Breightmet United 2-3 BOLTON COUNTY RESERVES
Thursday 21st July 2022 – 7pm kick-off
When the final whistle went at Atherton Town in May, Wayne knew that his real work started there. He had the summer to do whatever he could to make sure that when the 2022-2023 campaign starts, County Reserves would at least be competing on a Saturday afternoon. And that started at Moss Park tonight as we were making the short trip to take on Breightmet United – who ply their trade two divisions higher than us in the Manchester Football League. With Callum now on the coaching staff, this was going to be the first opportunity for the new coaches to see what they had, see where they needed to build and basically get a ‘feel’ for what was in store. With 22 lads coming down – and several more there with boots and shin-pads in anticipation – this was going to be interesting. So Wayne did something he had never done before – and named the starting 11 before the warm-up. There was one reason and one reason only for that – and it was because we didn’t have enough kits! Scratching around to get a team last season, this was already feeling a little different. With a few pre-season session under our belt, this was going to be a real test not only in the calibre of the opposition but also of our own fitness. And as the lads did come out to be put through their paces, we looked to have a really, young fresh look to us – apart from Shaun obviously! There was a mix of experienced 20/21 year olds alongside some real youngesters – but the whole point of football is that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough right? And one of the biggest things on the new coaches minds as we enter this campaign is giving the kids a chance to grow and develop into Men’s football – so that began now…
We were going with a 4-2-3-1 shape for this one and as the starting 11 got themselves ready, the boss began his chat. He informed his troops that being an Arsenal fan, he truly believes that if we defend well and have quality up top, we will not lose football matches. Pomf was in net – and having worked hard in training he is looking up for it this season – and we had a back four of Shaun and Robbie Smith at full-backs with a new pairing of Alex Gates and old-County star Matty Lee. The midfield two tasked with sitting in front of them were to be Johnny Connor and Alex Williams and the three across the attacking roles were Adam, Ste Palin and Nathan in at CAM. That meant we had young Josh Nicholson – another former County player – up top and with a large bench that had Liam, Ben, Tom Robinson, Yves, Jude, Kayden, Bailey and Nico on it, we were good to go. Wayne and Callum reimnded the boys that this wasn’t about the result – it was about minutes in the tank and getting to gel together – and if we played our football, kept it on the floor and pressed from the front, we had enough quality to do something here. Phil Newby was tonight’s Match official and as he pulled the skippers forward, we all settled in to watch what proved to be a great game of football…
The opening exchanges saw both sides playing some tidy football and when we did get it down and play it forward, it was clear that we had the pace to trouble them at the back. Already Ste was giving their left-back a headache with how quick he was having to turn on his heels so if we could exploit that more often, there was an in-road there. But it was the hosts that took the lead on 14 minutes when a silly free-kick given away about 40 yards out saw the ball swung in and their big No.9 managed to get the wrong side of Gatesie to plant his header past Pomf and into the roof of our net. Wayne and Callum urged their lads not to drop their heads and keep playing our stuff and on went the game…
It wasn’t long before it was the travelling fans that were celebrating though – as a great run down our left saw the ball swung in and sprinting into the back-post was Ste to be in the right place at the right time and tuck home his shot from about 10 yards out. The coaches jumped with joy as though we’d won the league – but we think it was more symbolic towards the new era of County Reserves. 1-1 and it was all square again…
This was end-to-end now and with Pomf commanding his box well, in truth we didn’t look troubled at all. Matty and Gatesie were marhsalling their attackers easily and when Robbie or Shaun got the ball down the flanks we were looking dangerous. Nathan was working hard to knit things together and young Josh was running his socks off doing what the boss asked and chasing down everything that their defenders tried to do. Johnny took a knock to his knee so it was a great chance to bring on young Jude Rawden for his Reserves debut and he slotted into the middle of the park to join the battle. But it was the hosts that got the third goal of the game when the ball was worked down their left and as it came in, Shaun was in a battle with their winger to get to it first. The player in blue won the race – but all he could do was slam the ball past Pomf and into the back of his own net. With his head in his hands and a look of apology on his face, our left-back smiled about it and on went the game. 1-2…
Then it was time for the Robbie Smith show! We won a free-kick about 28 yards from goal on the left-hand side and as the County fans gathered behind the away dug-out tried to guess who was going to take it, up stepped our Robbie. He placed the ball purposely and as he strolled forward, we are not lying when we say it didn’t matter where their keeper placed his wall – nobody or nothing was going to stop this from going in! Robbie smashed it with the inside toe of his boot and the ball flew like a rocket whilst curling around the wall and hammering into the top corner of the home side’s net. What a strike! His team-mates rushed to celebrate with him and the bench were over the moon. 2-2 and we were back on level-terms…
The lads that came on played their part as well – with Nico and Bailey looking like they’ll be good additions at the back and with the quality of Liam and Tom Robbo to call on, there seems to be some great options already. But the last word needs to go to only one man – and that is exactly what he became tonight! Jude had come back on at left-back and with County winning a corner out on the left, up jogged our newest recruit. The ball came in – and there was young Jude to rise like a salmon to get heads and shoulders over his marker and slam his header into the roof of their net from about 10 yards out. A stunning header and a goal worthy of winning any match! The look on his face was a joy to behold and as his colleagues ran round him in jubilation, the coaches were now standing there quietly confident…
And that’s how it finished. The man in black blew his whistle to bring proceedings to an end and in the first game of the new era, Wayne had achieved his first win in County colours. The handshakes were done with respect and we wish tonight’s hosts all the very best for the upcoming season…
This was about us though and if this is a sign of things to come, then we’re happy! But we are not silly and there will be many trials and tribulations over the course of the next 10 months or so – so the important thing now is continuing to get fit, getting to know each other better and working hard to find out how we all play together. We go to Denton Town Reserves on Wednesday night before travelling to Old Bolts Reserves next Saturday – so there’s plenty of opportunities to see what else we have to offer. A massive well done to the lads that played their parts this evening and a huge ‘high-5’ to the County fans that were there to cheer us on. We’re sure that we outnumbered the home support but that’s one for the statisticians to decide…
Lots to do still – but that’s as good a start as we could have asked for…
Up The County!!!
Att: 46