Last weekend’ good victory in Leigh saw our unbeaten run go into October – so as the lads started to make their way off at Jct 7 of the M60, they knew that another good performance here would see us stay in and around the top of the league. Sure – it’s early doors and a marathon and not a sprint – but it’s always good to be looking down the table rather up at it. Wayne was back for this one – as it was Brian sunning himself this week – and having put the lads through their paces in training during the week, we pretty much knew what we were going with here. Despite the boss’ eagerness to play the 4-2-3-1, last Saturday’s change in formation stood us well so we were going to go with that again today. That meant Pomf was back in net having skipped training to a cut thigh and the three in front of him were again to be Gatesie, Liam Hulme and skipper Matty. The midfield trio that are starting to form a good bond were there again – Alex, Liam Haycock and Tom Robbo – and with Aaron on the left and Callum Chadwick deserving of a start on the right, that meant there two debutants up top – but two that Wayne knows can score a goal when given the chance. Lewis Cook and John Yates were partnered for the first time and with the coaches urging our creative players to slide the balls through the channels and into their path, we were quite excited to see how this worked. The bench was made up of Bradders, Jude and Rav and as the players warmed up, it soon became apparent that there was no need – as the referee and most of the home side were not on the pitch by 2pm. News then filtered through that the man in the middle was delayed and kick-off would be at 2.15pm, so it then about keeping warm and keeping focused. We just had to play our game here today – pass the ball well and make sure we made the right decisions at the right times – and we should be reet. When everybody was where they were supposed to be, the whistle went to start the game – and what a mix it turned out to be…
The game began with no real pattern to the play – as both sides looked to try and get it down and play – but when we moved it in our triangles, we looked the tidiest. But it wasn’t until the 14th minute that we got our first real sight of goal when a good through-ball from Alex Williams cut their defence in half and on raced Aaron to strike the ball cleanly – only to see their No.1 make a great save to stop it creeping in. This was more like it though and we needed to do more of it. And it was that man Aaron again only minutes later who snapped another good shot in from the edge of the box – but this time their keeper made it look easy as he gathered it in his mid-rift and on went the match…
The midfield was a battle but when we could clear it from between our feet and create space to pick out the pass, it was us that were looking the most likely. And on 22 minutes, we won a free-kick about 22 yards from goal in a central position. The hosts lined up most of their team in the wall and as Liam Haycock stepped forward, he looked confident. He curled his shot around that big wall – but could only flash it about a foot past their left-hand upright. Chances were coming thick and fast for the team in blue now and we thought we’d seen a glorious debut goal from Yatesy when out of nowhere, the ball had broken about 25 yards from their goal and in an instant spin, he managed to curl it exquisitely past the out-stretched arm of their keeper and with him beaten all hands down, the ball could only hit the base of the post and away from danger. Very nearly a superb goal – but we really needed to make our dominance count now…
More lovely football between the midfield trio saw Robbo play a lovely cross into the danger-area and as he jumped, Lewis misjudged his header and could only plant the ball wide of the mark from about 10 yards out. Surely it was only a matter of time now though…
Another free-kick awarded to us in and around the box then came and this time it was Yatesy that placed the ball purposefully but he could only slam his shot wide of the right-hand post – and as Wayne and Callum feared the worst, it very nearly came. The first chance of note for the home side so nearly saw them take the lead – when a mix-up at the back saw the ball bouncing about our box before evading our Pomf and hitting the point where the crossbar meets the post – bobbling around waiting for a striped player to put it in – but we managed to get back just in time and force it out for a corner. Evidence that if we didn’t start putting these chances away, this could be a very different game…
Rav then came on in place of Aaron but it was on the other side where we saw the next bit of danger – and it resulted in us finally taking the lead. The ball was fed out to Callum wide on our right and as he made to drag the ball back, he left his marker standing as he raced past him to hit the dead-ball line. Looking up, he had noticed Yatesy making a great run off the shoulder of their defender and inch-perfectly, Callum picked out our new-boy and from 8 yards, he will gobble those up all day. Bang! The ball hit Yatesy forehead crisply and sure as eggs are eggs, the ball was hitting the back of their net! Eventually. 1-0 County…
Quickly in the thick of thing, Rav once again was involved as he won a great tackle on the left and as he sprinted away from his man, he fed the ball into the feet of Yatesy who was clumsily pushed in the back and with the County bench screaming for a penalty, the referee awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the box. With both Lewis and Alex Williams standing over it, we were sure there only going to be one winner here – but Alex Williams took it (ha ha!) and could only slam his shot into the wall. Then just before the break, yet more good work from Robbo saw the ball fed into the run of Lewis and as he pulled away, we all thought we would see the net bulge – but he put his shot agonisingly wide of the target. Would these missed opooprtunities come back to haunt us? There sure did…
