-ditch from their centre-half. Both sides were clearly showing the importance of that next goal…
Hodgy then won the ball just inside their half and as he drove forward, we all knew what was coming next – and from all of 35 yards out, he cracked a piledriver of a shot that flew agonisingly over the bar. That would have been a goal and a half it that went in. And then we all very near saw the best (worst) own goal of all-time – that would have haunted Tommo for years to come. A delicious ball from their right-back managed to cut our defence in half – and as he raced back to try and get there, all our Ben could do was smash a beautiful shot back at his own goal that slammed against the crossbar with Kain beaten, bounced down and somehow didn’t cross our line before we managed to hack it clear and away from danger. Thankfully the referee’s watch didn’t buzz and the goal wasn’t awarded – but it looked close from where we were. On went the game and with every second passing by, closer we got to the prize. Surely it wouldn’t be a mistake of our own making that gave them a way back?
Ax then came off and on came Shaun and as the away side seemed to tire again, we got the upper hand again. Charlie put in another great cross that saw Houghie stretching for it – but he could only put it wide of the mark – and then Smalley surged forward and with the Carnforth players left in his wake, he spread it through to Carl who took it on and sprayed it dangerously across the six-yard box but Matty didn’t gamble and the ball evaded everybody. Was that the game-clincher? We’d soon find out…
Every time Carl got the ball this afternoon he was making things happen and this time he looked up to spot Shaun in space on the right-hand side of the box. Inch-perfectly he played him in but Shaun’s shot was straight at their keeper. Down the other end they came and a wicked deflection saw them win a corner. That came to nothing – but this was still very much end-to-end…
Matty then made a great run down our right to squeeze his pass into Smalley and he looked up before clipping a great shot towards the top corner – only to see the Carnforth keeper make a great save by tipping it over the bar. Next we saw Ben mistime his jump and their No.7 managed to get enough space to strike at goal – but there was Kain to smother it again and he had done what he needed to do in there today. The game was inching towards it’s finale and thankfully – with 87 minutes on the clock, we managed to get that decisive goal to secure the win! Again Carl was involved and this time he spread the ball expertly across the box to find Shaun in space. He took hold of the ball, dropped his shoulder to lose his marker with ease and he then crashed his shot low and hard past their keeper from about 16 yards. That had to be that now. 3-0 to County…
It was. Not long after the referee decided to call time on the tie and it was going to be our name going into the hat for the 3rd round draw. Nuff respeck’ to Carnforth Rangers’ players, coaching staff and supporters for making the long journey down and we wish you all the very best for the rest of the season. The handshakes were done with pride and as the players left the field of play, they knew they’d been in a game out there.
The bosses were happy. Why wouldn’t they be? A clean-sheet and progression in the tournament. We know we could still raise it a notch or two but for now, a win is more than welcome. Next week sees us back in league action as we travel over to Springfield so if we can keep up this winning-form, that should make for a nice trip home. Keep your eyes peeled for details of the draw for the next round and we’ll see you all in Oldham…
#UpTheCounty!