This was a quick turnaround. Having drawn 1-1 with Atherton Town less than 48 hours ago, today saw us with a chance to finish no lower than 4th in the table as Leigh Genesis were to the visitors to The County Ground this afternoon. Having played well over at theirs back in September – and coming home with a credible 3-2 win – we knew that we’d have to be a whole lot better than we were on Thursday if we wanted to repeat that…
Wayne was away for the reverse fixture as well so with him sunning himself in South-East Asia, it was down to Brian and Damo to lead the lads for this one. Cal managed to get there from Penrith and with the news coming through that both Gatesie and Rav were missing, it meant a swift rethink in terms of the starting 11. The boys were put through their stretches and when the team was announced, the 4-3-3 was the preferred shape. Pomf had played really well in midweek and in front of him today were to be Matty and Aaron at full-backs with Robbie Holt partnered by Jack Holt in the heart of defence. The midfield trio was made up of Liam, Jude and Alex Williams and up top we had Lewis and Ste either side of Yatesy. There was a strong bench with the likes of Robbo, Nathan, Adam and Brad to call upon and as the lads taped up, the coaches message was clear. Defend better. Make sure we put away the chances that came our way and above all else, win your individual battles. Both teams made their way onto the pitch and with a sharp blow of his whistle, today’s match official Mr Shipton got proceedings underway…
County started well and it looked as though they had listened to those pre-match words – because on 5 minutes, we took an early lead. Some great work down our left saw Lewis slide a great pass into the run of Yatesy only 6 yards from goal and he did as expected – slamming it home past their helpless keeper. 1-0 and that is exactly the start we wanted…
And within minutes we should have doubled our advantage – when the Leigh centre-back completely missed the ball – and with Yatesy clean through, we all expected to see the net bulge only to see the ball fly over the bar. A great opportunity and one we were left to rue before the break…
Because for the second game on the bounce, our opponents were handed a golden chance to score when we gave away yet another penalty. This time it was a rash challenge from Aaron that brought their striker down – and the man in black had no hesitation in pointing directly to the spot. Their striker converted past Pomf – who got close to it we hasten to add – and as the visitors wheeled away, the scores were level again. 1-1…
They should have gone ahead on 24 minutes when a long punt forward caught our defence a little flat-footed and as Pomf came out to clear it, he could only clatter into his own defenders who were retreating – leaving their striker clean through. As he fired his shot in, it was destined for the back of the net – until from nowhere, Robbie lunged at it to clear it off the line. What a goal-stopper that was! Brilliant defending from that man Holt again…
It was clear our midfield was being outnumbered so whilst the coaches looked at where to shore things up, they brought Robbo on in place of Alex – so there were a little more legs in there until the break. The change seemed to suit us and we began to dominate – again going close when more good work from Lewis down our left saw the ball slide across from the left – but it evaded the out-stretched leg of first Yatesy and then the on-rushing Jude from all of two yards out and the danger was gone. Leigh seemed happy to hold this until the break – and they did…
Half-time: BOLTON COUNTY RESERVES 1-1 Leigh Genesis Reserves
As the lads gathered for their pep-talk, Cal was quickly into them and barking out his orders. We hadn’t been good enough in the important areas of the pitch and we needed to stop giving silly free-kicks and penalties away if we want to be successful. We had shown enough up front to know that if the chances came, we’d have to put at least one away – so with the drinks supped and the lungs re-filled, they were quickly back out there ready to go again…
The second period started as the first had ended – with County doing all the pressing and the away side sitting back and defending in numbers – so we knew we needed to try and get in behind them if we wanted to cause them trouble. The coaches felt that going to a 3-5-2 could help with that so off came Aaron and as he came on, Nathan was urged to show us what he is made of…
Sometimes though football has this way of telling you that today isn’t going to be a good day – because any other day would have seen Yatesy score 5 or 6 – and chance after chance went begging for him. Robbo also struck two sweet shots from the edge of the box that fizzed just over and when Nathan got the ball on 67 minutes, we thought we’d got it. He cut inside and as the gap appeared, he curled a glorious shot in that beat their keeper hands-down but then clipped the top of the crossbar and out of play. A great effort from the lad – but it was still all-square…
Leigh weren’t really offering any attacking potency now so it was up to us to claim these three points – and when Lewis managed to hook an overhead kick that beat everybody, the County fans held their breath waiting for it to go in. But it slammed against the post and bounced straight back into their grateful No.1’s hands. So close – again…
Nathan then burst down the wing before playing a good ball into the feet of Jude – who in turn managed to get his shot off from about 8 yards out but it was blocked and they managed to smash it away from danger. Next up saw Liam use his silky skills to dance through their defence and as the goal loomed, we all thought this was it – but he could only shoot tamely into their No.1’s hands. It was definitely not our day out here…
Adam came on for Ste on 75 minutes and Brad had a run-out in place of Yatesy five minutes later – but try as we may, we just couldn’t force the ball over the line. And as the final whistle went, it brought to a close the 2022-2023 season for today’s visitors and saw them finish in 6th – and ensured that County cannot finish any lower than 4th. Some may think that going unbeaten through to March would have gained more – but this is the first season that these lads have played together and with some tweaks in the summer, we have no doubt we’ll be fighting to finish higher next campaign. Handshakes were done with pride and as the players left the pitch, we knew there was still plenty of work for us to do. The last three games are against the three teams above us – and with Govan clinching the title after a resounding 5-0 victory over Chadderton EDS, we now know that wins in all of our games will still see us promoted…
But for now, it was another case of two points dropped where we had more than enough chances to win it – but there were also plenty of positives to take from this. Jack had slotted into central-defence and played with composure, great positioning and first-class distribution so he was quite rightly awarded the MOM. Between him and Robbie, they gave the Leigh attackers absolutely nothing all game. The midfield worked really hard and had full control of the game when they settled into it and with the wingers doing exactly what was asked of them – shipping crosses in as early as they could – we created bucketful’s of chances. All things we’ll need to do again over in Tintwistle next Saturday and with a massive role in deciding who goes up, we’ll be looking to win that to make sure we still stand a chance. It’s a long trip over to ‘Royston Vasey’ so it would be great to see as many County fans as we can there to cheer us on…
For now though, it does feel like another four points we could have had on the board. So forget that and it’s back to the business of winning next week. You listening lads?
#UpTheCounty!