Some weeks it feels as though the odds are stacked against you right from the very start – and this was one of those weeks. Having played really well in parts when we welcomed Atherton Town A last weekend, we needed to do that for the whole game now – and that wasn’t going to be easy today. We were making our first trip of the season and it was over to our old mates from Astley & Tyldesley Reserves we were going. Knowing it was these that were the first team to defeat us last season – albeit using their first-team, we had a score to settle today and the fact that they were unbeaten was going to make that taste that little bit sweeter…

But then the calamities started. Firstly Jack’s lift had left him stranded and then news came through that Lewis and Tom were delayed to the former losing his car-keys. That put the plans in the air and as the lads started arriving at the dungeon of an away changing-room, there was sweat already on the brows of the coaching staff. It was glorious out there – the pitch looked lovely and the sun was shining – but we now needed to make quick alterations to the starting line-up…

As the lads went through a little bit of a warm-up – believe me, it was warm out there – the starting 11 was announced and it saw us stick with the 4-4-2 that served us well last weekend. Mitch took his place between the sticks and then we had Jack in at right-back, Rav on the left and Gatesie and Chris in the middle. Robbie Holt came back in – luckily – to join Jude in the central midfield berths and we had Spencer on the left and Stephen on the right. Connor and John were the front two and we had a full bench today of Matty Fearnley, Tyler, Harry – and then Lewis and Tom when they had eventually found the keys – hidden in the freezer by Lew’s daughter apparently!!! We were good to go – so Wayne urged his lads to keep the ball and not give it to them, to let the ball do most of the running for us and work hard until you couldn’t work no more. A large contingent of County fans had amassed – and as always, the home side had a voicefirous backing – so it made for a tasty atmosphere in the sun. The whistle went and we were off…

The opening exchanges saw them pumping the ball long down our flanks and although Jack was dealing with it well, they were getting more success on our left. Twice they managed to get in behind early doors and with Gatesie screaming for the line to be held, it was broken on 4 minutes – and we found ourselves behind again. They slammed the ball long and hard and their winger managed to break through but with Rav stopped and calling for offside, the referee allowed play to go on and although Mitch made a great save to stop the original shot, there were no County players anywhere near the three lads in green congregated about 8 yards from our goal – and they simply stroked the rebound into our empty net. 0-1 but there was plenty of time left so we did not have to start panicking…

Especially because within 57 seconds we were level – and it was a great goal that saw us do it. Receiving the ball rolled out from Mitch, Gatesie strode forward looking up all the while. He spotted Ste making a great run behind his full-back and raked a glorious 60 yard ball right into his path. Ste had their No.3 on toast and as his silky skills made him dizzy, he cut it back to see Spencer darting from left to right. He caressed his right-boot around the ball and curled it past their diving keeper’s hand and into the same corner of the net that it had come from. A stunning finish but a great move all-round. If only we could do that all day. 1-1…

Why couldn’t we do that all day? Wayne and Brian had very quickly realised that this right-hand side was were we going to get our best opportunities and that move had just proved it – so let’s keep doing it eh? Things changed on 11 minutes when Jack – who had quite clearly pulled his hamstring – hadn’t managed to run it off so on came Harry but that didn’t change things. Keep playing it on this right-hand side and let’s see what happens…

And within minutes, it proved fruitful as once again, Harry fed Ste down the right and he twisted and turned their full-back inside out before dinking in a great cross that saw Connor jump highest to nod home – but from nowhere, there was a push on his back and the referee had no hesitation in pointing directly to the spot. As expected, there was wild protestations from the home contingent – but the man in the middle’s mind was set – and up stepped Connor to calmly smash the ball to their keeper’s left – when he dived to the right – and as the ball nestled in the bottom corner, it was 2-1 to County. That right-hand side was going to be key – but they had also clocked it and off went their No.3 to rub his head and wonder what just happened to him out there…

It was pretty tasty from start to finish this one – and on 22 minutes, Connor had to come off when he appeared to jar his knee in a hefty battle for the ball. Fair play to the Astley player – it wasn’t a foul, he was just stronger – but Connor couldn’t continue so had to be replaced by Lewis. Then came a sin-bin and 10 minutes ‘time-out’ for the Astley No.8 as for some reason, he felt he just had to keep talking to the referee. We had a man advantage now – so Wayne asked them to move the ball around quickly and really wear down their players before the 11th one came back on. We didn’t have to score – we just needed to move them about for later in the game – and on we went…

We seemed to have dealt with that long-ball over the top now and when we did get it down, we were playing some good stuff – but that usual, niggly stuff started to come into our game as the hosts used their experience to get into our heads. With the loud home support on top, we started to switch off from the football and start all the shenanigans that don’t usually serve us well. That said, we had a glorious chance to increase our lead on 37 minutes and as we type this, we still don’t know how we didn’t score. Our defence had been playing some nice balls out rather than hoofing it – but this time Chris sent an inch-perfect ball into the path of Lewis on our left. Getting to it first, Lew saw that John was free inside the six-yard box so he dinked it over their last defender and straight to him. With the goal gaping, he was no more than 4 yards from the empty-net – but when it looked harder to miss, he somehow managed to put his shot over the bar. The laws of psychics shouldn’t have allowed that ball to go over the bar from there – but somehow our top-scorer managed it! With everybody dazed – and the home supporters loving it obviously – the game went on with all of us still puzzled as to how that just happened…

