AFC Liverpool v Padiham, 24th October 2015


In the opening minutes, we had most of the possession.  However, having been barely out of their own half, Padiham went on the attack to take the lead.
Our response suggested that the visitors' lead would be short lived.  We were passing it around neatly, and creating chances.
Although Padiham's keeper did make some fine saves, he did seem at other times less assured with his handling.  It was felt that the more shots at him, the more likely he would spill something.
As it was, we did turn things around with a Steve Jones brace to go in 2-1 at the break.  The first was a free kick on 35 minutes.  The second saw him sweep home inside the keeper's near right hand post just before the break, with the keeper's positioning leaving much to be desired.
At half time, I met a couple of Norwegians in the board room.  I mentioned about how I had (along with other family members) always believed I had a Norwegian Great-Great-Grandfather.  However, a family funeral in the summer had revealed that he had in fact been Swedish!
Into the second half, we simply did not pick up where we left off at the break.  Their number 6 Lee Botham beat Ryan Jones to head home an equaliser on 57 minutes.
After the equaliser, the momentum moved back to the East Lancs side.  They always looked the most dangerous going forward, and one chance which they created needed one of our defenders to put his body on the line to block a certain goal.  Meanwhile, Steve Jones was having a quieter second half. 
Our cause was not helped by number 10 Matty Williams going off injured, after a naughty challenge by their number 10.  Considering Padiham's number 10 had made a few dodgy tackles earlier, he was probably lucky to escape a yellow card.
With the score at 2-2, Ryan Cox did have a glorious opportunity to score, but got frustrated by the keeper's feet.  With that miss, Padiham regained control of the match, and they went on to score the winning goal with six minutes remaining.
Off the pitch, there was a happy occasion, with Janet Burns celebrating her 50th birthday.  There was a little gathering in the bar after the game.
Although the lads did not deliver that day, I know she will have enjoyed the 5-1 win at AFC Blackpool earlier that week.  In fact, Jan had earlier in the day that it is always nice to win at Blackpool.














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