AFC Liverpool v Hanley Town, 29th April 2017


After a largely uneventful first fourteen minutes, the match came to life with an acrobatic overhead kick from Freddy Champion which came back off the post.  The Reds then had a few shots which went over, suggesting that we may get our noses in front soon enough.  Indeed, that is what happened on twenty minutes, as an unstoppable shot from Connor Grainger went in.



After going behind, the Staffordshire responded well with a good spell of their own.  An excellent header from our left hand side of the penalty area beat Dominic Garner to draw level just after the half hour mark.  A couple of minutes later, Franny Smith lost possession, and Hanley worked a good move down their right which ended with a simple tap in to take the lead. 



The other major first half incident I recall of note was when their number 10 went in fairly aggressively on Dominic Garner, almost kicked him in the head, and escaped a booking.  Anyway, we went in 1-2 down at half time.



We came out after half time and once again had a good spell.  That spell was rewarded on the hour mark with a penalty, when Jonno Swatton was judged to have been fouled in the area.  Personally, I thought it was a very marginal decision, whilst our Vice-Chairman and Match Announcer Alan Harrison felt it may not have been a foul.  But a penalty it was, and the Hanley player involved (who was already booked) got a second yellow.  Mikey White stepped forward and made no mistake.



The Reds had gone into this final league match in twelfth place and three points behind Hanley Town.  But with Hanley's far superior goal difference, we would have needed to have won by 8 goals to finish ahead of them.  Even with half an hour to go with a man advantage, that ridiculous scenario was not going to happen.  A win would have still given us a chance of a top half finish, depending on results elsewhere.



We did do the most pressing in that last half hour, but it was not to be.  In both matches against Hanley, we had played a significant portion of the game with a man advantage, but had to be content with a couple of 2-2 draws.  We also had to be make do with a twelfth placed finish, from a season we had hoped for so much more.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abbey Hey v AFC Liverpool, 16th September 2017

I was accompanied for this match by Kevin, my friend of many years. We met other supporters in the club house, including Dave The Rattler and the two Chesterfield lads (who are mates of Steve Fraser). On the pitch, we got off to the best possible start. Debutant George Lomax stabbed home from close range, after Joe Whittington had played the ball across the area to keep the ball alive from a corner. For the first twenty minutes we were in complete control. We could have scored a second when a shot was diverted away unconvincingly by the keeper, and just narrowly went wide. Along with Steve, Dave, and the Chesterfield lads, we were stood behind the goal we were attacking in the first half. On a couple of occasions, I played ballboy. Much to the amusement of everyone behind that goal, I tried a spin of the ball with my feet! But then, the home side came back into it. They moved through the left side of our defence with ease, and shot against Jack Cookson's left hand post. The respite...
Read more

AFC Liverpool v Wythenshawe, 19th December 2023

Exactly a week earlier we lost 5-0 at home against lowly Burscough. It was in fact our second 5-0 home defeat of the season having lost against Lower Breck in the FA Cup back in August. Wythenshawe, who had never been relegated in their history, were playing at this level for the first time. They were also the surprise League Leaders ahead of Bury. Following on from the Burscough defeat, we had also lost 3-0 at Pilkington on the Saturday. Rather predictably the early phase of the game was very much about staying in the game. It was heartening to see the lads showing an endeavour to battle. As the early minutes clocked up without much Wythenshawe threat and a clean sheet intact, the more our supporters began to believe we could perhaps nick a draw. Around the 15 minute mark one of our boys was down injured. But the visitors carried on playing, which did not go down too well. Five minutes later a misplaced back pass from a Wythenshawe defender was collected by Billy "Whiz" McCa...
Read more

AFC Liverpool v Morecambe, 26th July 2012

After leaving Valerie Park following our 4-3 pre-season victory over Morecambe, I got a text off my brother in Northampton who had been aware of the scoreline from good old Sky Sports News.  He suggested it must have been a bit of a ding dong game.  Well, not exactly. Two well taken first half goals from Franny Barry gave the Reds a 2-0 half time lead, following an earlier tame shot with his weaker left foot which was saved by the Morecambe keeper.  Steve Williams was particularly influential in the first goal, playing a one two with John Lawless, before Barry was able to pounce to the loose ball and slot home.  The second was a stunning strike cum volley, which I felt had shades of Marco Van Basten in Euro 88. Morecambe did miss a few chances at the other end, including one effort which forced a goal-line clearance.  Of equal significance, the Reds were denied a third as Lee Madin was denied by the Morecambe keeper's fingertips. Their number 10 was put through ...
Read more