Half-time: Old Altrinchamians 0-1 BOLTON COUNTY RESERVES
As the lads gathered, the message from the coaches was clear – we needed to be the team that scored the next goal. We’d had so many chances to put this to bed already and that scare showed that these could easily get back into this – and then it would be a very different game. We were hitting the ball in towards their skipper and centre-half and he was winning everything in the air – so we had to listen to what we’d said at the start and pass the ball down the channels on the floor rather than in the air. When we played our sharp, quick passing they couldn’t keep up with us – but when we resorted to kicking it and not finding our man, this was too close to call. So get back out there and do what you do best. No changes were made and as the lads trotted out for the second half, we had something we wanted to protect here…
Well within 60 seconds all that chat went out the window when the hosts levelled! A silly free-kick given away on the halfway line saw the ball pumped in and there was their skipper to once again win the header – this time causing confusion right in the middle of our goal and somehow they managed to force the ball over our line from close-range. 1-1 and Wayne summed it up when he said ‘Game on again now…’
The lads re-grouped and started to play some nice football again but in truth, it was too few and far between for us today. We were working hard sure – but there seemed to be something that just wasn’t clicking and with that in mind, the coaches’ minds started to think about protecting that unbeaten record. But before that, we had another great chance to take the lead when a superb ball through the gaps saw Lewis brush off his marker and as he lined up that great left-foot of his, we all waited to celebrate – but he hit it tamely and their keeper said thank you very much. At least he was getting in the right places at the right time and he will score for County very soon believe us. A good debate between the County coaching staff then saw us bring Yatesy off on 62 minutes in a move that saw Robbo go up top and join Lewis and Jude came into the midfield battle that was going to win or lose this match. And on 70 minutes, the hosts very nearly took the lead. Their right-winger seemed to find a gear or two more than he had shown all afternoon and with a jet-like pace, he raced clear of our defence. Faced with the oncoming Pomf, he struck his shot low and hard from about 16 yards out and thankfully it slammed against the wrong side of our post and away from danger. One thing that would be hard to take was losing this after the amount of possession we’d had – but that was much too close for comfort and we had to wake up now!
In truth, there had been some good play through the lines of the players in blue and we had looked solid at the back – but there were too many long balls that were worrying us and that’s one thing we need to work on. Liam Hulme and Matty had once again played well and in between them Gatesie hadn’t lost much all afternoon. In front of them we had competed well and when that yard of space presented itself, we looked dangerous. Liam Haycock rifled one just over from about 25 yards out and Lewis kept giving their defenders something to think about – and with 76 minutes gone, we took our last throw of the dice by bringing on Bradders in place of Callum and it wasn’t long before he crafted out a great chance to cross the ball into the mixer – but rather than control it and then look up, he tried to play it first-time and could only scue it over the bar. ‘Unlucky Bradders – next time!’ came the cry from the County bench…
The hosts kept trying to inch forward in search of the winner whilst the team in blue were looking to break in numbers but not leave ourselves short at the back and that seemed to nullify the attacking prowess that had been on show so far. Alex Williams did managed to hook one over the top of their defence with his right-foot – something that must go down in the history books – and if Robbo could have connected sweetly with his volley and rifled it home, it would have been worthy of winning any football match. But he couldn’t and instead he fluffed his lines and the ball winged it’s way out of play. Unlucky again…
And that was that really. The referee didn’t seem to play much injury time despite their No.1 taking an age over every deadball and when he blew his whistle to end proceedings, it had finished honours-even. We definitely had the chances to clinch all three points here but that’s football and on another day, we would play worse than this and win. We’ll put this down to experience and work on some ideas in the week to increase productivity and we’ll come out again next time aiming to fire on all cylinders. The handshakes were done with pride and we wish today’s hosts all the very best for the rest of the season. The lads came in a little dejected as it really felt as though we’d dropped points but the music went on, the coaches said that we were going home still unbeaten since July and all is good in the camp. Back to Tonge Cricket Club for a pint…
A special mention must go to Tom Robinson who was voted as the Player’s Player for the month of September and he was awarded a few beers and some Turkish chocolate for his efforts – so let’s see who wins what at the end of October?
A point away from home can’t be snubbed at really can it?
#UpTheCounty!