Despite working hard in training, there is nothing like match-action to get players ready for a long, hard season. So with the upcoming Atherton Charity Cup in mind, we decided to get our friendlies started today – and thanks to the guys from Cheshire Premier League side Hattersley FC for agreeing to making the journey over to The County Ground at such short notice to get 2023-2024 well and truly started…
The weather had been miserable most of the week and today was no different – but due to the great work put in by our groundsman Graham, our second pitch is looking glorious and had held off the rain well. And as the lads began their warm-up’s, it was clear that there were plenty of new faces in the ranks – so we were definitely going to see plenty of changes throughout these 90 minutes or so. When the starting 11 was announced though, we were sticking with our preferred 4-3-3 that saw Charlie take his place between the sticks and a back four consisting of Ben and Hodgy in the middle, Liam on the left and the timely return of Robbie Smith on the right. The midfield trio was made up Shorty, Chris and Cal Short and the top three saw Kez and Robbie Pollitt either side of Dylan Jeffs. The bench was made up of Pomf, Nathan, Sam and Asumani. We were good to go. The coaches asked for commitment and work-rate – getting valuable minutes in the legs – and if we played football like we know we can, we should enjoy this. Well guess what? They did…
It was County that were straight on the attack from the start – and a great ball found Shorty 20 yards from goal. He hit it sweetly and it looked destined for the top corner – only to see their No.1 get across to make a great save and tip it over the bar. The visitors were creating a few problems down their right as they attacked with real pace – but in truth the early stages saw Charlie mainly untroubled. We went close after great work down our right but that final ball was just lacking and the chance was gone. It was good so far though…
And with 20 minutes on the clock, that early work was rewarded when we finally went ahead. Another good ball in from Houghie on the right found Kez unmarked at the back post. He drilled his shot in only to see it blocked by a visiting defender – but there was Robbie Pollitt to smash it home from about 10 yards out, leaving their keeper no chance of stopping it. 1-0 and we were fully deserving of it…
We were in control of the match in most areas and despite the odd long-ball from the visitors to their speedy right-winger, we were coping well with whatever they threw at us. And we doubled our lead when more good work down the right saw the ball clipped into the box and like the terrier he is, Dylan got to it before their defender and clinically slotted it home from about 12 yards out. 2-0 and we were on top now…
As always though, you can be vulnerable if you think things are won this early – and the visitors proved that when they found themselves a goal back. A soft free-kick into the mixer saw the ball go through a sea of bodies and end up nestling in the back of our net. 2-1 and we needed to concentrate now…
No need to panic. Because we immediately regained our two-goal cushion with some lightning quick counter-attacking that saw a brilliant 50-yard diagonal pass from Liam Short find Chris on the right. He drilled it into the box to see Dylan calmly side-foot home his second – and our third – of the game. 3-1 and that was more like it. His team-mates ran to celebrate with him and as they made their way back for the re-start, we knew that if we kept pressing forward, we’d keep getting chances…
As with all pre-season friendlies, the changes that are made often usually see the flow of the game disrupted – and that’s exactly what happened here as it took us a good 20 minutes or so to regain control of things. Some of our passing went a little awry and things weren’t knitting properly – that saw Pomf pull off a tremendous 1-on-1 save when the Hattersley centre-forward had been put clean through – and we needed to click back into gear quickly if we didn’t want to make this closer than it needed to be…
When we did get it forward now, Sam and Dylan were causing mayhem for their defence – and they will sure be having nightmares about them both for weeks to come! And in between them, the rest of the lads looked like they wanted to grab that fourth goal that would clinch the game. And it came when a County corner was only half-cleared and when the ball came back out to Chris, he drilled in a cross that Ben T anticipated fastest and he managed to slam it home from about 6 yards out. 4-1 and surely that was that…
But there was still time for us to make the score-line more convincing because as the visitors legs’ tired, we pounced. First Sam managed to run onto a good through-ball to round their keeper and slot it home to make it 5-1 and then like a carbon-copy, Asumani did exactly the same – this time slamming it home from about 10 yards out. 6-1 and our dominance was there in the result now…
Not finished yet, the icing on the cake came when Dylan managed to grab the hat-trick his performance deserved – and this was arguably the best one of the three! A neat passage of play saw the ball laid into the space in front of him and Dylan wrapped his right foot around the ball to curl it past their flailing keeper and inside the far post. A top, top finish and that put the score at 7-1. Game over…
That was that as well. Shortly after the whistle went to end proceedings and all in all, it had been a great first run-out for the lads. A massive thank-you to Hattersley FC for coming over at such short notice and we wish you all the very best for the coming season and a safe journey home. But this was about the lads in blue and things are looking positive for that opening Atherton Charity Cup game at Pennington FC on Tuesday night. That will be a completely different challenge that one…
Thanks to the County fans that braved the elements to cheer us on for this one and we hope to see you all over at Jubilee Park in three days’ time…
#UpTheCounty!