The half petered out with silly free-kicks being given away, the home players urging the referee for every free-kick and it was a little ‘bitty’ – so as the whistle went for the break, it was a chance to re-group and assess the situation…

Half-time: Astley & Tyldesley Reserves 1-2 BOLTON COUNTY A

As the lads gulped their drinks, the message from Wayne was simple. The points were already in the bag. We just had to go back out there and not get involved in the silliness. When we do that, we forget to play football – and that’s exactly what their aim is right now. Focus. Keep moving the ball and keep it on the floor. When we were defending, we needed to do it as a unit and stay together and if we could weather the storm that was surely going to come in the first 10 minutes or so, we could then start pushing forward a little more to see if we could secure these points even further. Easy eh? Now go and do it…

And to their credit, the County lads did just that for the first five minutes. With 48 on the clock, the ball was fed into Spencer and he did well to turn his man and spray it into the path of Lewis on the left – but he could only slam his shot wide of the mark and the chance was gone. But on 51 minutes, we did get our third goal of the game – and this time Yatesy made amends for his earlier miss. Winning the ball in the middle of the park, Jude managed to slide a glorious pass inside their full-back and their centre-half – and there was John to slot it home past their advancing keeper and into the back of the net. 3-1 County and surely we had enough about us to see this through now…

How wrong were we? Jude took a knock in another hard 50/50 and as the home side ramped up the pressure on the referee and our young players, we started to wilt to it unfortunately. On 56 minutes they won a corner on their right and before it was played in, their player was trying to make out to the referee that our Tom was pushing and pulling. The man in black spoke to Tom and warned him – and as the ball came in, that same player threw himself forward and screamed on his way down. Tom’s arms were by his side and he just stood there smiling – but the match official had bought it and pointed to the spot. Nothing like levelling up penalties we suppose. Really soft and nothing Tom could have done about it. They duly stuck the spot-kick past Mitch and now it was definitely a case of calming down and not raising to it. 3-2…

Things went from bad to worse after that though. Just past the hour mark and the home side were level when they reverted back to that long-ball over the top for their pacy wingers to chase – and although this time he did look offside, Rav seemed to have played him on – and the ball was fired into the box and smashed past the helpless Mitch from about 8 yards out. 3-3 and it was game-on again…

Then the hosts took the lead – with an almost carbon-copy of their third. Another raking ball in the sky saw it drop to a player who looked to be at least two yards offside but again it wasn’t given and again it was played into the danger-area and duly dispatched into the net. From 3-1 up to 3-4 down isn’t something Wayne and Brian were going to take lightly…

And as if things weren’t bad enough as it was, we went down to 10 men on 69 minutes when it looked as though it should have been us that had been given the award of at least a penalty and then a definite free-kick. Firstly Lewis broke goal-side of his man and as his arm was pulled, the whistle went and we all expected to see the third penalty of the game. However the referee decided it was Lew that had done the pulling and awarded a free-kick the other way. Remarkable. This was then followed up by Tom being sandwiched between two green shirts but yet again, the man in charge did not deem it so – so when Chris then came in with a rash challenge that had the Astley player flying about six yards in the air, it caused a kerfuffle to say the least – and ended with the referee brandishing his red card in the direction of our centre-back and now we had to go 20 minutes or so in search of an equaliser with one man less than them…

Several changes were made – with John coming off so the fresh, young legs of Spencer could be used up there and Wayne deciding to go to a 3-5-1 as a way of trying to claw at least a point out of this, on went the game. To our credit, we were not going to lie down and simply take this defeat – that’s not in our make-up – and we kept trying to push them further and further back whenever we could. And on 81 minutes, it paid off – as remarkably we snatched a leveller. And what a goal it was too! Winning the ball in the middle of the park, Robbie saw Robbo charging in between their centre-backs – and arched his pass just in front of him. Jumping about three foot off the ground, Tom managed to connect with the sweetest of left-foot volleys that was past their keeper in an instant and nearly ripped the top corner of the net as it slammed into it. What a goal! The County fans were jubilant, the home fans had their heads in their hands and all over the Gin Pit, that goal meant something to somebody. 4-4! What a game!

There was still time for a winner though – and it was so obvious that Wayne wanted to snatch it and get out of here. The fact that we were down to 10 didn’t show in the closing stages as it was us doing all the pressing – but when the whistle did go to end the game, it felt like two points dropped rather than one gained despite the fact we’d done so well to pull it out of the bag. There are lessons that each and every one of us need to learn if we want to be successful – and today we can take quite a few away with us…

The handshakes were done with pride and passion and the good thing to see was the smiles and the respect at the end. In the heat of battle, things will happen – but it’s so important to shake hands and know you’ve done your best for your team. Hats off to their No.9 as well – he was horrible all game – but he was a credit to Astley after the game and nuff respeck’ for that…

We move on. The point here has seen us go to 3rd in the table and if we can keep all three points from our home game against top of the table Walshaw Sports Reserves next weekend, then there’s every chance we could be top of the table in seven days’ time. That will be tough though – so we need to make sure that training is used to tinker with a few ideas so that we come out for that one fully prepared for the battle…

Thanks for hosting us again Astley & Tyldesley – and we look forward to repaying it when you come to The County Ground later in the season. Let’s hope for another entertaining game eh?

Top marks to the County fans that came over today as well. It’s always great to see and hear you all there backing the lads and long may that continue – starting with that top of the table clash next weekend…

#UpTheCounty!