Last weekend’s 2-3 reversal at the hands of Ramsbottom was still griping both Daves and Damo – but they had a quick chance of banishing that from their memories with the visit of Daisy Hill to The County Ground tonight. This was anohter chapter in the 2022-2023 Atherton Charity Cup and having won our previous two games in the competition, victory tonight would see us progress to the latter stages once again. But there were several regulars missing again – but that’s the point in having a squad – so as the players began arriving for this one, there was a confident mood floating across the Radcliffe Road skies. The weather was glorious as well and with the promise of a great game of football in the early-evening sun, quite a crowd had gathered for this…

As the lads came out to do their ‘warm-up’s’ – believe us when we say not much of that was needed tonight! – there were plenty of reserve team players and triallists on show here. And when the starting 11 were announced, it saw us going with a 4-3-3 shape that saw Pomf take his place between the sticks. Having done really well so far for the reserves in pre-season, it was good to see him getting his chance in the first-team. The back four saw Ben and Kieran line up as full-backs with the long-awaited return of Tom Aspen seeing him slide in alongside Hodgy in the centre of our defence. Finchy was sitting just in front of them with Shorty and Chris Hough tasked with being the engine in the middle of the park. Robbie Pollitt and Robbie Smith were going out wide and that meant a first start for Ricky Holt – having only played two games for the ressies so far! That shows the strength in depth we’ve got coming through and with a bench that consisted of Jonny Connor, Matty Leigh, Shaun and Lewis. we were good to go. The coaches reminded their troops to let the ball do the work tonight – passing it well and pressing them high up the pitch – and if we played our football, then we should fare well here. The referee called the captains together and in the blink of an eye, the game was underway…

The opening exchanges saw both teams trying to get the ball down and play and whenever the blues could get it out wide, we were looking dangerous. Both Robbies were finding space out there but for some reason, we were struggling to spot it. Pomf was forced into making a good save low to his left when the Daisy Hill winger cut inside and blasted his shot goal-wards and although we seemed to be having most of the ball, it was the visitors that were seeing the clearer-cut chances. There were some blistering tackles in the sweltering heat as well and it took some forceful work from the outstanding referee to keep a lid on it at times. But that showed the passion in both sides and whoever could get the upper-hand the quicker would get a grip on this game. Ricky was finding it hard to keep hold of the ball up top as their defenders knew him really well – he played for these last season – so the bosses made a couple of changes that saw Matty Leigh come on for Finchy and Ben move up top – with Jonny Connor coming on in the middle of the park. On went the game and Robbie Pollitt saw a great chance whistle about a yard over after connecting sweetly from all of 25 yards out – only to follow that up with a shot that went high and wide of the crossbar, flew over the houses and is probably still on it’s way towards Bury Road as we type this! It was County seeing more of the ball in the attacking third now and that’s what we wanted to see…

But when the referee decided he had seen enough and blew his whistle for the break, it was still deadlocked with no score and there was plenty of work for the coaches of both teams to do now…

Half-time: BOLTON COUNTY 0-0 Daisy Hill

Our tenacious trio set about their players in a calm and collected manner – insisting that if we kept moving the ball quickly and got in behind them more, they would soon tire and that would give us the space we needed to work our magic. Just stay focused, stay patient and keep playing our way. The lads gulped their drinks, filled their lungs with fresh air and before we knew it, they were back out ready to go again…

And within the first 90 seconds of the re-start, it was County who drew blood first. We worked the ball well down our right and with a sumptuous pass inside the full-back and centre-half, Ben was through on goal. He strode forward a pace – evading the challenge of the Daisy Hill defender in the process – before looking up and slamming his shot off the inside of the post and into the back of their net. A great finish and more than we deserved considering some of the chances we had seen begging. County were in front! 1-0…

The visitors began chasing the game then and just as the coaches had envisaged, they began to tire by the second. That meant we were seeing more of the ball in advanced areas and with 63 minutes on the clock, we doubled our lead. Making the same run all night, we managed to find Robbie Pollitt as he sprinted past his marker and this time he controlled it well before drilling it into the roof of their net from about 12 yards out. A great strike and more importantly, we had increased our lead. 2-0…

More changes were made as we brought on triallists Shaun and Lewis and the former was quick to show his talent – using his pace and trickery to get behind his man almost at will – and as the game wore on, we saw less and less of a threat coming from the team in stripes. Pomf was marshalling his backline well and with the coolness of Tom Aspen on the ball, we were keeping hold of the ball and using it wisely. The Daisy Hill keeper made a good save tipping another effort from Chris Hough just over the bar but he was helpless to stop us grabbing our third – when more good football saw us cut through their defence and there was that man Tommo again to clip it just past the outstretched boot of their centre-back before looking up and making their net bulge with a stunner of a shot. There was nothing their No.1 could do about that one and as he wheeled away in triumph, his team-mates struggled to keep up with him. 3-0 and surely that was that…

It was. The referee allowed play to continue a while longer but in truth the result was done and we all just wanted to get out of the heat and into some cool beverages. With a sharp intake of breath, he blew down on his whistle and brought proceedings to an end – with County still unbeaten in the Atherton Charity Cup! Both teams shook hands and wished each other a great season and we extend a warm hand to the travelling fans who made the short journey over for this. And as they came off the field of play, the sweat was furrowing from all their brows. That was hard work out there…

Both Daves and Damo were quick to praise their players for that effort and considering it was the first time some of them had played together, the signs for the future are pretty good. We didn’t play anywhere near our full capacity – but a 3-0 win is a 3-0 win and the coaches will take them any day of the week. But it’s on to the ‘real stuff’ now – and with the visit of last season’s champions Hindsford AFC to kick off our league campaign on Saturday, this was a good sign-off to pre-season…

We’ll see you all at the weekend!

#UpTheCounty