AFC Liverpool from Yesteryear

By the time I finished on the turnstile and headed to join Dave the Rattler in the stand,  it was already 1-1. Dan Cockerline had put us 1-0 up. But Jordan Darr equalised inside the first 10 minutes.  The equaliser was apparently soft. Within a few minutes of me joining Dave, Jesse Dowling had headed us back in front after a cross from the left found Dowling at the far post. The first half was otherwise a non-event really as very little was created by both sides thereafter. On re-entering the stand following the half time break,  Neil the kitman informed Dave and I that "the Cock" had to be substituted as a precaution. Within 3 minutes of the restart his replacement Billy McCarthy aka "Billy Whiz" had made it 3-1 after an initial Jay McGrane shot had been blocked. Charnock Centre-Half Luke Gibson got it back to 3-2 on 56 minutes, having a simple tap-in after one of his teammates won a header in the area. I  certainly felt it was a 50/50 game prior to kick off. Indee...

It was a first half that saw the home team largely on the front foot. Thankfully Jack McGovern was in solid form. We were looking promising on the break. One early header from Elliott Hughes brought a fine save from the Charnock Goalkeeper. Some promising moves stopped due to a last ball. Elliott Hughes had taken a knock and was doubtful he would make it to half time. But it was he who was put through on 38 minutes to slot it home and put us 1-0 up. Three minutes later Tom Douglas made a promising run down the right, played in full back Fin Heath, who had to beat a man before beating the keeper brilliantly from a narrow angle to put the ball into the roof of the net. Sadly his Mum was not there to witness it. As the game moved into stoppage time, a good headed goal saw the home side get one back. Charnock then seemed to have the momentum going into the early stages of the second half.  Just six minutes into the second half we survived a big scare as Fin Heath seemingly handled an e...

It was our final home league game of the season. There was traffic congestion between junctions 6 and 7 of the M62, and Liverpool Legends were playing Barcelona Legends. With someone in the Prestwich party delayed, the kick off time was delayed to 3.15pm. Our final league game of the season was to be at Robbie Savage's Macclesfield the following Saturday, and tickets were on sale. Due to the Covid Pandemic, this was to be the first league season completed fully in three years! There was one bloke who came in via the turnstile I was manning with his dog. Of course, I only saw the dog after he went through, with Steve Fraser trying to tell me to stop the guy. I had to subsequently find the guy and give the bloke his money back. It only turned out to be the Dad of our then Manager Chris Anderson! Little did I know then that this would not be the only dog-related incident of the weekend. The second dog incident happened the following day as our Under 18s beat Stockport Georgians 2-0 at...

This  was only my second visit to Bacup.  On my only other visit to Bacup six years previously, myself and the other Rattlers were threatened by a lottery saleswoman with being thrown out of the ground! This time round the backdrop could not have been more different, with Bacup's Official Twitter Account starting to follow me just a couple of hours before kick off. In any case, I don't believe that rogue saleswoman was really anyone important as far as Bacup Borough was concerned. I posted at half time the following on the AFC Liverpool Supporters WhatsApp group: 0-0 HT . The Reds have had the line share of chances, but those efforts were only expected to be dealt with by their keeper. Bacup's no 5 is quite commanding. Our best chance was probably a couple of minutes before half time when Rhys Hardacre's shot was tipped round the post. At the other end, Bacup's big number 5 got his head on the end of a free kick to head wide. I suspect he was stretching a bit. The R...

Sometimes in football the fixtures computer list throws up some intriguing opening fixtures. It was the midweek following the opening weekend, and we were at home to Skelmersdale United, the club that poached our Manager Matt Potter over the summer. Steve Fraser certainly rose to the occasion, tweeting a picture of the poached eggs he had for his tea at  Dace's! I missed the first five minutes or so, due to arriving from work. Both sides were trying to go for it. It was on the 17th  minute when a Tommy Douglas run (I think) got stopped by the Skem defence. The ball was loose a good 20 plus yards  from goal, and Kyle Schorah opportunistically shot home. For a few minutes it looked like everything was on track. I was sat near Alan Harrison in the stand during the first half as we were attacking that end, and Alan remarked how he was liking the referee. Then on 23 minutes Skem got in down  their left. A ball came across the area and their number 7 Kristian Knowles slott...