AFC Liverpool v Padiham, 3rd November 2012

It was a few days on from a chat I had on the Runcorn East to Warrington Bank Quay train with the Reds' Australian goalkeeper Matt Kasbarian. This was following a midweek defeat at Runcorn Linnets, as we both made our respective ways home. In our little chat, I pointed out to Matt that our next opponents Padiham are the side we beat to win our first cup. However, we were still awaiting that elusive first league victory over the Storks. 

 The Reds took a first half lead courtesy of a Steve Corris header from a free kick, with Padiham's keeper left stranded by his decision to come off his line. It was a first half with the occasional stoppage. One of those stoppages saw Mukhtar Muhama go off briefly for treatment. When the player seemed reluctant to commit to staying on or coming off, Manager Paul Moore went complete ape in the stand! The 1-0 lead was kept intact just before half time by a Kasbarian save onto the post.

 The visitors drew level within a couple of minutes of the restart. The omens were starting to suggest the pendulum was swinging. Almost immediately after that equaliser Mukhtar shot just wide, following a positive run towards the edge of their penalty area.

Padiham then went on to score twice more in the second half, with Matt Kasbarian I am afraid at fault for both of those goals. He was chipped for Padiham's second, whilst probably a little too far off his line. The Lancashire side's third goal saw our keeper punch straight into his own net from a corner. 

 A Darrell Hale header on 87 minutes did bring the scoreline back to 2-3, and we did subsequently put the visitors under some pressure. But it was pressure they were able to withstand, and AFC were still at that point awaiting that first league victory over Padiham.

I later chatted on the bus to a chap from St Helens who came to our matches from time to time. He felt the best team had not won. I wasn't so sure, as Padiham did generally show better composure. As for AFC's Australian keeper, this match was to be Matt Kasbarian's last for AFC.

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